Govt. leadership to technology adoption, digital transformation is key: Microsoft

Microsoft Asia Head of Legal, External and Corporate Affairs Antony Cook

Global giant Microsoft’s Asia Head of Legal, External and Corporate Affairs Antony Cook was in Sri Lanka recently on an official visit to meet with Government officials, customers and staff. Antony brings with him many years of experience in digital transformation policy covering Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Daily FT met up with him to find out Microsoft’s progress and growing engagement in Sri Lanka, the challenges and opportunities for Sri Lanka as it aspires to digital transformation, and the prospects and solutions for the private sector from Microsoft. In this interview Antony shares a host of useful ideas for both the Government and enterprises. Here are excerpts:

By Nisthar Cassim

Q: Can you explain the purpose of your visit to Sri Lanka?

A: I’m based in Singapore and I look after a relatively large region which is all of Asia, covering from India over Japan to Australia excluding China. So my visit here is partly to get to know the markets. We had the fortune of seeing the Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy and several in the financial services sector, which we feel is one of the success stories in Sri Lanka in terms of technology adoption. I also met with the Microsoft Sri Lanka team to see how our business is doing here and assess the unfolding its opportunities.

Q: How would you describe the progress of Microsoft in Sri Lanka?

A: Microsoft is really focused on Sri Lanka and has been a key player in the advancement of technology.I would say that technology can play a major role in accelerating reforms. The Government’s Vision 2025 is a very thoughtful piece of document in terms of identifying those key things that the Government needs to focus on to really accelerate reforms, particularly in the technology chapter.I know it’s very new, so the question is, how do you make it more real and look at how some of those things can be implemented? Microsoft looks forward to Sri Lanka’s progress with optimism. Yes, Sri Lanka faces several challenges but it has the strength and the potential to overcome those and progress ahead.

From a Microsoft perspective we look at how we can contribute towards the digitisation of Government services. I believe it’s important for the Government to take leadership because the ability of the Government to make use of technology to accelerate reforms is something we see successfully done in a lot of other countries. I really think that there is a good opportunity here.We are working on some digitalisation projects here and we are looking at a number of services and the security aspects of that as to how it contributes to better governance and transparency. 

If you want to provide services, and digitalise the Government and the way it serves the people, you have to be able to do that in a way that addresses some of the challenges such as the ease and cost of doing businesses with the Government or obtaining services from Government agencies. This is a big inhibitor of growth, not just for IT but the economy in general. If you can address governance by having the digitisation of services, the opportunity for any poor governance is removed and it increases people’s confidence. It also means that the cost of doing business is addressed. So the Government has good objectives.

Microsoft brings with it the world’s best practices, which differentiates us with the rest. We’ve been on the ground both during good and tougher times and post-war there has been progress. We’ve been through all of that and the ability to localise solutions and bringing the capability that we have from a worldwide perspective is something that other companies haven’t been able to do and we strongly believe in that.A case in point is the Government’s ‘GamataIT’ initiative, which is very laudable and we believe it will have a far-reaching positive impact overall for Sri Lanka’s future. 

Q: Generally reforms involve changing policy and regulations for the better. Can you expand on what you said in terms of using technology to accelerate reforms and the service delivery side?

A: When we look at things being done successfully you need those components. Creating the right policy environment is very important, providing the right incentives for higher private sector investment is critical. The financial sector here is a very good example of enabling the use of technology to improve service delivery. As demonstrated, positive policy leads to innovation in a natural competitive environment. Several big banks are using cloud and from a regulatory environment perspective it is favourable. 

If you look from a competiveness perspective certainly across Asia, Sri Lanka’s financial sector would definitely be one of the leading sectors in that regard. It is a great example of if you find the right policy environment, with the right set of incentives, the reform and modernisation process will gather momentum. It will also be good for the Government to demonstrate leadership in the adoption of technology as well. Given the resource constraints the Government can use technology to leap frog in the way it delivers services.

