Since June, the Government has been in the process of training State officials in Artificial Intelligence (AI), an initiative spearheaded primarily by Chief Adviser to the President on Digital Economy Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya.
At present, the institutions directly involved in the roll-out of the training sessions include the Ministry of Digital Economy and the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA).
Although the incumbent Government is yet to publish a policy or any thorough official document that outlines the importance of training and equipping public sector workers with Large Language Models (LLMs), the previous administration’s National AI Strategy 2028, released in July of 2024, highlights how integral incorporating AI into public service will be in the near future.
The 2024 strategy states: “Our AI strategy must provide clear direction and support for key stakeholders, including Government officials, industry leaders, policymakers, public servants, and innovators. This will enable them to drive the growth of Sri Lanka’s AI sector, adapt to the rapidly changing landscape, and harness the power of AI to improve the lives of our citizens and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
Under a table named ‘Skills Development Initiatives,’ the document further establishes actionable pointers to develop AI awareness, use, and responsible utilisation: “Develop data and AI awareness and education programmes for public sector employees and key policymakers, covering basic data and AI systems, their potential in the public sector, responsible use, and procurement consideration.”
It further notes: “Design and conduct specialised training programmes in data and AI project design and management, as well as procurement for public sector decision-makers, with tailored content for senior public officials to enhance their ability to incorporate data and AI effectively in governance, public sector operations, and public service delivery.”
It adds: “Create a mandatory training programme in data and AI ethics and responsible use for all public sector employees, supplemented by an accessible online awareness course to ensure a foundational understanding of these critical concepts across the workforce.”
Raising State sector awareness
According to a media release by the President’s Office, a more recent workshop session on AI held with Government employees was meant to raise awareness and prepare officials for the further implementation of the Government’s digitalisation agenda.
In order to gauge a better understanding of the workshops, The Sunday Morning Business spoke to Media Secretary to the Deputy Minister of Digital Economy Nipuni Rajapaksha, who said that the trainings were the first step in the direction of realising Sri Lanka’s digital economy by 2030.
“We are moving towards the digital economy goal, while many Government officials not too long ago were almost entirely unfamiliar with technology of most kinds, be it AI, digitalised processes, or how to deal with even basic things like how to verify the receipt of digital payments. Through the workshops, we are trying to emphasise how technology can enhance transparency and efficiency and broaden officials’ awareness of how AI can be incorporated into their departmental-level processes,” Rajapaksha said.
She added that all ministries at some point were to be targeted for training sessions and that the institutions at the forefront of the digitalisation process, such as the Ministry of Transport and the President’s Office, had been selected first for training.
“The institutions that had progressed further along the digitalisation journey were selected. This also included the Colombo Municipal Council. Our next step is to scale this effort and focus on training the other city councils and provincial councils across the country.”
Ongoing training
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, ICTA Project Manager – Strategic Communications Maleen Danushka said that although individual ministries had been targeted for sessions previously, the institutions saw it as more feasible to combine ministries for the training sessions.
“Previously, we trained each ministry separately, but recently we were able to combine 10 ministries, with an attendance of around 1,000 public sector workers for a Saturday training programme at Temple Trees.”
The Government statement on the session stated that the programme had brought together executive officers from 10 key ministries, including the Ministries of Labour, Transport and Highways, Women and Child Affairs, Urban Development, Rural Development, Public Administration, Religious and Cultural Affairs, Sports and Youth Affairs, Public Security, and Plantation.
Danushka stated that the workshop had been a success, adding that it would likely be the preferred arrangement for the next few weeks of workshops. “Higher-level officials are likely to receive separate training in the future,” he added.
Expressing the nature of the training, Rajapaksha added: “What’s important is that they begin incorporating AI into their day-to-day processes and services they provide as public sector officials; one major preliminary need is getting them to become familiar with digital payments. We generally invite all the people in the departments and expect those directly involved in processes to benefit from this training.”
By 2030, Sri Lanka aims to have a digital economy worth $ 15 billion, driven by embracing digital payments, financial inclusion, streamlining public services through GovPay — the national platform for digital Government payments — and fostering tech-driven economic growth.
Rajapaksha added, however, that it was too early to comment on each trainee’s level of awareness on the importance of safe data handling, adding that it would be discussed thoroughly further into the training.
“There is a digital blueprint we are working towards to realise the vision of a digital economy in 2030, so it’s pertinent that each ministry is digitalised,” Danushka added.
He explained that the public sector officers at present had received training on the inclusion of communities and groups within the larger population, as well as on how to maintain standards to ensure trust in governance and many other ground rules that need to be adhered to in the process of incorporating digitalisation.
“There is also the aspect of training where they are made aware of tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, going beyond the barrier we perceive in our minds about not knowing English in order to use these tools,” Dhanushka added, stating that the training helped with understanding how to use the tools practically, be it learning how to improve procurement processes or drafting a letter.
“When the training started, they didn’t have much confidence, but now they are far more enthusiastic and the high attendance in numbers shows that there’s a general willingness among them to embrace this move to digitalise.”
He further expressed that each session at present was being filmed and that the videos of the sessions were expected to be uploaded to YouTube.
“We also look forward to uploading additional material to increase awareness and usage knowledge on the Government’s official AI site that is yet to be launched, named ai.gov.lk,” he said, explaining that the institutions involved were not just looking to educate public sector workers, but were also expecting to educate the broader public on AI usage to enhance work processes.
