The lockdown and curfews that were enforced in Sri Lanka due to the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the shift towards digital by both the government and public sector, said Vice President, Huawei Technologies Lanka Co (Pvt) Ltd, Indika De Zoysa.
There was a shift towards going digital in the government ‘future agenda’ even before the COVID-19 and it further increased during this period. The world too is now moving rapidly towards implementing ICT based solutions and Sri
Lanka too is rightly falling in line.
During the lockdown the concepts such as mobile banking, online payments of utility bills and delivery of goods and services, smart class room, video conferencing, digital AGM’s, online mobile doctor, delivering drones by medicine, online newspapers which were underutilized got hyper active. Even the rubber auction and courts proceedings were done online. “In this context COVID-19 may become an important turning point in promoting digitalization and innovation and hence one must thank the Covid for emphasizing the advantage of it.”
Artificial intelligence also helped health and security forces in numerous ways to track down and treat Covid clusters and several innovations also came out.
“In Ragama hospital thermal images were tested to detect Covid patients from a distance.
He said that Sri Lanka is sure to rise from ashes as seen after JVP insurrection, tsunami, LTTE terror and Easter Sunday attacks and this will be repeated in the post covid era. “Digital technology can be used as an economic engine against recession.”
He said that global think tanks agree that the economic recovery will be digitally boosted. Digital infrastructure is less costly, faster to build, and easier to monetize than larger transport and energy projects, making it better suited to the challenges in times of economic downturns.
Investments in digital infrastructure can generate greater overall economic returns.
He said that Europe will be investing USD trillions towards going digital and 5G in the next few years and China too is making huge investments in this area. Italian Government in response to Covid is investing € 2.7bn public funding towards telco sector.
The South Korean government greatly increased its commitment to investing in the digital economy for job creation and also as a response to COVID-19.
Investments in digital infrastructure can generate greater overall economic returns, including innately digital infrastructure such as broadband, 5G, cloud computing centers, and hybrid infrastructure (adding digital components to traditional infrastructure) such as smart meters, smart grid, and smart cities. Digital infrastructure will form the foundation of smart cities, allowing services to be provided more broadly and cheaply.
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