Category: Digital Transformation
Client: Government of Sri Lanka
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming various aspects of life the world over. It has the potential to take many fields, including education, agriculture, and healthcare, to new levels of quality and efficiency. For instance, AI can assist governments in providing more effective, efficient, and citizen-centric services to its people.
The COVID-19 pandemic clearly demonstrated that governments around the world must better prepare for disruptive events that have a significant impact on their economies and societies. In the coming years, AI will play an increasingly significant role in the global economy.
To this end, AI readiness refers to the extent to which a government is prepared to leverage the benefits and mitigate the risks of AI, through strategies, policies, and regulations
In the midst of a fast-evolving global economic landscape, Sri Lanka stands at a crucial juncture in terms of its development trajectory. In the face of complex challenges, including the impacts of the pandemic and economic crisis, transformative and innovative solutions could help pave the way to recovery. AI offers an unparalleled opportunity to address these challenges head-on and drive inclusive growth, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In 2023, the Government of Sri Lanka appointed a multi-stakeholder Committee on Formulating a Strategy for AI (CFSAI) for Sri Lanka, under the Presidential Secretariat. This committee comprised representatives from government, private sector, academia, and civil society. UNDP Sri Lanka was invited to be a part of this committee, and through the Citra team, provided support to the CFSAI.
As an initial step, Citra leveraged technical expertise from UNDP’s Chief Digital Office (CDO) and used UNDP’s very own AI Readiness Assessment (AIRA) as a diagnostic tool prior to beginning the strategy development work. The AIRA primarily looks at three key dimensions: (1) Government as an Enabler of AI; (2) Government as a User of AI; and (3)Ethics around AI adoption and utilization.
In developing the strategy, Citra held several meetings and other deliberations with multiple government officials, industry experts, private sector representatives, and several international agencies as well. To understand and draw from regional experiences and practices, we also spoke to government counterparts in Singapore and India, subject matter experts in the field, and other international organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure (CDPI), and UNESCO among others. By collating these insights, we developed a White Paper on AI which carefully analyzed the country’s current AI landscape and outlined the initial strategic vision.
The strategy’s vision is to rapidly accelerate the responsible development and adoption of AI to realize a digitally empowered Sri Lanka that fosters innovation, inclusion, social good, and sustainable growth, in alignment with the SDGs. Building on the Digital Strategy 2030, the government aims to establish Sri Lanka as a regional hub for AI development, testing, deployment, and scaling of solutions that delivers transformative impact across sectors.
To realize this ambitious vision, the country will adopt a centrally coordinated AI strategy that addresses gaps, builds on strengths, seizes opportunities, and mitigates risks. The strategy will have a dual focus on: (1) rapid value creation through quick-win projects that demonstrate AI’s tangible benefits; and (2) sustained capability development by investing in essential skills, data, infrastructure, research, and a conducive ecosystem.
Sri Lanka’s AI strategy is guided by seven core principles: inclusivity and responsibility, trustworthiness and transparency, human-centricity, adoption-focus and impact-orientation, agile and adaptive governance, collaboration and global engagement, and sustainability and future-readiness. These guiding tenets will ensure that Sri Lanka’s AI development efforts align with national goals and values, while safeguarding citizen rights and welfare.
The National AI Strategy marks a critical milestone in Sri Lanka’s digital transformation journey. The draft strategy document is currently open for public feedback and consultations, in order to ensure that the process is truly inclusive and participatory, given that AI has the potential to impact all segments of society.
If you would like to read and share your thoughts on the Strategy document and the accompanying annexure of proposed initiatives, please click here.
