e Sri Lanka, when designed in 2002-03, broke new ground. Now six years later, it seems opportune to assess whether it delivered on its promise. This assessment was triggered by discussions on how best to respond to the Brazilian government’s invitation to Helani Galpaya to share the learnings of e Sri Lanka. It also builds on our work on indicators and indices and discussions on this site.

What did it achieve in its originally allotted five years? It would be useful to identify criteria that may be used by the citizens of Sri Lanka to assess success and hold it accountable for the next five years.

Success criteria must be related to outputs, not inputs. Not money spent but results achieved in forms that citizens and stakeholders can perceive. The measures would, ideally, be comparative (also applied to other countries). Sri Lanka must have improved its standing relative to our peers. Equipped as it was with a large World Bank credit and empowered as part of the President’s Office, ICTA has no excuses if success has not been achieved.