For example, the Microsoft’s smart city solutions offers such as monitoring garbage delivery service, maintaining roads using the cloud and in particularly using the Artificial Intelligence. You are able to access the world’s best technology via the cloud. At the same the Government can use the local IT industry with whom Microsoft works closely, to develop solutions to specific problems in Sri Lanka. Those two components are important from what we see as for the success in creating the favourable policy environment and at the same showing leadership in digitisation of services and adoption of technology within Government including from a procurement perspective.

Q: How can governments address the issue of delay or slowness in implementation?

A: Recognising you have to be agile is key. I understand procurement process in Sri Lanka takes a long time where by the time you have procured the technology it has moved too far. The Vision 2025 identifies these challenges by referring to e-procurement hence it is commendable. Sri Lanka can learn from successes of UK and Australia which are great examples for e-procurement. By accelerating the procurement process governments can be more agile. Using procurement process guidelines of 1950s may not be best course when procuring technology in 2017. 

Q: You mentioned how Sri Lanka can leapfrog. What other sectors do you see that should emulate financial services’ success?

A: I think agriculture in Sri Lanka provides a big opportunity. We’ve done some initiatives in India in this regard and Sri Lanka can draw some inspiration. Sri Lanka also can look at how Artificial Intelligence could be used in the paddy sector to improve productivity and the way that they operate. It also drives connectivity and skills development. Again I think Vision 2025 addresses the same. I do think both of those areas have a lot of good examples from rest of the world including India as how you can leverage technology.

I was involved in the Middle-East and Africa in Kenya on boosting connectivity where by using very affordable technology they have improved the last mile access. With connectivity the grades of students in remote areas vastly improved. Once you have connectivity, then you can focus on enhancing the capability and skills development of these students and youth, who will be the future workforce of rural areas. I think the Government has the right emphasis on those and I do think finding the right ways to convert these ideas even via a pilot project into action is key. There are opportunities for Sri Lanka to really look outside for examples.

Q: What is your own assessment about the adoption of technology in the private sector 

and enterprises?

A: On the enterprise side, we see a strong willingness to be innovative and adopt the cloud. There are still issues like how people are clearer on security and around data management and practices. There are no real regulatory reasons why they can’t move to the cloud any faster but there needs a kind of awareness on how we can do that. In the enterprise sector we see a lot of interest and we see a lot of consistent movements in companies. The area that is harder is the small and medium businesses (SMEs) and there is still a job to do, partly related to the connectivity and skills issue of how you make sure that those technologies are available to work with. One of the things that we always say is that the cloud really democratises the access to best technology because you no longer have to buy a CD and update it every two or three years. 

Q: Is cost a factor that prevents the SMEs from trying out cloud or is it more of a trust issue?

A:It’s the familiarity or understanding with the way the technology can be used and more than the pricing because we have a range of pricing options which remain pretty attractive particularly vis-à-vis traditional IT methodology such as buying servers or IT support services. Sri Lanka is ranked well in World Economic Forum’s innovation capabilities rating and understanding of technology use. So there is opportunity to step up technology adoption and Microsoft is committed to this. 

Q: Cloud solutions have helped boost Microsoft’s earnings globally. How is South Asia and Southeast Asia’s adoption of cloud technology?

A: Different countries have slightly different levels and I think generally in enterprises there is an interesting perspective. Because of the capability to deliver and the cost savings, I see a lot of opportunities. The reality is that the notion of digital transformation and the nature of the economies in the region are used to transforming, competitive pressures and responsive to market conditions. So they are very quick to see the opportunities presented by using the cloud technology. Not just use it but by thinking about how cloud changes the way they can use IT in their decision making. This is something we see a lot of uptake on. Then there are some countries which have had regulatory issues and stopped some of the adoption or slowed it but I think we see very high interest and our cloud business is doing well in that respect.

Q: From a technology adoption perspective which country would you highlight for Sri Lanka to emulate in terms of size and dynamics?