“We might also consider opening the training up for interested private sector parties to train public sector officers,” he said, when asked about the possibility of incorporating private sector training and insights.
Adapting to the Lankan context
Former Chairman of the Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS) Indika De Zoysa, also speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, stressed the point that regardless of the positive initiative to train public sector workers, there needed to be a policy that mandated the incorporation of technology, digitalisation, and AI into governance and decision-making.
“I was involved in the public consultations on the national strategy last year, and they first created the AI Task Force, which was composed of a panel of experts who had a very good understanding of what was taking place across the world in terms of incorporating AI into governance and public institutions,” De Zoysa said. However, he added: “We first need a policy on how AI will be mandated to be adopted, strategy aside.”
For education, he stated, Sri Lanka had the opportunity of looking into how AI could answer its dire teacher shortage. “Can the technology be used to teach subjects like Maths and Science, for example? Learning how to use AI at the school level is another aspect we can focus on, so that children are equipped once they end their school journey and enter the job market, but we can first try addressing the more pertinent issue, which is the lack of teachers,” he said.
“From a healthcare point of view, we can explore how AI can be used to read X-rays, identify diseases, and make predictions. We do not do enough data-driven decision-making as a nation, and AI will likely enable this. Therefore, it is key that a policy is formulated so that it is incorporated into day-to-day processes and functions, all the way into decision-making.”
De Zoysa added that, as many other countries across the world had realised through the process of trial and error of incorporating AI into governance and policy, it could ultimately benefit processes in terms of efficiency.
“AI will help with efficiency; many countries are far ahead on their AI incorporation journeys and are at various stages of embracing it. We need to also look at examples of what other countries have done, what worked, and what didn’t work.”
More cautiously, he noted: “We also need to understand that some exemplary AI roll-outs may have worked in countries like the US and UK, as well as in Africa, but in the Sri Lankan context, they likely would not work.”
SL’s strategy
Sri Lanka’s national strategy for AI released in 2024 further added that by focusing on key enablers, accelerating adoption in priority sectors, driving public sector transformation, stimulating private sector innovation, and ensuring a safe and trustworthy AI ecosystem, the nation expects to lay a strong foundation for its AI-driven future.
“To do this, we will embrace innovative financing models to fuel the growth of our AI ecosystem, exploring and implementing a mix of funding mechanisms, including Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), incentives for AI research and development, and support for start-ups and projects with significant societal impact. By creating a supportive financial environment for AI innovation, we will attract talent and investment,” it noted.
Sri Lanka Telecom Chairperson Dr. Mothilal De Silva, at a recent press conference held to inaugurate the launch of the Government’s AI Expo, stated that Sri Lanka would launch a Rs. 100 million AI fund in a bid to invest in domestic AI-driven start-ups and research, and that the proceeds of the expo would be directed to the fund.
“Global AI adoption is accelerating from just 20% of organisations in 2017 to 78% this year. Nations such as China and India are already leading the change as AI leaders. AI will play an increasingly greater role in everyday lives. The question is not whether AI will transform the world, but if Sri Lankans will lead or follow,” De Silva said, speaking to the media gathering.
Further, he added that of Sri Lanka’s digital economy’s target of $ 15 billion by 2030, AI would contribute 10–12% of its growth.
Furthermore, Digital Economy Deputy Minister Eranga Weeraratne said that Sri Lanka still continued to lag behind its regional neighbours, adding that it was required to adapt to the times in order to play a pivotal role in AI.
“Here’s the truth: Sri Lanka is falling behind. India has a national AI adoption rate of almost 57%, while Singapore runs more than 97% of Government services with AI. Even emerging nations like Vietnam have set 2030 as their AI leadership target,” he said.
The 2024 strategy further adds that Sri Lanka intends to leverage data as an asset. “The primary focus of our data strategy will be to harness the intrinsic value of data to improve public sector decision-making. By combining data and evidence with the domain expertise of our public sector, we can significantly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our limited public resources,” it notes.
This approach, according to the strategy, will also enable Sri Lanka to distribute resources equitably and “measure the equity of outcomes”.
Ensuring responsible data practices is also mentioned in the document as a key objective, recognising the ability for AI to further increase disparities within societal groups.
“While data and AI offer revolutionary improvements to decision-making, they can also worsen existing societal inequities and deepen divisions if not handled responsibly, especially when used for AI systems. To minimise risks to our citizens and systems while harnessing the benefits of data, we will develop and operationalise a suite of processes, guidelines, regulations, and standards.”
It states that the framework outlined in the strategy document will promote responsible data collection, usage, and continuous stewardship to ensure the sustainability of responsible data management practices in the country. “Additionally, we aim to establish a pro-growth data regime that balances innovation with data protection, creating an environment that fosters data-driven economic growth.”
Lastly, it outlines promoting collaboration as a key objective as well, stating that in order to realise the full potential of data-driven innovation in improving people’s lives, Sri Lanka will have to promote and support collaboration across public agencies and encourage PPPs.
“Our data strategy aims to develop processes and guidelines that make these collaborations seamless and provide value to all stakeholders involved. We will also prioritise opening up Government data to the private sector and the public through robust open data initiatives, stimulating innovation and economic opportunities.”