Sri Lanka promotes outcome-based procurement for a robust digital economy

A significant transformation in Sri Lanka’s public procurement system, is paramount in the journey to advance Sri Lanka’s digital economy, a top official says. That means being open to new forms of contracting arrangements such as outcome-based procurement.

“This is essential for advancing the country’s digital economy,” Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, chief advisor to the President on Digital Economy, told Biometric Update recently. “We need to move from where the government buys digital information, pays an entity, to set them up, and where the government’s interaction in the digital ecosystem is confined to procurement-based interactions, he noted further. Highlighting the importance of outcome-based procurement, he said this is where the government would come forward with an issue to be solved, rather than prescribing how the problem should be solved.

Currently, Sri Lanka’s digital economy accounts for only 3-4 per cent of its total economy, approximately $3 to $4 billion. The government aims to increase this to 15 per cent, or around $15 billion, within five years. Achieving this goal requires a fundamental shift in mindset and processes, particularly through the adoption of an outcome-based delivery model, Wijayasuriya said.

This model focuses on defining problems rather than solutions, allowing innovative companies to propose effective solutions through trials and proof-of-concept evaluations.

Wijayasuriya also proposed a comprehensive strategy to establish a robust digital ecosystem, accenting the need for shared digital public infrastructure (DPI) instead of isolated systems. Key components of this infrastructure include the Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity (SL-UDI) for secure transactions, a National Federated Data Exchange for seamless data sharing, and an eLocker system for digital credentials, he said.

Article Topics

digital economy  |  digital government  |  government purchasing  |  procurement  |  public-private partnerships  |  Sri Lanka