SJB unveils digital policy for Sri Lanka

The National Digitization policy of the future SJB government was unveiled by the Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa with the participation of host of academia in the relevant sphere of Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence.

The launching of Digital policy for Sri Lanka by the future SJB government was launched at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute yesterday under the leadership of  Mr Premadasa. Parliamentarians Eran Wickrmaratne and Professor  G.L Pieris also took part in the event. 

Mr Eran Wickramaratne who was the pioneering chairman of the ICTA in Sri Lanka led the team of experts who prepared this policy document to take the country into Artificial Intelligence with a leap forward beyond Information Technology.

Mr Wickramaratne speaking on the occasion articulating the overview on the importance of digitization to Sri Lanka as a country, its government and the people said that the importance of information technology to a country today cannot be overstated. Even though the world is living in an artificial intelligence technology beyond information technology, Sri Lanka is twenty years behind in information technology.

"For this, we are focusing on the development of human resources as the basic need. Sri Lanka's geographical location and human resources are an advantageous for this. Earlier, literacy was measured by being able to write and sign one's name," he said.

Mr. Wickramaratne also emphasized that since it is now measured on digital literacy, raising all citizens to that position is the basic priority of the policy of the future Sajith Premadasa Government.

He further said that the digital Sri Lanka policy will have positive impact on the economic development of the country as if we have a digital literacy human resource we can make inputs to the global needs which in turn  provide us the economic and financial benefits to the country and the households and individuals.