Monetary Grant and Award from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Nenasala, Sri Lanka's e-library programme, won the world's best Rural Information Technology programme at the Access to Learning Award, 2014. The Nenasala project secured first place from among 150 projects operative in 110 countries. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had awarded a cash prize of one million US Dollars and software worth two million US Dollars to the project.

The cash award and software were handed over to President Mahinda Rajapaksa by Cesar Cernuda, President Microsoft - Asia Pacific Region at Temple Trees, who lauded the Nenasala programme for its contribution to improving IT literacy in the country. He pledged the continuous support of Microsoft, to make available software as part of its commitment to bring the benefits of relevant and accessible technology to local communities around the world.

The establishment of the Nenasala Rural Information Technology Centres was a concept of the President to create an opportunity to expand Information Technology to rural areas. The Project directly contributed to enhancing the IT literacy rate from five to 40 percent in the country.