Plans are underway to increase the current internet penetration from 21.8% to 50% in Sri Lanka.
A 10% increase in internet penetration has the potential to drive a 1.2 increase in GDP, Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure Minister Harin Fernando said.
He made these views speaking at Asia's foremost information security conference 'Ground Zero Summit' held in Colombo.The summit was organized by Indian Infosec Consortium.
According to the Minister, Sri Lanka is set to be the first country in the world to cover every inch of the country with LTE (4G)-speed internet connectivity, if the Google's balloon-powered high-speed Internet service "Project Loon" is proven to be a success. Minister speaking on the importance of cyber security at the summit noted the government needs to focus on the dilemmas on cyber space and to invest heavily in cyber security so that legitimate users will benefit and criminals will think twice.
"Cyber space growth means more people, devices and more risks. The emerging economies will put cyber security on path with other intelligence and defence priorities as more critical public and private information systems move to the cloud; the government will direct additional resources towards defending these systems."
"Cyber warfare is the next blow that we will have to face in the near future. Responding to 21st century threats with 20th century tools is a bad idea. By 2020, two thirds of the global population will be online.
The world needs a frank dialogue among states, the private sector and the civil society in order to guarantee the security of cyber space. Some governments have made it an integral part of their overall military strategy with some having invested heavily in warfare capacities."
According to the Minister, Sri Lanka has been ranked 65th in terms of broadband average connection among APAC countries.
South Korea has secured the first place while Hong Kong and Japan grabbed the second and third places respectively.
Fernando said Singapore has been ranked at the 17th, China 92nd and India was ranked 117th.
Add new comment