Ministry of Homeland Security Signs with Sri Lankan Company for IT Safety

The Ministry of Homeland Security signed an agreement with Sri Lankan company N-ABLE yesterday to research into developing Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) and the technology to strengthen the National Computer Network (NCN).

This is a skill development program funded by the World Bank and conducted under the Ministry of Defense’s ongoing Digital Maldives for Adaptation, Decentralization and Diversification (DMADD) project.

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The SD-WAN technology is used to safely connect branch offices located in different geographic locations via the Internet.

However, according to the ministry, further research is needed to determine whether this technology is technically and financially feasible for providing access to individual government agencies, branch offices, and councils through a single network.

In this regard, the company will provide technical assistance to the National Center for Informational Technology (NCIT) in formulating a proof-of-concept to see whether the technology can be used per the requirements provided by NCIT to N-ABLE. The company has a four-month deadline for completing this project.

THE NCN is a computer network established by the NCIT and local government authority (LGA) in 2000. It provides information systems used by local councils and branch offices to digitise government agency services and ensure safe data sharability between different agencies. However, due to technological advancements and price changes, the network has been operating since 2014 at the communications building set up by Dhiraagu and Ooredoo. Additionally, because it is an expensive service and the digital services offered by offices have increased, the capacity of this network has also needed to be increased.

The collapse of the network infrastructure in rural areas during the construction of infrastructure in the islands poses several challenges to the resumption of services.

If this technology is appropriate, the government’s current expenditure on NCNs will be dramatically reduced, and the network’s capacity will increase. This will make it easier for NCIT to establish and maintain this network, enabling more services provided by the councils in collaboration with the government.