The Hon. (Mrs.) Oshani Umanga

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I move the following Adjournment Motion titled “Government’s Initiative towards an Inclusive Digital Economy.”

¶ 02 Digital economy development is one of the three key pillars of the new Government’s main development strategy, spanning multiple sectors. We draw the House’s attention to a broad programme of policy, strategic and operational actions for an inclusive digital economy.

¶ 03 We must more effectively integrate digitalization—especially public digital infrastructure—and emerging AI-related technologies with the national economy; showcase Sri Lanka’s competitive capabilities to the global community; and attract foreign capital by prioritizing youth and women, and promoting tech startups and innovation-led enterprises.

¶ 04 A broad public awareness programme is needed, engaging both public and private sectors, educational institutions, international experts and institutions, and the Sri Lankan diaspora, to demonstrate achievements and our future direction. The Ministry of Digital Economy should launch a series of activities accordingly.

¶ 05 Digitalization is a dynamic, continuous process. If governments and private institutions adopt it effectively, they can deliver goods and services competitively with higher efficiency and productivity, meeting evolving citizen and customer expectations. Our people entrusted us with building a prosperous nation. Advancing national digitalization is part of realizing that vision. In the past, the absence, distortion and misplacement of data impaired decision-making. Instead of modernizing technology, corruption and waste prevailed. Today, we are driving toward zero tolerance for corruption, using new technologies and aligning governance with global best practices. We are building national digital policy and strategy, including platforms for digitalizing state services—National ID, driver’s licence, passport, land registration—expanding the Lanka Government Network and Cloud, strengthening rural infrastructure and inclusion, establishing knowledge centres, cyber-security frameworks, and smart-city aligned digital infrastructure projects.