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| Sunday, 18 May 2003 |
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e-governance to make govt- public interaction easier by Elmo Leonard The operations of the Treasury and even the issue of passports will be handled by computer shortly and with it, politicians will not be able to hide behind public servants in the execution of their duties, Minister of Economic Reforms, Science and Technology, Milinda Moragoda said. The Minister was addressing Sri Lanka's first 'National e-government conference', aimed at introducing e-governance through an Information and Communication Technology roadmap, where ordinary citizens across the country could interact with government organisations to get speedy benefits. More specifically, with e-government, decisions fed into computer would come into force throughout the country. The objectives of the conference were to announce a national e-government policy and action plans; to build awareness among government officials and senior bureaucrats; to create e-government 'champion' with ministries and departments and share global best practices from other developing states. Government officials and senior bureaucrats who would play a role in the transformation of ministries, departments, the private sector and donor community, to e-government were present. This move towards e-government was initiated by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, assisted by Minister Moragoda. The World Bank Director (Information) Dr Carlos Braga said Wickremesinghe had approached the World Bank 10 years ago in his quest to introduce e-government to Sri Lanka, but at that time, the World Bank did not have a scheme to accommodate such an issue. The introduction of e-government was the last chance for Sri Lanka to be on par with the rest of the developing world, Secretary to the Ministry of Policy Development and Implementation, Charitha Ratwatte said. Ratwatte said that Sri Lanka, which was economically far ahead of its neighbours in 1948, is today far behind, having missed every opportunity. The objectives of e-Sri Lanka are expected to be completed by 2007. |
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