– Applications have been called to recruit 400 public officers as Digital Champions for the Public Impact Champions Network (PIC-NET), an institutional pilot initiative aimed at optimizing public services through digitalization.

As a key component of the Government’s Digital Economy Plan to enhance efficiency and quality in the public sector, an awareness program for coordinating executive officers of public institutions was held yesterday (27) at the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). The program marked the first step towards establishing PIC-NET, which is expected to drive large-scale digital transformation across government institutions.

Senior Adviser to the President on the Digital Economy and Chairman of ICTA, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, said the Government is preparing for a “massive technological transformation” across all public institutions in the coming years.He noted that Sri Lanka aims to increase its digitally empowered economy from 3% to 12% by 2030, adding that the expansion of the digital economy is essential to improve efficiency, service quality and revenue generation.

Dr. Wijayasuriya further observed that while many developed countries have advanced rapidly in digitalization, several developing nations still face challenges in this area. He pointed to India’s progress as an example and said Sri Lanka’s goal is to position itself strongly in line with global digital developments.

He added that within the next three years, coordination and management of transactions among public institutions are expected to function in a fully networked system, similar to banking operations, with broad institutional and public support essential for successful implementation.