SLT joins ICTA in hosting FutureGov SAARC Summit 2012

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the country’s largest telecom operator joins the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) in hosting the FutureGov SAARC Summit as strategic partner.

The FutureGov SAARC Summit will be held in Colombo on 18 and 19 July with the participation of more than 50 experts in the region.

ICTA CEO Reshan Dewapura expressed his gratitude to SLT for joining ICTA in hosting the FutureGov SAARC Summit. “The SLT’s support to this important international event is certainly a valuable contribution towards more efficient e-Governance in the region,” Dewapura emphasised.

Elaborating on the subject Dewapura said, “The summit will focus on effective and efficient e-Governance. It will give participants the rare opportunity to share their views with some of the best practitioners in public service and industry experts in the world. Accordingly the summit will be an ideal opportunity for all interested in improvements in the Government service provided to the public; particularly Government officers will greatly benefit from the summit. The Mahinda Chintana – Vision for the Future, the Government’s policy statement holds out the hope of Sri Lanka becoming the regional hub in five sectors, one of which is the knowledge sector. The FutureGov SAARC Summit will focus on creating an environment that better enables the implementation of e-government services thus paving the way for more effective and efficient e-Govenance in the region.”

SLT CEO Greg Young expressing his views on the upcoming summit underlined the benefits that will accrue to the region as a result of the two-day event, “SLT is proud and privileged to be the strategic partner of an event of this calibre that will bring together a rich combination of individuals from the SAARC region and with it, the opportunity to share valuable knowledge, experience and expertise across the region”.

 Pointing out the core roles ICT and the SLT play in improving the lives of people, Young stated:  “SLT continues to work towards increasing ICT access in Sri Lanka, bridging the digital divide and enabling the Government sector with ICT capability crucial to the economic development of the country. Through the launch of our e-Sri Lanka project, we have provided the necessary network infrastructure and platforms to facilitate e-government services across the country and are working to provide the platforms necessary for cloud computing. ICT will help the Government sector to provide more effective and efficient services which will help to improve the living standards and lifestyles of the people in the country.”

Succinctly indicating the rationale for SLT partnering with ICTA in hosting the FutureGov SAARC Summit, Young added, “We play a critical role in this, which is one of the main reasons why we joined with the ICTA to host this important event.”