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Sri Lanka’s AI Imperative: Why It Matters Now
The prior work in Sri Lanka via the World Bank funded e-Sri Lanka programme have laid the foundations for digital transformation efforts in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has also shown to have developed several globally competitive technology companies backed by a home-grown technically skilled workforce. These baseline conditions create a unique opportunity for Sri Lanka as it seeks to become an AI-enabled nation. However, there are still challenges. The prior digital transformation efforts are incomplete. There is a scarcity of advanced AI engineering skills and a lack of executive and strategic expertise to develop strong AI business cases. This is further exacerbated by the significant brain drain of the recent years, as well as inadequate levels of basic computer, digital, and data literacy amongst the population. The availability, accessibility, and representativeness of data are further issues, with the current open data portal falling into disuse. Effective AI development and deployment are further stymied by the lack of a robust data strategy and a data governance framework that place primacy on responsibly deriving value from data.
