Developments of e-Government in Sri Lanka: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

This chapter investigates the status of e-Government development, explores the opportunities created for citizens and government, and identifies the challenges for an effective implementation of e-Government in Sri Lanka. The study reveals that the dissemination of public information online, the provision of call centre services, and the establishment of tele-centres in rural areas have generally improved the wellbeing of citizens. It further shows that the development of information and communication technology infrastructure and the taking of the human resource capacity building initiative in public organizations have had a positive impact on the performance of public organizations. The study, however, reveals that the continuous development of e-Government in Sri Lanka is troubled by the uneven access of rural citizens to e-Government services, the low e-Readiness of citizens, the delay in implementing major e-Government projects, and the insufficient funding for successfully implementing all the e-Government initiatives.

Key Terms in this Chapter

E-Development: Use of ICT to bring about social and economic development in a country.

CIO: Chief innovative officer.

e-Sri Lanka: An e-development initiative implemented in Sri Lanka which recognizes ICT as a key factor for achieving growth, equity and peace through technological transformation of all sectors in Sri Lanka. Improving the delivery of public services, bridging the digital divide, uplifting the quality of life of citizens, improving social development, and supporting the country’s growth and poverty reduction are the key objectives the e-Sri Lanka initiative.

LGN: Lanka government network is a wide area network implemented in Sri Lanka which connects public organizations across the country.

E-Government: Delivery of government information and services through the use of ICT.

ICT: Information and communications technologies.

VOIP: Voice over Internet protocol.