Sri Lanka looks to global examples for digital economy blueprint

Speaking at last week’s Sri Lanka Fintech Summit 2025, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, Chief Advisor to the President on Digital Economy, stressed that the country’s digital economy is open and adaptable, drawing on both local and international elements.

Referring to the kottu roti analogy to illustrate the agility and inclusivity of Sri Lanka’s digital economy, he emphasized its dynamic nature comparable to the local dish that can incorporate various ingredients.

He discussed the development of the digital economy blueprint, which involved analyzing successful models from different countries and various markets and merging successful elements from them. He acknowledged the contributions of past administrations, underscoring the National Data Exchange as part of this foundational work.

India serves as a model for digital public infrastructure due to its success, while the structural design is instigated by Singapore, which is recognized for its citizen engagement and streamlined access. The institutional framework for Sri Lanka’s DPI looks to the United Kingdom, Australia, and Singapore, with Estonia considered for its cybersecurity framework. The strategy involves incorporating diverse international models to create a flexible system.

Dr. Wijayasuriya pointed out that while many of the referenced nations had lengthy implementation periods of 10 to 15 years, Sri Lanka aims for a more aggressive five-year timeline. He recognized the rapid advancements in AI as a pivotal factor that could enable Sri Lanka to lead in this space. The execution of various components must occur concurrently to avoid delays, making parallel development a critical yet challenging aspect of the project. “We need to ride this wave with enthusiasm, appropriate change management, process reengineering, capacity building, handholding and the greatest point of this is parallelism.”

Dr. Wijayasuriya noted that it is important for the country to recognize that the citizen journey is a business journey. “Getting a passport, multiple agency certificates, needs to be done from one single window. This means that the data exchange and the interoperability are seamless.”

Sri Lanka is running procurements with support from India for its national digital identity system.

Article Topics

digital economy  |  digital identity  |  digital public infrastructure  |  Sri Lanka