Colombo: The Sri Lankan government is developing a digital map of the country to record citizen information. The project is a joint effort of the defence ministry, the economic development ministry and the University of Kelaniya.
During the first phase, volunteers will be sent door-to-door to survey residents. The data collection will begin from Nahena in Kelaniya. Officials expect to cover the entire district within five days. Once the data is gathered, IT experts from the defence ministry will take photographs of the locations. Kelaniya University will then step in to develop a database.
This isn’t the first digital mapping project in the country. The defence ministry mapped several areas in Colombo during the war.
The mapping carried out during the war served primarily defence interests. The statement said the aim of the current digital mapping project is to “utilise geographical and residence data for decision-making purposes.” However, it is not clear what type of information the government intends to collect and for what purpose it is going to be used.
Source: Allvoices
