Govt. keen to see ICT reach rise to 75% and beyond – President

Saturday, 30 August 2014 05:59 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

At a time ICT is rapidly expanding in Sri Lanka, having exceeded 50% of the population, the Government is keen to see this rise with speed to 75% and beyond, stated President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his message to congratulate on National Information Technology Conference (NITC) 2014. This was in keeping with the priority given by the Government for inclusive development that incorporates ICT literacy and the wider availability of ICT – based tools for Sri Lanka to be transformed into an Information Society, he added. The theme of this Conference “ICT for Inclusive Development” is most timely in view of the rapid expansion in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the impact it is having on the social and economic progress of

nations throughout the world, the President further said. Lanka being the current Chair – in – Office of the Commonwealth of Nations, it is most appropriate that this Conference will focus on aspects of ICT development that is relevant to all members of the Commonwealth and also look at how such progress could influence the post - 2015 Millenium Development Goals, President Rajapaksa stated. The inauguration ceremony of the National Information Technology Conference (NITC) 2014 was held early this week at the Main Conference Hall of the Bandaranaike International Conference Hall (BMICH), Colombo.The 32nd National Information Technology Conference was held from August 26 to 27 of at the Kingsbury Hotel, Colombo. NITC organized annually by the Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL) is the flagship ICT conference held in Sri Lanka since 1982, involving ICT professionals, academia , technology experts , policy makers, entrepreneurs, and private and public sector key decision makers in Sri Lanka. CSSL is a leading professional body of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Sri Lanka and is a member of the South East Asia Regional Computer Confederation (SEARCC ) and International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). Considering the relevance of CHOGM 2013 theme “Growth and Equity: Inclusive Development”, NITC 2014 will be positioned as an ICT forum for commonwealth nations organized by the Computer Society of the CHOGM host country to create a platform to deliberate on the role of ICT in citizen centric development in the commonwealth beyond Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of which deadline reaches in 2015. The conference agenda focused deliberations on topics relevant to commonwealth countries on developing a collaborative and connected commonwealth to share ICT knowledge and resources to synergize efforts to advance the social development. NITC 2014 further strengthened its identity as the strategic meeting place for CIOs and ICT professional which provided an opportunity to acquire knowledge from local and foreign experts and industry leaders while sharing ideas and innovations with the international peers particularly with those from the Commonwealth region.