Recognizing the significance of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Government of Sri Lanka has appointed a committee to drive the development of Sri Lanka’s AI strategy, anchored under the Presidential Secretariat.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Sri Lanka, as a member of the aforementioned committee, launched the AI Readiness Assessment (AIRA), a key milestone in the process of shaping Sri Lanka’s AI strategy. 

The AIRA is a tool developed by UNDP that aims to assess the current AI landscape in Sri Lanka and provide input to the overall AI strategy that will be developed next year. AIRA is composed of a comprehensive survey that gauges the insights of the public sector, plus a series of Key Informant Interviews that capture the perspectives of those within the non-governmental sectors, including academic, development partners, and private sector amongst others.

To launch the assessment and to carry out the Key Informant Interviews a mission from UNDP’s Chief Digital Office (CDO) was carried out during the 3rd week of October 2023. During this mission, experts from UNDP’s CDO conducted interviews with key stakeholders to understand the AI and digital transformation landscape of Sri Lanka. 

A workshop participated by more than 80 public sector officials representing numerous ministries and departments was also organized and facilitated by UNDP to launch the survey component of the AIRA.

Hon. Kanaka Herath, State Minister of Technology highlighted that, ”We have already established the AI committee to formulate the National AI Strategy. AIRA will help us assess where we are as a country today to secure the benefits of AI and support the formulation of the foundation for strategy. Towards the end of this assessment, we should have data points on the AI Policy and Strategy based on key priorities such as focus areas, and foundational building blocks including data, infrastructure, and skills”.