Sri Lanka considers bundling DPI components as PPPs

Sri Lanka is likely to design unique business models for its digital infrastructure and sell it to investors as public-private partnerships, a top official said.

Sri Lanka is focusing on developing Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), which is the foundational digital service for a digital economy. This contains digital identity, payment systems, and data infrastructure. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) can be used to rally investments and expertise, warranting DPI remains innovative and scalable, Chief Advisor to the President on Digital Economy Dr. Hans Wijesuriya said at a recent forum in Colombo.

Additionally, licensing private companies to operate specific digital infrastructure components can promote competition and innovation, he added.

“We can perhaps explore if digital transformation can be broken into unique business models and sold to investors as PPPs or as licenses to operate infrastructure,” he emphasized. He noted that such a move could enable the state to take a back seat and be a policymaker, allowing the private sector to run such infrastructure. Dr. Wijesuriya suggested that Sri Lanka should develop a strategy to address its infrastructure’s energy needs for AI-powered innovation, drawing inspiration from Singapore’s effective use of subsidized Malaysian energy for its data centers.

Dr. Wijesuriya highlighted the need for a strong institutional framework, changes to key legislations like the Data Protection Act and Electronic Transactions Act, and the development of broad regulations in API rules and cybersecurity to safeguard high-quality digital services. He also stressed the importance of a distinct national data governance strategy, focusing on data sharing and privacy while following the Data Protection Act.

He said that with the incoming data privacy law, and with consent, anonymized or redacted basis, data can be used through national data exchange with consent and constraints to build a national data resource that can be used for artificial intelligence.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  digital ID infrastructure  |  digital public infrastructure  |  public-private partnerships  |  Sri Lanka