The Hon. Namal Rajapaksa, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, it is clear the present Government is focusing significantly on digitalization and building the digital economy. However, at times we see a mismatch between the stated goals and the policies you follow. Especially, you expect Rs. 5–15 billion in revenue from the digital economy. But, if you impose a 15 percent tax on that anticipated digital economy revenue, how will you promote investment inflows? Even without such a tax at present, it has been quite difficult to raise our digital economy revenue to Rs. 1–1.2 billion. Sri Lanka is not the only country engaging in the digital economy. It is not confined within a single country now; the world is structured for businesses to operate from anywhere. The digital economy depends on the tax incentives and the lifestyle countries offer. If you cannot provide a lifestyle and there are no tax concessions, then within the next year the digital economy could shift, and you will fail to retain even the existing billion-rupee revenue.

¶ 02 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, next I must say: for years every government paid attention to SL-UDI, the Citizens’ Services Digitalization. During my two and a half years as Minister, we obtained an Indian grant and advanced SL-UDI up to the tender process. After our Government changed, it took a step back. I believe you will implement it. But there are several practical issues to which your attention is necessary. One is establishing a Data Protection Agency—to protect the data of our people.

¶ 03 There is much social rhetoric being raised today. When you were in the Opposition, you established that narrative; it was not ours. When we said data would not be sold, you said we were trying to sell data to foreign countries. That was a central plank of your political campaign. Now you have the responsibility and challenge to socialize that your campaign thesis was wrong. We will help, because we know it is not true. If you establish a Data Protection Authority and a legal framework, data selling and theft will not be easy. Anyone bent on wrongdoing does not need a UID; there are countless ways. Your first task should be to set up the data protection agency and put in place the necessary regulations and rules.

¶ 04 On the other hand, what services will you digitize? I believe all public services should be digitized; the e-Courts project must be implemented; modernize the justice system, Hon. Minister. You take that responsibility. When I was Technology Minister, Minister Ali Sabry initiated it. It is very good. Then, there is no need to queue up from morning for motions and court matters. Clients do not need to be in court the entire day and lawyers do not need to idle. We must expedite e-Courts.

¶ 05 Hon. Minister of Justice, you should intervene with the Hon. Minister of Finance to digitize procurements—move to e-Procurement and competitive e-biddings. The reverse bidding concept is used globally, but not here; we still follow the traditional procedure, which opens space for corruption. If we introduce these mechanisms and move to reverse bidding, processes will be more transparent, and the transparency of tenders for any government project will be safeguarded. Even so, in our political context, finger-pointing at Ministers, Secretaries, or the Government may not end, but it will reduce—and that is good. Otherwise, however much we digitize, the people will not benefit. Also, our legal system should be adapted to digital modalities. Under the Electronic Transactions Act, e-signature is permissible, but many public institutions do not use it because it is not mandated. So although you can obtain birth, death, and marriage certificates online, you still have to take them to an office to get attestations, due to reluctance to accept digital signatures. The solution is to enact the necessary laws and make them mandatory.

¶ 06 Next, a payment gateway. Amend public finance laws to provide a single-window government payment gateway. Today there is none. A woman going for foreign employment must go to six or seven places to make payments—even for Rs. 750 or Rs. 500. To get a police report and pay, she must go physically. If we integrate this into a single-window payment system with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Technology, and the Central Bank, then at least essential public services can be digitized, moving us toward your digital economy aspirations.

¶ 07 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, this rollout cannot be done in haste. We need biometrics: facial recognition, iris scans, fingerprints. This is not a task for one ministry. I believe this should be driven by the President or an agency with similar authority, bringing together over 40 institutions and at least 20 ministries. We must reconcile institutional repositories and processes; otherwise, no matter how capable the officers are, this will not succeed. For five to ten years we debated who owns the UID/digital ID project: the Department of Registration of Persons says it is theirs; the Passport Office wants data; the Defence Ministry says citizen data must be under them.

¶ 08 I believe all this should come under a single framework. The National Data Protection Authority should be given full powers. Then all institutions can be unified to implement this. Without granting the necessary legal framework and authority, even if you appoint capable private-sector officers, you cannot deliver. You must convene public institutions, officials, and unions and discuss. Without discussion it will not work; with discussion but without decision-making power, it also will not work. It is good that the President is attempting this. My request to the Government is: you have brought in capable private-sector officers like Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya; give them authority. If you deploy the usual state decision-making routines to run digitalization, you will not deliver in five years—not even in the next 15. Empower them.