It was officially announced yesterday (05) that "Sri Lanka AI Week 2026," the national initiative aimed at accelerating Sri Lanka’s digital economic transformation and propelling the country forward as an Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven technological powerhouse, will be held from September 28 to October 04.

Jointly organized by the Ministry of Digital Economy, GovTech Sri Lanka, and SLT-MOBITEL, this national program aims to position Sri Lanka on the international stage as a leading AI technology hub in South Asia. The initiative will bring together joint contributions from the public and private sectors, universities, innovators, and leaders in the tech industry.

During the official press conference, Deputy Minister of Digital Economy, Eranga Weeraratne, also launched the official website for Sri Lanka AI Week 2026.

Addressing the gathering, the Deputy Minister noted that human development—which evolved from the Stone Age to the Information Age—is now transitioning into the "IQ Age." He emphasized that Sri Lanka must transform from being merely a consumer of global tech services into a producer through AI technology. He further highlighted that to achieve the $5 billion export revenue target, the local IT sector must be strengthened through Research and Development (R&D) as well as advanced AI capabilities.

He also mentioned that, building on the success of the first National AI Exhibition and Summit held in 2025, this year's event has been organized on a much broader scale with the participation of regional and international partners.

Organized under the theme "AI Amplified," this year's program will feature an international summit, a technology exhibition, an awards ceremony recognizing local innovators, and numerous island-wide awareness programs to spread AI knowledge.

Furthermore, the Deputy Minister stated that establishing a National AI Institute—backed by sovereign digital infrastructure strengthened through projects like DIGIECON 2030 and SLUDI—is a top priority plan for the ministry.

Dr. Mothilal de Silva, Chairman of the SLT Group, stated that SLT will execute its largest AI transformation within this year. He added that SLT-MOBITEL is fully committed to helping turn Sri Lanka into a leading regional AI hub in Asia through the expansion of 5G networks, modernization of IP infrastructure, and upgrades to AI data centers.

The new initiatives "AI Hub" and "SMART AI" were also officially launched during this press conference.