Sri Lanka becomes the 27th Country to launch the ‘Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders’ in Asia-Pacific

APCICT launches the 'Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders' in Sri Lanka, and provides training on e-Government Applications(Module 3), and Information Security and Privacy Protection(Module 6) to 40 mid-level government offcials and academics.

On 3 September 2013, APCICT launched the “Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders” (Academy) in Colombo, Sri Lanka in partnership with the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA). With this launch, Sri Lanka now joins 26 other countries in Asia and the Pacific region that have rolled out the Academy programme. ICTA, the partner organization for the launch, is the apex body for formulating and implementing policies for the e-Sri Lanka project which is a national development initiative aimed at using ICT for socio-economic development.

The launching ceremony was graced by Hon. Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Chandima Weerakkody as Guest of Honor, Prof. P.W. Epasinghe, Chairman of ICTA, Mr. Earl Fernando and Mr. Ravi Senanayake, Members of the Board of ICTA, and Mr. Reshan Dewapura, CEO of ICTA.

The launching ceremony also kicked off a 4-day training workshop (3 – 6 September) on e-Government Applications (Academy Module 3) and Information Security and Privacy Protection (Academy Module 6) for 40 mid-level government officials and trainers from various government agencies, academia, and training institutions. Module 3 introduces various ICT applications of e-government, their key elements and concepts, strategies, important determinant factors and a future roadmap, while Module 6 examines the current threats to ICT security, possible safeguards which governments could undertake, and issues pertaining to user privacy.

The workshop provides the participants with necessary training to enable them to serve as resource persons and champions of the Academy in Sri Lanka in the future. ICTA will lead the roll-out of the Academy with Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) providing training to government officials on the Academy modules, primarily through SLIDA’s induction program for members of Sri Lanka all island services.

The Academy is APCICT’s flagship training programme which aims to equip government officials with necessary knowledge to leverage ICTs in achieving national development goals. It is currently available in 12 languages, and plans to translate them into Sinhala and Tamil, local languages spoken in Sri Lanka, are also under way.

Apart from the Academy, APCICT launched the Primer Series on ICTD for Youth in Sri Lanka in March 2012 in partnership with the Ministry of Higher Education to help expand the coverage of ICTD content in higher education. 15 universities across the country attended the launching ceremony and the workshop that followed. The Primer Series is another flagship training programme of APCICT designed to serve as a tool to help educators fill the current gap in ICTD coverage in universities.