Build One Digital Government Where Citizens Don’t Have to Carry the Same Documents From Office to Office

Sri Lanka has digitized some government services, but many processes still work like separate islands.

A citizen may give their NIC, birth certificate, address details or other documents to one government institution—and later be asked to provide the same information again to another institution.

If the government already has verified information about a citizen, citizens should not have to repeatedly carry it from office to office.

Build services around one digital identity

Sri Lanka is already developing the Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity (SLUDI) system. ICTA says it is intended to provide a secure digital identity that can be used across government services and support consent-based information sharing.

Instead of every department creating its own account and verification process, citizens should eventually be able to use one secure identity to access services.

Let government systems communicate

The bigger improvement would be a secure government data-exchange system.

For example, if another government department needs to confirm someone’s identity or another verified record, it should—where legally permitted and with appropriate consent—be able to verify that information electronically instead of asking the citizen to obtain another photocopy or certified document.

This is already part of Sri Lanka’s digital-government direction. ICTA lists a National Data Sharing Platform for consent-based data exchange and a DigiLocker for secure digital documents among its planned initiatives.

The World Bank also approved a US$50 million Sri Lanka Digital Transformation Project in December 2025 that includes an integrated citizen-service portal, government data exchange and a digital document locker.

Put services in one place

Citizens should not need to know which ministry website, provincial portal or department app provides a particular service.

One government portal/app could eventually provide access to things such as:

• licences and permits
• certificates and official documents
• government payments
• application status
• appointments
• notifications and reminders

Sri Lanka’s planned Government Super App is specifically intended to reduce today’s fragmented system of separate websites, apps and physical service points.

Privacy must come first

Connecting government databases creates a serious risk if it is implemented badly.

A government employee should not automatically have access to everything about a citizen simply because the systems are connected.

Access should be limited, logged and based on necessity and consent. Citizens should ideally be able to see which agency accessed their information. Strong cybersecurity, encryption and compliance with Sri Lanka’s data-protection law must be built into the system from the beginning.

Sri Lanka does not necessarily need another completely new digital-government vision. Many of the building blocks are already being developed.

The real challenge is connecting them properly so citizens deal with one government—not dozens of disconnected government systems.