Sri Lanka has pinned its hopes on economic recovery aided by the growth of its digital economy. In doing so, Sri Lanka must navigate the complex and evolving cybersecurity landscape to ensure that the digital economy which the island states build remains resilient, reliable, trustworthy and effective. The challenges faced by Sri Lanka in traveling down this road was addressed at an expert gathering held last week in Colombo under the Asian Development Bank’s Serendipity Knowledge Programme (SKOP), themed cybersecurity & data protection for digital economy development. During the day-long conference, Sri Lankan officials, subject matter experts, industry partners and representatives from the Japanese government shared their insights about challenges and opportunities which lay ahead. Such exchanges in knowledge and expertise helps Sri Lanka identify practical steps which can lead to a secure and digital future for Sri Lanka, aided by implementing some of the best practices which have been adopted worldwide.
It is clear that to stay abreast of the security and safety challenges which the digital world will bring, Sri Lankans, including state officials at each tier and the public, will need awareness building, continuous training, and change in mindset. For example, Sri Lanka’s critical infrastructure, like our ports, energy sector and our digital umbilical to the world, the undersea data cables which bring the island internet and the globe at a touch of a button, needs to be viewed as strategic priorities for protection, both on the cybersecurity and physical security fronts.
Despite their critical value to keep Sri Lanka going, there is very little public discourse or state official awareness of the cybersecurity and physical security aspects of such critical infrastructure. Some, like the undersea cables, remain unprotected and vulnerable, without even a legal framework to ensure there are safety and security mechanisms to prevent or prosecute accidental or malicious disruptions or sabotage to them. There have been numerous occasions in the recent past where ports, energy infrastructure, and undersea cables have all suffered cybersecurity breaches, attacks and disruptions.
To build a thriving digital economy in a democratic nation, Sri Lanka must ensure that it introduces robust data policies, builds digital resilience, improves cybersecurity, strengthens privacy, and protection while maximizing data use and adoption of Artificial Intelligence tools which. According to ICTA Chairperson, and advisor to the President Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, Sri Lanka needs to ‘leapfrog’ the coming change and not move at an incremental phase in digitalization as it had done in the past. He opined that to achieve a five fold growth in a short period, rapid and widespread adoption of digital technologies are needed. Wijesuriya advocated making cybersecurity and data protection a cornerstone to ensure resilience, trust, and a stable platform for innovation, adding that continuous policy reform is needed, including effective laws, regulatory bodies, and enforcement.
He also stated that Sri Lanka's success depends on its people, businesses, and stakeholders being aware, engaged, and adaptive to new digital norms. Managing international data flows securely and building trust with global partners, was also highlighted by Wijesuriya. He stated that Sri Lanka can sustain a competitive advantage through the digital economy by moving beyond cost-based competition to innovation and trust as unique selling points.
The Japanese government officials highlighted challenges they have dealt with thus far, pointing out that cybersecurity and safety challenges continue to grow, and that Japan has early on given due priority to the issue with a Cabinet level body formed to oversee state response and resilience on the matter. They highlighted the need for world class training across both the state sector and private sectors. The need for effective regulatory mechanisms, which ensure that key projects and systems are built with cybersecurity as a core concern. Sri Lanka has much to learn from nations like Japan on this issue and we should be thankful for the support extended to our island from the ADB and the Japanese Government.
However, any effective implementation of systems, resilience building and sustaining competitive edge in the digital economy will require significant investment in our people. Sri Lanka must build awareness and a culture of cybersecurity consciousness amongst our population, especially our youth.