Sri Lanka is actively working towards a more digitally enabled Government to support the country’s digital economy expansion. Among the very recent initiatives is the Cabinet approval of a project to establish a unified Digital Communication and Collaboration Platform for Government employees, alongside several other key initiatives.
The 2026 Budget allocated a sum of Rs. 25,500 million to develop Sri Lanka’s digital economy. In this context, The Sunday Morning Business examined the progress made thus far in the digital integration of the country’s Government sector, focusing on policy implementation, infrastructure and system integration, talent-pipeline development, and regulatory and administrative reforms to understand how effectively the fundamental groundwork has been established.
Govt. initiative progress
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Ministry of Digital Economy Secretary Waruna Sri Dhanapala, commenting on the progress of the Government sector digital integration so far, stated that integration efforts largely depended on the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
He noted that the ministry was currently in the process of gathering requirements from major stakeholders, adding that this component would primarily be addressed through the digital ID initiative.
The Secretary further explained that another key element was the National Digital Exchange system, which would function as the central layer – connecting key Government platforms in one place. In addition, he noted that collaboration and communication tools were also being developed, referring to official Government communication systems, including e-mails and other engagement mechanisms.
Dhanapala also stated that Cabinet approval had recently been obtained to proceed with the Government Digital Marketplace system. This, he explained, would enable Government entities to avoid lengthy procurement processes when acquiring digital products such as inventory control systems or HR management tools. He noted that these were among the early initiatives currently being implemented.
Apart from these, he highlighted that the payment platform GovPay had also been promoted across the Government.
“Discussions have recently been held with the Ministry of Public Administration to connect Local Government entities to a uniform reporting system as well as a stakeholder support system. This initiative is expected to be launched soon, with high-level commitment from all Local Government authorities,” he added.
Notable progress made for a digitally enabled Govt.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, digital transformation expert Asela Waidyalankara noted that Sri Lanka had, over the past few years, made notable progress in laying the groundwork for a more digitally enabled Government.
From a policy standpoint, he noted that there was now a clearer intent and direction, especially with initiatives around digital government, the proposed Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity, and the broader digital economy framework. These signal a shift from fragmented digitisation efforts towards a more integrated, platform-based approach.
On infrastructure, while there had been improvements, especially in connectivity and some shared services, he observed that the landscape remained uneven.
“Certain institutions are far more mature than others, and true interoperability across ministries and agencies is still a work in progress. The move towards a unified Digital Communication and Collaboration Platform is a positive step, but its success will depend heavily on adoption, governance, and integration with existing systems,” he said.
In terms of system integration, Waidyalankara believes this is arguably where the most work remains. This is due to many Government systems still operating in silos, with limited data-sharing capabilities. He explained that without a strong emphasis on interoperability standards, data governance frameworks, and Application Programming Interface (API)-driven architectures, the full benefits of digital transformation would be difficult to realise.
Speaking on the talent front, Waidyalankara noted that there was a growing recognition of the need to build and retain digital skills within the public sector. However, he added that attracting and retaining the right talent continued to be a challenge, especially given competition from the private sector and overseas opportunities. Thus, according to him, structured capacity-building programmes and clearer career pathways in GovTech will be essential.
“Encouragingly, there has also been movement on the regulatory side, especially with the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) and ongoing discussions around cybersecurity legislation. These are critical enablers of trust in digital systems. That said, timely implementation and institutional readiness will be key,” he added.
Addressing the central question of whether the fundamentals had been properly laid out, he noted that the foundations were now visible but not yet fully solidified. “The direction is right, but execution, coordination, and institutional capacity will determine whether these efforts translate into meaningful, citizen-centric outcomes,” he said.
Progress in education sector integration
Meanwhile, digital trust advocate and University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJ) Department of Information Technology Head Prof. Lasith Gunawardena stated that Sri Lanka was moving in the right direction in terms of digitalisation across several aspects, specifically in the education sector, although progress remained at an early stage.
Based on his observations, he noted that the Government had already initiated plans for digitalisation, with groundwork underway through task forces and policy initiatives. However, he highlighted that digitalisation was not an overnight process, but rather involved the continuation and acceleration of practices, policies, and studies that had gradually developed over time.
Prof. Gunawardena further highlighted that leadership played an essential role in driving digitalisation, noting that without direction and incentives from leadership, whether in Government or private sector organisations, progress would be limited.
While the direction is positive, he explained that digitalisation required sustained effort, planning, and implementation over time. He also noted that despite challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the rapid digitalisation during that period helped reshape perceptions of the role of technology in education.
“Infrastructure, specifically connectivity, remains a major challenge, especially in schools. However, emerging solutions such as Starlink, which is a satellite-based internet service designed to provide connectivity in underserved and remote areas, could help bridge existing gaps. Beyond connectivity, additional challenges exist as well, including access to devices, platforms, teacher training, and support systems to ensure the effective use of digital tools,” he said.
However, he noted that future adoption must be approached carefully, taking into account factors such as recommended screen-time guidelines and emerging global trends, including countries such as Norway revisiting certain digital initiatives to strengthen students’ reading habits.
Prof. Gunawardena also noted that funding remained a key concern, as large-scale digitalisation required significant investment. He observed that Government funding alone may not be sufficient to support uniform nationwide digitalisation, adding that support from development partners – such as international organisations and donors – may be necessary.
Strengthening DPI is essential
Commenting on broader Government digitalisation, Prof. Gunawardena noted the expansion of digital payment systems, highlighting initiatives such as the onboarding of GovPay as a milestone. He also noted the promotion of QR-based payment systems, especially among small retailers, as an encouraging example of digital adoption.
However, he observed that continued focus on improving data sharing and interoperability across Government institutions would be key to enabling deeper integration, noting that overall digital Government development remained at an early stage, with substantial opportunities ahead.
