Making M-Government An Immediate Reality in Sri Lanka

There is more work to be done before Sri Lankan citizens can access all government services via their mobile phones, but Chief Technology Officer Sanjaya Karunasena of Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka revealed steps that can make some aspects of m-government a reality in the short-run. “The Sri Lankan Government 3.0 vision is one where we can provide seamless citizen services anytime and anywhere. Integrating mobile technology means citizens can interact, transact and make payment with their mobile devices. Similarly, civil servants become location-independent and are connected all the time,” declared Karunasena.
“Can we do this tomorrow? Probably not. So what can we do in the short-run?,” he asked the 140 senior government delegates at FutureGov Forum Sri Lanka 2011 this morning. “We should focus on simple technologies such as Voice, SMS, or USSD, integrate mobile payments to current online e-government applications and gather statistics on mobile broadband connectivity.”
The first step is to look at the online government services that the Sri Lankan government now offers and extend the services through mobile, recommended Karunasena. For example, besides allowing citizens to renew licenses online, a simple extension is to send an alert to the citizen via his or her mobile phone when the license is due for renewal. “In the near future when transaction over mobile devices is available, the citizen can easily complete the entire renewal process without logging into a computer or visiting the government office,” he elaborated.
Karunasena listed three important requirements for mobile service delivery: citizens should be able to access the service, pay via this channel, and the government must able to receive the payment. Mobile penetration has reached over 90 per cent, with 18 million users included out of the 20 million population. This is a significant number compared to the Central Bank’s statistics on fixed line internet connection and the 5 million internet banking transactions.
“We are not far from receiving payments through the mobile channel,” he said. “The Central Bank has recently released guidelines that all licensed institutions can offer mobile payment services. We also have the Electronic Transaction Act, and Public Finance Circular No 447.”
In the long run, the Sri Lankan government will focus on enhancing mobile broadband coverage, building rich and interactive mobile applications, and on re-engineering processes and services with mobility in mind. “In future, imagine dialing 1919 – the government hot line – or the Pension Department, and you can see the officer who is serving you. That will give citizens a much better interactive experience,” concluded Karunasena.

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