The Government is aiming to make all public sector websites fully functional and visually standardised within the next year, as part of a broader digital overhaul backed by cloud migration and cybersecurity reforms.
“We expect to see all Government websites functional and standardised within six months to a year,” said Ministry of Digital Economy Acting Secretary Waruna Sri Dhanapala.
He confirmed that all platforms would be shifted to the Lanka Government Cloud 2.0, with long-term plans to transition into an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered Government Cloud Centre.
This transformation is being undertaken in collaboration with global development partners, including the World Bank and European Development Partners (EDP).
In the interim, a Tier 3 cloud service provider will begin managing core Government platforms through a ‘lift and shift’ approach. The new provider is scheduled to assume responsibilities as early as next week, beginning with the most critical sites and datasets.
The initiative follows alarming findings that nearly half of the 700 Government websites registered under the gov.lk domain are either inactive or have not been updated since 2014.
Dhanapala acknowledged that this posed both reputational and security risks.
“These websites present vulnerabilities that cannot be ignored,” he noted. “We have already alerted the respective institutions and asked them to appoint focal points to facilitate coordination and response.”
Resource constraints, including staffing shortages in Government IT services, have slowed progress. However, the ministry has committed to working with the available resources to restore and modernise the digital infrastructure.
The urgency has been amplified by recent cyberattacks, including one targeting the Ministry of Public Security. In response, the Ministry of Digital Economy has implemented enhanced firewalls and adopted a dual strategy of proactive engagement and reactive support in case of incidents.
On a national level, the Cabinet has approved the creation of a National Cyber Security Operations Centre, which will become fully operational by September. This centre is designed to support institutions that handle critical information infrastructure, and training for institutional focal points is already underway.
Additionally, the ministry has launched a parallel initiative to detect malware and other digital threats in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (Sri Lanka CERT), which is currently providing ongoing technical support to Government bodies.