“If we benchmark Sri Lanka against global examples, countries such as Estonia highlight the potential of digital Government and pathways for scaling it effectively, and Sri Lanka can complement these insights by learning from regional neighbours, including India,” he said.
Prof. Gunawardena also observed recent initiatives within ministries, including the launch of the Crop Resources, Optimising Operations through Precise Information Exchange System (CROPIX) platform under the Ministry of Agriculture, implemented with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), highlighting it as a valuable example of how data sharing and interoperability could be advanced through coordinated digital initiatives.
Moreover, he highlighted that strengthening DPI, specifically digital identity systems, would be essential to enable integrated Government services, noting that without such foundations, service delivery would remain fragmented.
“Digitalisation in Sri Lanka has seen growing policy attention, including the establishment of a dedicated digital economy focus within Government structures, that indicates recognition of its strategic importance. However, there is a considerable amount of work that remains, especially in addressing financial and resource constraints faced by a developing country emerging from an economic crisis,” he said.
Need to eliminate IT silos
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business on the progress in the Government sector and improvements needed, Government ICT Professionals’ Association (GICTPA) Chairman and ICT Industry Skills Council Director Eng. Thilina Panduka noted that while the Government had the building blocks of a modern digital state, they were yet to operate as a consistently integrated ‘platform’ across ministries.
He noted that the national strategy explicitly called for a common DPI, digital ID, payment gateway, and data exchange platform with an API gateway to eliminate ‘IT silos’ and enable interoperable services across agencies.
Panduka observed that the country already ran shared infrastructure components such as the Lanka Government Cloud 2.0 (LGC 2.0), and was upgrading it further via formal procurement for cloud transformation and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).
In terms of integration, he noted integration maturity as uneven, as some domains, notably health, showed advanced architectural thinking – such as the national health data exchange, API management, security components, and identity provider/SSO patterns – while cross-Government interoperability remained constrained by fragmented legacy systems and underpowered delivery capacity.
“While there is a credible interoperability standard (Lanka Interoperability Framework [LIFe]), the most widely circulated reference version is old (v0.9.2), indicating that either the framework needs visible modernisation or the updated standards are not discoverable enough to drive compliance at scale,” he said.
Talent is the critical path
Panduka believes that talent is the critical path. He explained that Government ICT staff were organised partly through the Sri Lanka ICT Service (SLICTS), with an approved cadre exceeding 3,000 across classes. However, he added that operational units showed persistent gaps.
For instance, the Ministry of Finance’s Department of IT Management reported 19 vacancies out of 73 approved posts (26%) in late 2023, with a separate cadre snapshot also showing 19 vacancies out of 65 earlier in 2023.
Thus, he added that the State had repeatedly resorted to attachments and secondments to patch capability gaps, including attaching SLICTS officers to fill vacant posts in finance, as well as secondment-based recruitment at the telecom regulator.
According to Panduka, the skills mismatch is not that Sri Lanka lacks graduates, but it is that the Government’s demand profile is shifting faster than its hiring, pay, and role design.
“Digital Government now needs cloud engineering, cyber risk, data exchange/API productisation, IAM/SSO, DevOps, and service design, which are capabilities explicitly implied by DPI ambitions and sector blueprints like health. However, many Government vacancy notices still prioritise broad generalist competencies like network administration, hardware troubleshooting, and basic web/software development, rather than platform engineering and product delivery,” he added.
He further expressed his belief that the operating model needed a reset, with platform-first architecture, agile procurement, and a talent ‘flywheel,’ with fast-track hiring, structured internships, certification pathways, and retention levers such as market-sensitive allowances and cross-sector secondments.
Panduka added that procurement reform was already moving – with new national procurement guidelines effective from 1 January 2025 – but digital-specific contracting patterns like modular, outcome-based, continuous delivery had to be institutionalised, not treated as exceptions.
He also shared several recommendations moving forward, explaining that Sri Lanka’s opportunity was to move from “projects and portals” to platformisation, which was a small set of national digital platforms like ID, payments, data exchange, cloud with strong standards, funding continuity, and a repeatable talent pipeline.
Addressing priority reforms for infrastructure and integration, the GICTPA Chairman noted the need for the Government to treat DPI as a single integrated product line with clear owners and enforceable standards, making DPI nonnegotiable and mandating that new digital services use common authentication (digital ID), common payments (GovPay or successor Government payment gateway), and the national data exchange/API gateway for interagency data sharing, all consistent with national strategy.
Panduka also noted the need to institutionalise interoperability by refreshing and operationalising the interoperability framework, ensuring that it covered not just personal data elements, but API standards, security patterns, event schemas, and domain registries. He recommended using LIFe as the governance nucleus but with modernised artefacts and compliance enforcement.
“It is also important to adopt ‘zero trust by default’ for shared platforms by aligning PDPA obligations with a Government-wide security baseline and continuous assurance, and scale the shared hosting spine by continuing LGC transformation and implementing reference landing zones for agencies. LGC already shows significant tenant and workload scale, and the next step is standardisation and operational excellence,” he said
On procurement and administrative reforms to speed delivery, he noted that Sri Lanka should pivot to a procurement model compatible with iterative digital delivery. For this, he observed the need for introducing a standard digital procurement playbook, creating prequalified panels for cloud, cyber, and integration while protecting delivery during institutional restructuring.
According to Panduka, talent pipeline improvement is where Sri Lanka can create a step change. For this, he noted the need for fasttracking intake and skills-based hiring, especially by establishing a ‘Government digital fellowship’ and reducing time-to-hire by moving from episodic exam cycles to rolling quarterly intakes.
“There is also a need for structured internships tied to platform teams, certification pathways linked to civil service progression, and, very importantly, ensuring retention and career path competitiveness,” he added.