'Nena Piyasa' on 'Rupavahini' every Thursday at 6.30 p.m.

In yet another progressive measure to promote public interest in 'e-Sri Lanka' and to contribute to the benefits of information and communication technology accruing to people in a manner that is as user-friendly as possible, the "Nena Piyasa" TV programme is being telecast every Thursday at 6.30 p.m. by Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC).

Sponsored by the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) the 'Nena Piyasa' will be led by Narada Bakmeewewa with Lal Wickremarachchi, Sujata Karunaratne and Ravindu Hanwella enriching the production with their artistic contributions. The team is set to ensure TV viewers a weekly feast of TV presentation on ICT that will both be a well-balanced mingling of music, scenery, human interest as well as the core information on ICTA's endeavours in implementing the e-Sri Lanka development initiative. The 'Nena Piyasa' is set to whet the interest of clients and prod them for vivacious interaction as participants in total national development.

The Information and Communication Technology of Sri Lanka (ICTA) functioning under the Presidential Secretariat has the responsiblity for implementing the 'e-Sri Lanka' Development Initiative. The 'e-Sri Lanka' initiative is a national development initiative that tries to use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to develop the economy of Sri Lanka, reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of the people. ICTA aims at carrying out its role in the 'e-Sri Lanka' development initiative by harnessing ICT as a lever for economic and social advancement and taking the dividends of ICT to every village, citizen and business and to re-engineer the way government thinks and works.

In practical terms ICTA endeavours to realize this objective via a six-pronged strategy which encompasses (1) building the implementation capacity, (2) building the information infrastructure and an enabling environment,(3) modernizing the government and delivering citizen services, (4) developing ICT human resources, (5) leveraging ICT for economic and social development through public-private partnerships and (6) the innovative use of ICT to empower the civil society of Sri Lanka and to meet the social and economic needs of the most vulnerable communities in Sri Lanka.