Sri Lanka's digital leap: Al, Blockchain, and future of public service

PICTURE this: a Matara farmer checks crop prices on a smartphone, a Colombo clerk pays taxes via a tap, and a Jaffna shopkeeper secures a birth certificate online—all in a day's work. This isn't a distant dream but the promise of “Digital Sri Lanka 2030,” the Government's blueprint to catapult the nation into a digitally empowered future.

- By Chanaka Jayawardhena

The Public Sector Digitisation Project 2025 is underway, the Digital Public Infrastructure Summit of February 2025 has set the stage, and platforms like GovPay and eBMD are live. Yet, as the white paper warns, the road ahead is potholed with challenges: data breaches loom, cyber defences falter, and rural villages lag in the digital dust. With AI and blockchain as twin engines, Sri Lanka can speed past these obstacles—drawing on global ingenuity to forge a public service system that's efficient, transparent, and truly inclusive.

A vision taking shape

The “Digital Sri Lanka 2030” white paper isn’t just aspirational—it’s a call to action, envisioning a nation where digital tools fuel economic growth, social equity, and trusted governance. Recent steps show momentum: Deputy Minister Eranga Gunasekara’s December 2024 announcement of the Public Sector Digitisation Project aims to digitise governance by 2025. The DPI Summit, backed by UNDP and ADB, spotlighted a unified digital ID, payment systems like GovPay, and data exchange frameworks. President Anura Kumara Disanayake’s administration has rolled out the decentralised President's Fund, the eBMD system for diaspora needs, and real-time payment solutions like CEFTS and LANKAQR.

Yet, the white paper lays bare a stark reality: only 37% of Sri Lankans aged 15-65 use the internet, with rural access and digital literacy trailing. Targets are ambitious—75% digital literacy and 99% broadband coverage by 2025—but the gap demands bold, innovative leaps.

Global lessons: Blueprints for a resource-strapped nation