Lanka: SLT selected as telecom service provider

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka Telecom has been chosen as the total telecommunication service provider as well as the communication infrastructure provider to the Lanka Government Network (LGN).

The Government aims at encouraging public sector employees to get better acquainted with Information and Communication Technology (ICT), assuring efficiency and smooth flow of information as well as improving standards of service in the public sector to be able to provide efficient citizen services.

LGN project is a strategic project of Re-Engineering Government programme of Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), which functions under the Presidential Secretariat.

The IP-VPN (Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network) solution provided by SLT connects Government offices to a unified network with a host of products such as voice, video, broadband Internet,networking and hosting services.

Taking the Government procedures into the realm of modern technology, SLT is responsible to network this mega ICT project titled 'Lanka Government Network' (LGN). This project comes under the e-Sri Lanka initiative. A total of 325 government offices in the Western, Central, Southern and Sabaragamuwa provinces via VPN will be connected under the stage 1 of the project,which includes Ministries, Departments, Districts and Divisional Secretariats.

The solution will allow islandwide Government offices to have on-line access to a centralised IT system at any given time, enabling them to communicate with the Network Operation Centre (NOC) located at the LGN.

The planned network can carry Internet Protocol (IP) traffic -voice, video, mission critical and standard class data facilitating Government offices located islandwide with seamless connectivity.

Director Re-engineering Government Programme, ICTA, Wasantha Deshapriya said: 'The LGN concept was initiated to address issues that came out as the result of a survey research carried out in the usage of ICT in the Government sector.

It was conducted in 2003 to assess what the situation is in relation to e-government and the road blocks that we face in implementing it. We decided to have an enabling project, which would build ICT infrastructure in the Government.

The scope of the project includes having to address those issues, in terms of providing connectivity to key Ministries that provide citizen centric services, that need to be connected for the Government to be able to progress towards e-governance. SLT plays an important role in the success of this programme and we are extremely happy with the services that they have provided.

They are a futuristic company that has enabled us to take major steps towards an ICT enabled Government.' The programme allows LGN communities prompt online access to software driven user interfaces and enhance the effectiveness of service delivery in the office environment.

Each Government office will be connected to LGN VPN by using different access speeds based on current requirements.

Acting CEO of SLT P. N. E. Abayasekara said, 'Our partnership with LGN demonstrates SLT's commitment to collaborate with the Government of Sri Lanka to take the public service system to greater heights.
Since public service is of extreme importance to the country's development, it will bring the necessary facilities to improve and enhance the methods to serve the general public effectively.

The solution we are providing is of minimal cost, making operation of the system smoother and faster as well as enhancing the capabilities of any Ministry and other offices to serve the public efficiently.

This will also enable Government offices to offer more online services to the general public, such as online applications, online submission of forms, e-Pension services, online examination information, Tax information among others.'