An awareness programme held at the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) on Tuesday marked the formal launch of the Public Impact Champions Network (PIC-NET), with the government opening applications for 400 serving public officers to join the “Champions Corps.”
Heads of institutions were instructed to submit applications for officers capable of representing the network in spearheading digital transformation, under Circular PS/ADA/Circular/3/2026. PIC-NET was first announced in early May as a Presidential Secretariat-led pilot intended to drive digitalisation across ministries, state-owned enterprises and provincial councils.
ICTA Chairman and Senior Adviser to the President on the Digital Economy Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya told the gathering the government aims to lift Sri Lanka’s digitally empowered economy from 3% of GDP today to 12% by 2030. He said slow digital-economy growth remained a serious challenge for developing economies, citing India’s “remarkable progress” as a benchmark.
Within three years, Wijayasuriya said, transactions between public institutions should function in a fully networked manner “similar to banking operations.”
Ranil Peiris of the Department of Information Technology at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura briefed officials on PIC-NET’s foundations and future plans. He said citizens would in due course be able to apply for passports and renew licences entirely online from their homes, eliminating repeated submission of the same information. Representatives of KPMG outlined the selection and training plan for officers, while Sameera Wickremasinghe of the Presidential Secretariat detailed the application process.
The programme is being guided and coordinated with support from the Presidential Secretariat, the Ministry of Digital Economy, GovTech Sri Lanka and the Asian Development Bank.
