SLASSCOM launches SLASSCOM Foundation

The Sri Lanka Association for Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM), the key catalyst for the country’s IT/BPM industry, has embarked on yet another pioneering initiative, this time to achieve its goal of social transformation, creating an impact through technology, by launching the SLASSCOM Foundation. 

Positioned as the Sustainability and ESG chapter of the chamber, the Foundation’s aim is to establish technology inclusivity and technology-enabled growth and development in the country, including urban and rural areas, targeting students, industry practitioners and businesses. This aligns with the key goals of the chamber to establish 1,000 start-ups, facilitate 200,000 highly-skilled professionals and grow the IT/BPM industry into a $ 5 billion export-centric ecosystem by 2025.  

The logo with the tagline ‘Sri Lanka Tech for Good,’ representing the values of the Foundation was officially launched recently, portraying a flower, built around the letter “S,” with each petal depicting the key focus areas. These range from helping individuals enhance their lives, supporting the growth of business entities through technology adoption, inclusion and diversity, enabling growth of the IT/BPM sector and training the next generation of individuals across the country in accessing opportunities to pursue lucrative careers in the IT/BPM industry.   

The Foundation will also work on supporting women empowerment in the industry through a wide array of initiatives planned by its Women Technopreneurs Forum that includes mentoring and development programmes to accelerate the growth of start-ups within the country and to connect them to global business opportunities.

The Foundation will also focus on promoting sustainability through industry related Environmental, Social and Governance objectives to help the IT/BPM sector adopt and advance their ESG journey, through awareness sessions, mentoring programmes with industry leading experts and educational projects to promote the sustainable use of resources, technology and energy, leading to ESG compliance. With investors increasingly applying non-financial factors as part of their analysis process to identify material risks and growth opportunities, this initiative underscores the importance that SLASSCOM exerts on creating an environmentally and economically sustainable future-ready industry.

As its first major public contribution as a charitable foundation, the SLASSCOM Foundation partnered with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce to donate a number of Oxygen Delivery Devices to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (IDH), valued at over Rs. 2.4 million. SLASSCOM was supported in this initiative by Metatechno Lanka, 24/7 Techies, Yaala Labs, ShipXpress – Kaleris Company, Swivel Group, PWC Sri Lanka, Intervest and Patrick Rode, an individual contributor.

IDH Director Dr. Hasitha Attanayake expressing his gratitude explained, “I convey my sincere appreciation for and on behalf of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to SLASSCOM and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. When the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic began, 5,000 patients were initially admitted to the hospital and now we have over 7000 patients and have exhausted our capacity. This donation comes at an opportune time and will help us immensely to carry out our work and strengthen our position in supporting patients in the fight against this deadly virus.”

Speaking at the launch event, SLASSCOM Chairperson Sandra De Zoysa stated, “As the national chamber for the IT/BPM industry, SLASSCOM along with our sponsors, have committed its efforts on uplifting the industry, upskilling its professionals, empowering its businesses and creating a positive and thriving ecosystem for technological progress in the country; it is encouraging and heartening for us to look beyond this agenda to concentrate on creating lasting environmental and social impact for all stakeholders within the industry and our community as ‘Sri Lanka Tech for Good’ is the main aspiration of the SLASSCOM Foundation.”

The SLASSCOM Foundation is built upon the collective expertise and strengths of the chamber’s member network and its dedicated volunteer network of professionals. Driven by its mission to create a sustainable impact on the industry stakeholders, the members along with the ecosystem partners, will fuel the Foundation, which will serve as an enabler and a platform to give back to the IT/BPM industry of Sri Lanka.