ICTA focuses on making eServices accessible to the poor

ICTA gives priority to making e-Services accessible to the poor, said ICTA re-engineering Program Director Wasantha Deshapriya.

Wasantha Deshapriya

Deshapriya was speaking at a presentation at the National IT conference 2011 held in Colombo recently.

Referring to the subject "Sri Lankan e-Government picture; where is the bottom of the pyramid (BoP)" with the aid of statistics he made the audience including IT experts aware of the pressing status quo of the poorest.

If we consider the population of Sri Lanka as a pyramid, 23 percent of the people are at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) (Department of Census and Statistics).

The individual monthly income of the BoP was below the poverty line which was accepted to be Rs. 3,400.

Ten percent of the population have no internet facilities while 12 percent have no computers. Seventy-five percent are ICT illiterate.

Deshapriya explained what ICTA has done and was in the process of doing to arrest the problem and improve the quality of life of the poor.