A: Rather than a country I think there are different things that you can learn from another country that has done well. I gave the example of procurement side in terms of adoption and I think that Australia and UK have real lessons for Sri Lanka to learn from. If you look at some of the other regulatory approaches taken in Singapore and Hong Kong around what we call as “regulatory sandboxes” for new technology like blockchain which is an interesting evolution and creates number of new regulatory challenges.

A country could deal with it in many ways. Either you can say we are just not going to allow it or you can study how it goes or undertake “regulatory sandboxes” by setting some parameters and allow it to happen to see what sort of regulations that are needed or not. These are very interesting examples. What’s happening in terms of last mile connectivity partly in Africa and India are interesting as well because ultimately it would be important to look at the structure of telecom market here and recognise the value and the role of telcos play but also what other business models that can be adopted to boost last mile access so that a country truly gives rural communities access to technology. 

Q: For the overall private sector what technologies should they look out for especially when changes happen very rapidly?

A: They should look at what are the ways they want to deliver services to their customers and what is the way the technology can help them do that because they need to look at how to use technology from multiple levels. How do you use technology as infrastructure you provide yourself for internal operations, how do you provide technology to provide more insights into your market and to what your customers are looking for, how you use technology to deliver different types of services in more efficient and effective ways that correspondent to today’s needs. So there are a number of areas that technology can play from an enterprise perspective. 

You need to assess what are the platforms that can give you a baseline to do that and give you the building blocks that you can best customise as per the needs of the business. One of the advantages of Microsoft cloud is that you can build your own solutions or decide whether you merely use the infrastructure, run the services or focus on the applications, etc. Some of the interesting areas that the majority of businesses who are on the cloud include progressive things like how do you use Artificial Intelligence, the cognitive services and the machine learning capabilities that are inherently built into a platform and to use those to give a company new and greater insights to drive their businesses. 

Q: How is Microsoft addressing the challenges of cyber security as with more technology adoption you could become vulnerable? How is Microsoft helping their clients 

in this regard?

A: Security is probably one of the highest areas of focus at Microsoft and this is something I espouse when I talk to companies and governments. Firstly, Microsoft is literally spending billions of dollars on building security to our services in ways which make it the day to day operations of our services comparatively much more secure than most others. The reality is that once you connect to the internet the attack vector that you open is complicated and requires lot of expertise. The alternative of putting things into the cloud, makes the comparative level of security very high. 

People are also recognising that data is the real and most important asset. So there must be best practices in relation to data. From a platform perspective Microsoft does many things to secure such as contractual undertakings, we have the Microsoft Trust Centre which outlines the way we deal with customers data etc. The other aspect is security is not just about providing customers with technology but making sure security is a set of activities or best practices that are in place, which is more important. 

Q: In Sri Lanka for the first time we have Telecom and Digital Infrastructure Ministry and the Government’s Vision 2025 shows the way forward on digital transformation which is a long journey. What should the Government focus on as a priority for early wins?

A: The Government needs to know what the key levers are that the Government can pull towards digital transformation. There are some long-term things with which the Government can deliver lasting impact. I think the importance of IT skills and training in that context is critical. If a Government wants to truly articulate a vision how IT or digital transformation will benefit a nation over the long term, it should demonstrate the ability to deliver digital skills. I think the Vision 2025 addresses this and execution will be key. The earlier you do it the easier it will be. 

Our MoU with the Government also looks at what are the particular citizen services that can be delivered immediately in the long journey of digitisation and digital transformation. It could be solutions which requires relatively low investments but have high impact. This will position the Government as one that is delivering a service differently in an efficient way and also one that is adopting technology as to how people would have to use it moving forward. This will drive the required efficiency and improvement in governance and the Government taking leadership in adoption of technologies. As the Government endeavours to improve service delivery and public sector transition, enhancing digital skills is critical as digital transformation will result in job displacements rather than disappearances.

Pic by Lasantha Kumara