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| .lk Sri Lanka |
Overview As it gradually recovers from a prolonged civil war that lasted for two decades, Sri Lanka is now hopeful of rapid economic recovery and social development. The ceasefire agreement signed between the government and the Tamil Tigers in February 2002 has held for over two years, surviving various crises including a change of government in April 2004. Several rounds of peace talks have been held between the former combatants, through the mediation of the Norwegian government. These talks have gone into the nature and degree of devolution and power sharing, but they have so far been inconclusive. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka aid donor consortium has pledged over US$4 billion of highly concessional financing for the rebuilding of the economy, with particular emphasis on the north and east, which are directly affected by the conflict. The donors have made this package conditional on a continuation of the peace process. The economy, freed at last of the multiple impacts of war, is bouncing back. GDP grew at 5.9 percent and GNP by 6.4 percent during 2003. Even though the guns have remained silent, political instability continues to affect every sphere of activity, holding Sri Lanka back from racing forward at full speed. The tussle between the all-powerful President from one party and the government from the other major party dominated the political landscape. This stalemate ended with the President’s party winning the general election in April 2004 -- but divisive party politics continue. As the Central Bank (2004) has noted in its 2003 annual report, Sri Lanka is "at a crossroads, as prospects are high for a durable peace and a move towards sustainable, high quality economic growth. However, to reach this goal, a national consensus on major political and economic issues should be built through a series of wide and continued public discussions." ICT can play a key role in rebuilding Sri Lanka, but only if it is strategically deployed, optimising on the strengths of public, private, academic and civil society sectors. As this update indicates, the island nation is still struggling to create an enabling policy and legislative framework in which this could happen. Local online content When it comes to online content, it is difficult to determine whether the poor Internet growth has resulted in very limited locally generated and relevant content, or vice versa. Where content does develop, even at a slow pace, it is largely due to individual enthusiasm and effort. The many and varied institutions of government, academia and industry have so far contributed very little by way of local content. Most Sri Lankan websites are no more than online brochures, announcements and press releases, and content is rarely updated. Very little interactivity and few database services are on offer. As of May 2004, the two official government portals at http://www.lk and http://www.gov.lk both appeared to have ceased operations. Most content on Sri Lankan websites is provided entirely in English -- this is so even with most government websites, even though the Official Languages Policy stipulates that the government must communicate in all the three official languages of English, Sinhala and Tamil. A main problem faced by content developers is the lack of standard Sinhala and Tamil fonts. Although there are many Sinhala and Tamil fonts available, none of them are ubiquitous. Users who access many Sinhala or Tamil websites must install several different fonts in order to view all the sites. It is estimated that less than 10 percent of computers in Sri Lanka use Sinhala or Tamil, and almost all of these are used for word processing and publishing. There is negligible use of databases and other functions in local-languages (APDIP, 2003). Although attempts are being made to establish standard local-language font sets and keyboards, they have yet to bear fruit. Until that happens, it is unlikely that local-language content will increase. During 2003, several online editions of popular Sri Lankan newspapers introduced paid subscription services, thus ending free access. At the same time, the number of online sources offering Sri Lankan news and commentary (all entirely in English) has increased. . . . . . the complete text of this chapter is available for purchase and immediate download as a PDF file, please click here for more information. |
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2005/2006 edition