The National Digital Economy Strategy 2030 has been introduced in line with Sri Lanka’s vision of creating a high-revenue economy by 2048 and enabling the country to become an emerging business destination in the South Asian region.

Prepared by the Ministry of Technology in consultation with the World Bank; departments in public, private, and professional institutions; and vocational boards, this strategy is expected to facilitate a new economic model, focusing on digital transformation and strategic measures to facilitate navigating the current economic landscape.

The core principles of the National Digital Economy Strategy are to be Inclusive, Innovative, Sustainable, Global, Human-centric, and Rights-based. It also focuses on six strategic areas: infrastructure connectivity and access; skills, literacy, industry, and jobs; connected digital government; cybersecurity, safety, and privacy; digital financial services; and digitisation across sectors and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). 

Emerging technologies can be a catalyst for Sri Lanka’s rapid digital transformation. Leveraging such emerging technologies can contribute to a robust recovery by driving economic competitiveness and growth, employment creation, sustainable development, and service delivery.

Developing infrastructure stands as a crucial factor for fostering an inclusive and resilient digital economy. Over the last two decades, there has been significant growth in both mobile voice and mobile data connections along with an enhancement of islandwide 4G coverage to ensure smooth and stable access to digital services. 

More importantly, 5G trials are currently being conducted by operators with the approval of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) to employ commercial 5G services, becoming the first South Asian nation to successfully test a 5G network.

Seven-year plan

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, State Minister of Technology Kanaka Herath said that the Cabinet has approved the National Digital Economy Strategy, which is a seven-year plan. Commenting on the resources required for infrastructure development, he stated that work was in progress to ensure access to digital services across the country

“We started the implementation of the strategy last year, setting up 50 towers. This year we are working towards finishing 150 towers. In 2025, we are hoping to enable 4G coverage across the country. 

“In addition, in the education sector, we started working on a programme to establish 1,000 fibre connections for 1,000 rural schools in the last year. The second phase is to secure equipment access, which was started this year under infrastructure development.”

Strategy insights

Providing insights into the strategy, a committee member of the National Digital Economy Strategy and the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy emphasised the importance of the core principles being materialised through the strategy’s action plan.

“The human-centric aspect is very important, because in contrast to certain strategies of other countries, we have a strategy that is aligned with humans. Through this strategy, technology will augment the human and add value to the human – not replace the human. 

“Sustainability is another crucial aspect as the country hopes to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through this as well. We are looking at clean energy, renewable energy, and establishing data centres which are energy efficient.”

The high-level source specified that each main pillar of the six strategic areas would be operated through six committees appointed by the Ministry of Technology. The foundational work related to accomplishing this strategy for 2030 had commenced in 2010. According to the source, the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) had also contributed to certain pillars. 

One of the key infrastructures laid is the Lanka Government Network (LGN), connecting 860 State organisations spanning ministries, departments, hospitals, and other entities, despite lacking digital ID or payment exchange facilities. With the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) already in place, IDs and payment facilities should be developed for data exchange.

“Recently there was work related to the activation of Quick Response Codes (QR) and digitisation of MSMEs and citizens so they can at least start using the QR for payment transactions, which would then lead to adopting different digital technologies. There is work in progress, linked to these different pillars. ‘Digiecon,’ a global investment summit linking to the pillar of skills, literacy, industry, and jobs, and ‘Disrupt Asia,’ building the startup ecosystem, are examples.

“Concerning payment infrastructure, the work of LankaPay and the Central Bank standardising QR for Sri Lanka has also laid the foundation for this strategy. This journey taken in the past has both accelerated and declined at different points due to various macroeconomic situations and is to be accelerated again, but the implementation vehicle is not yet in place. 

“The ministry has established six committees, but institutions have to be formed and some have been proposed. Institutions such as the Digital Transformation Agency and National Centre for AI, alongside many other ministries and institutions, will play a key role.”

Speaking on potential partnerships, he emphasised that there should be partnerships to successfully launch the strategy, with its implementation requiring Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). “It’s essential to think progressively and embrace the cooperation of multinationals and multilateral development agencies like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), etc. Sri Lanka cannot achieve this strategy in isolation.”

The concerted coordination of various institutions involved is instrumental for the successful implementation of this strategy, alongside the management of a leading agency. 

FITIS stance

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS) Chairman Indika De Zoysa highlighted that the federation was very much part and parcel of the entire strategy.

“We don’t have a choice but to implement this strategy regardless of the challenges. When we consider the global economic landscape, a crucial measure considered is the digital economic contribution to the national economy. In the mature market, the contribution from the digital economy to the national economy is nearly 40%, while the global average is nearly 15-20%. 

“However, according to the latest available research, Sri Lanka’s contribution is less than 5%. There is a significant gap and a direct correlation to economic challenges. The goal we have is $ 15 billion of digital economic contribution to the national economy by 2030, which will solve a lot of the economic challenges.”

De Zoysa emphasised that there were projects requiring capital expenditure and a substantial amount of digital adoption and transformation should be achieved from an infrastructure point of view. 

“The biggest single contribution to our economy is from our MSMEs. There are over a million MSMEs but the digitisation rates are very low. Therefore, we are running programmes to digitise the MSMEs, so they can scale the businesses to the next level. 

“FITIS leads a programme called ‘DigiGo’. With its pilot and the first execution, we have already enabled about 10,000 SMEs to go digital. This includes digital payments, e-commerce platforms, creating their own websites, and much more. We are planning to facilitate 100,000 SMEs in 2025 which will have a direct impact on the economy.

“In the education sector, we conduct a programme called Young Computer Scientist (YCS) to encourage students to use technology, do research, develop new solutions, and build products, where certain ideas might have the potential to transform into startups. This is also to align with the national strategy,” he said.

De Zoysa further added that the Ministry of Technology had begun working on an implementation guide, consisting of proposals for the next line of budget allocations and the donor community, including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), to support implementation in terms of finance and knowledge.

“In terms of resources, the strategy is working on the education pillar, building the next level of skill sets needed for future job requirements in the market, linked with the programmes for digital transformation of education. Technologies such as 5G will also come into the equation. 

“We must fast-track developing the digital ID – a mandatory requirement – because people need to be identified digitally when moving towards the digital world. That will become the baseline of everything.”

De Zoysa added that the National Digital Economy Strategy would definitely be a key pillar in overcoming current economic challenges. “Today, the world is experiencing the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is essentially the digital economy. Therefore, it’s important to navigate how to position the country as a global economic hub in the region.”