• Main problem being that professionals with many years of experience are leaving the country
• It was suggested to look into the possibility of making ICT a compulsory subject

By Sandun A Jayasekera

The National Council sub-committee on identifying short and medium-term programmes related to economic stabilization that met in Parliament late last week noted that Sri Lanka is lagging behind other countries in the world due to the lack of a national digital policy. 

The ad-hoc parliamentary sub-committee that met under the chairmanship of senior Parliamentarian Patali Champika Ranawaka found that it is still not possible to prepare a network that connects all government institutions, under the concept of ‘E-Governance’. Attention was drawn on how the related policies should be prepared on a priority basis and the distance between the state, the citizen and the businessman should be narrowed.
In view of the current economic crisis, the IT sector in Sri Lanka is facing a number of problems, IT professionals said. It was emphasized that the main problem is that professionals with many years of experience are leaving the country.

It was discussed that although the IT subject has been introduced in the school syllabus in Sri Lanka, there has not been enough involvement of the experts in the field and it was also suggested to look into the possibility of making the subject of ICT a compulsory subject in the new education reforms.   It was also suggested that steps should be taken to address the shortage of lecturers in the IT in national universities and it was also suggested in the committee that it would be appropriate to prepare some tax relief programme for lecturers.

The experts pointed out that the quality of labour in Sri Lanka’s IT sector is high. Therefore, it was emphasized that the amount of foreign currency coming into the country will grow by directing workers to work in institutions located in countries such as the US and UK without leaving the country because there is no big issue related to the excessive demand for labour in the field. Attention was drawn to difficulties faced by small-scale IT due to power cuts and the current electricity crisis and the increase in energy costs in large-scale businesses.

The experts pointed out the need for the Export Development Board to prepare a programme to reduce export transportation costs such as shipping charges, postage, and courier charges for small-scale sellers.
A large number of public and private sector IT experts, heads of government institutions and heads of private IT companies participated at the discussion.