Digitalisation Law to push Govt. bodies to become IT savvy

• Govt. bodies resistant to reducing face-to-face interaction 
• Digital Economy Strategy to be submitted to Cabinet next week 
• Discussions to be held with SLASSCOM on tax incentives for the industry

By Chathuri Dissanayake

Aiming to address the current bottlenecks in the digitalising process, the Government is also planning to introduce new legislation, ‘Digitalisation Law’, where the Government sector will be given deadlines to upgrade their IT systems, Prime Minster Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday. 

“We are looking at digitalising the total Government process as there are some that are slow.It will be necessary to bring a Digitalisation Law, where even the Government sector will be given deadlines to bring their IT systems into place, especially as some of the issues such as the reduction of face to face interaction is being resisted in some quarters, but this can be overcome with the Law,” he said. 

The Government is committed to developing the knowledge industry, the Prime Minister said, speaking at the event held to mark the International Day for Universal Access to Information, adding that numerous new policies are set to be implemented for a smooth transition to the digital age.

As a step towards developing the industry, the Government has formulated the Digital Economy Strategy, set to be presented to the Cabinet next week, he said. 

The Premier, noting that Sri Lanka’s future lies in developing four industries –the niche manufacturing market, tourism, logistics and the knowledge industry – stressed that the Government is committed to facilitating development and growth. 

“We are a small country located in the middle of the Indian Ocean.Our markets are limited.We have to look at what are the skills we can utilise and build on.We have no other lateral skills.You come up with niche manufacturing market and join the part of the global value chain, which is one. Second is tourism, third is logistics, as we are in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The fourth is the knowledge industry. This is where our future will lie,” he said. 

The Prime Minister highlighted that knowledge is key in driving development in the present global economic environment, noting that the fourth industrial revolution is based on knowledge and the knowledge industry. 

“The fourth industrial revolution is based on disruption, so was the third one, but that disruption took place over one and half centuries or longer,” Wickremesinghe said. 

“Online retailing is coming in every sphere. You could see a difference, only a few days back, Comcast took over Sky – another revolution.This is the world in the future.Open access is a key to success.” 

The Government has already been working towards open access to promote the knowledge industry,making information available, the Premier said, adding that the move will change the total learningstructure, especially at the higher end of the education system. 

He also emphasised that the approach will also “change the way you do business”, transforming Sri Lanka into a business centre and“not merely a manufacturing centre”.

In a bid to attract more investors for the IT industry, the Government is also looking at possible tax incentives as well. The Prime Minister is set to initiate discussions with the Sri Lanka Association for Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) to design special tax incentives to be made available to the industry next year.

Further, the Government is also working ondeveloping the logistics centre and also the possibility of starting an offshore financial centre, Wickremesinghe said, adding that the legislation for the latter is now under discussion.