The key to more government and even other services going online is increasing the consumers’ demand for such services, according to Reshan Dewapura, the Chief Executive of state-owned Information and Communication Technology Agency. Elaborating, he also added that the supply of such data services was already growing and that demand had to grow to an [...]

The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

Drive consumer demand for online services : ICTA CEO

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The key to more government and even other services going online is increasing the consumers’ demand for such services, according to Reshan Dewapura, the Chief Executive of state-owned Information and Communication Technology Agency. Elaborating, he also added that the supply of such data services was already growing and that demand had to grow to an “equal” degree.

Speaking at a recently held event on “Mobile Data Revolution in Sri Lanka”, organised by the local office of UAE-telco Etisalat, Mr. Dewapura also opined that it can now be readily assumed that the mobile phone is a tool for every Sri Lankan citizen, especially due to its more than 100 per cent market penetration. He also added that there were four million Internet local users, or a 20 per cent Internet penetration, out of which half accessed online services via their mobile phone. He also noted that, looking at local mobile data consumption patterns, Sri Lanka had seen an eight fold increase to date, from in excess of 200 terabytes in 2010. And that mobile data consumption is expected to grow by a further 15 per cent year on year.

At the same time, Mr. Dewapura also indicated that there were 116 e-government services accessible to mobile phone users, as well as 86 government data sets opened to developers, which could be used to allow citizens access to even more apps (applications). Also, he noted that there was a greater push towards providing government services in a mobile fashion, i.e. government servants answering queries via their mobile, even while away from their workstations. Additionally, he also commented that the “final cog” in the wider scale adoption of IT was standards based local language mobile devices.

This last point was also backed up by Rajeev Gooneratne, General Manager for Sales for Softlogic Communications, and another speaker at this event, who also revealed that there would be data phones, with Sinhala and Tamil keypads, launched locally over the course of this year.

Mr. Gooneratne also said that, based on his field visits, he had seen very high mobile phone penetration in the western, central and southern provinces.

He also added that, at least in the main regions, people were also already asking if certain types of mobile phones supported viber and whatsapp before buying.




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