In pursuance of the measures instituted by the Ministry of Economic Reform, Science and Technology to formulate the National Policy on Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), the Ministry assisted by the Council for Information Technology (CINTEC) held a Consultation Meeting with public participation, at the JAIC Hilton, on June 13th states a press release issued by the Ministry of Economic, Reform, Science and Technology.

The meeting focused on the impact of policy issues of other national development sectors on Information and Communications Technologies development programs and reciprocally ICT delivery requirements to be met for facilitating their augmentation.

The meeting was held in five sessions covering Industry and Market Creation, Infrastructure, Human Resources Development, Governance and Regulatory and Legal matters.  The format of each session followed a presentation by Sector Working Groups and Open discussions by participants relating to the requirements needed to develop the relevant areas.

The sessions were chaired by Mr. Ranjith Fernando, Secretary Enterprise Development, Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion, Mr. Palith Silva Gunawardena, Director, Economic Affairs Telecommunications Regulatory Commission.  Mr. Saman Ediriweera, Secretary, Ministry of Tertiary Education and Training, Mr. G. Hewagama, Secretary, Ministry of Economic Reform, Science and Technology and Ms. Dhara Wijayatilake, Secretary, Ministry of Justice and Legal Reform.

The members of a visiting World Bank team headed by Mr. Nagy Hanna, which is supporting the Ministry’s effort in formulating the National Policy on ICT was present during the full duration of the meeting. The mission will provide technical assistance in finalizing the draft road map for the ICT industry which is expected to be by early July 2002.