Financial Times

ICTA help for Govt. websites
By Akhry Ameer
The Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) has embarked on a programme to assist the development of websites for government institutions with the aim of grooming them for its larger e-Government objective.
The web development project, which is a part of the country portal project of the ICTA hopes to bring to web around 150 government organizations. This was revealed recently by D.C. Dissanayake, Program Manager in charge of the project at the ICTA.

Responding to a query on outdated government websites that were launched with a bang soon after the launch of the eSri Lanka initiative, Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the Prime Minister and officer co-ordinating with the ICTA admitted there were lapses mainly due to lack of awareness of personnel at government institutions. He added that they have even encouraged government organizations to outsource the updating to competent organizations/persons who can regularly visit these organizations, collect information and update the sites accordingly.

Already a programme has been underway where the agency has been funding upto 50% of the cost of development of comprehensive websites with no limitation on content. Around six organizations have made use of this facility. The new initiative has been designed with the aim of bringing all government organizations online and enforcing the habit of regular updating. Under this programme interested government organizations will be offered a 20 page website designed and hosted free of charge for an initial period of three years. Further, four pages of the website would have a content management facility where personnel of the organization will be able to update the site through a special password controlled administration facility.

“We expect them to update their sites at least every fortnight. They are free to update it more regularly from the moment the site is uploaded. Our objective is to help these organizations who don’t have at least a page to develop one and keep it up to date,” explained Dissanayake. He added that if organizations do not adhere to these conditions they would be warned and eventually the site may be removed.

The ICTA will fund the entire development of the site in terms of design and architecture provided the organization develops the content for these pages.
Already 150 public organizations have been sent letters informing of the facility. Work has already commenced on sites for the Department of Pensions, the Public Service Commission and the Department of Registration of Persons. A further 30 organizations have already expressed interest and are in the pipeline for development.

The developers have been given a 16 day timeline to develop each site from the moment of visiting the organization and obtaining their requirements. Dissanayake added they have been encountering some glitches to educate personnel of these organizations as to what content needs to be put on a site. The developers have been requested to assist them in conceptualizing a site structure.

These websites that are predominantly informational will also have basic interaction such as a facility for an outsider to email and make contact. Their queries will be posted as questions and answers on the site. The sites will also have facilities to download application forms and circulars depending on the organization.

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