Streamlined systems required for Sri Lanka’s vibrant ICT industry to develop

Canada, the country where I was born and grew up in, is more than 8,000 miles away from Sri Lanka. It has a different culture, different market and different market-dynamics. When it comes to information technology, one might place Canada and Sri Lanka at two different ends of a spectrum. One may wonder why I chose to travel the distance of 8,000 miles and start working in Sri Lanka – a so-called “Third World” country.

It is true that Sri Lanka is a small country located just below the deep south of India. It is also true that Sri Lanka’s economy is not as robust as the economy of Canada. Maybe there is a vast difference between Sri Lanka and Canada as far as infrastructure is concerned. Even in terms of ‘my areas’ which are telecommunication industry i.e., telephony, cable television, Internet and mobility, in which I worked for more than two decades, Canada is still ahead of Sri Lanka by comparison.

Having said that, it is important to realise that Sri Lankans are not ‘underdogs’ as some in the Western world might assume; it is a country with enormous potential to prosper in the industries of ICT and telecommunication. At the same time, Sri Lanka possesses some unique plus points, which can certainly assist the country to reach higher goals on the IT front.

There should be a drastic change in the mindset of the Western world with regard to the technological advancement in Sri Lanka. In other words, the Western world needs to change its mindset and re-asses the strength of the Sri Lankan market. They also need to understand the plus points of the countries socioeconomic and educational structures to which they to a great degree are still oblivious.

The general perception of the Western world is that countries like Sri Lanka are 30 years behind as far as modern technology is concerned. This is a flawed judgment based on false perceptions. Sri Lanka, in reality, is 24 hours away from the world’s latest technology as much as any other flourishing nation.

People in this country are aware of what is happening in the US on the technology front and how the occurrences in the US impact them. For instance, soon after the iPhone5 was introduced to the US market, it could be seen in cities like Colombo and Lahore and there was plenty of excitement in the market about the new arrival.

What gives them access to the advancement of modern technology? As I believe, the educational structure of Sri Lanka plays a pivotal role in it. In spite of upheavals that take place at regular intervals, there is a robust education system in Sri Lanka and students have access to new advancements of modern technology, compared to other countries in the region.

On the other hand, the educational system in Sri Lanka has some unique features compared to the system of Canada with which I am familiar. In Canada, where I grew up, people have to pay a whopping amount of money for education whereas in Sri Lanka, higher education is provided free of charge by state universities. That provides opportunity for a larger section of the society to be stakeholders of higher education. This, in my view, is a plus point and it increases the potential of the Sri Lankan market.

It is a fact that there is a necessity to improve the qualitative aspect of Sri Lanka’s education, but the process of learning should primarily inculcate critical thinking in the minds of students and that will benefit not only industries such as IT and software; but also the country’s economy – at large.

Parallel to the difference between education systems, the telecommunication markets in Sri Lanka and Canada have different features. In Canada, there is some oligopoly in the telecommunication market and a few players are dominating the industry; whereas in Sri Lanka, the telecommunication market is far more vibrant and fast moving.

On the other hand, the middle class in Sri Lanka is willing to pay for convenience and that helps the growth of the industry. Because the market is highly competitive and exciting, there is more space for innovation and value addition. That was one reason why I was encouraged to work in Sri Lanka.

Also, as a whole, Sri Lanka’s telecommunication costs are very competitive and due to the competition and vibrancy in the market, the standard rates for local and international calls are much lower than in developed countries. The ‘telecommunication habits’ of Sri Lankans, on the other hand, are somewhat different from those of Canadians and Americans. That also creates a direct impact upon the industry.

In countries like Canada, the US and the UK, for instance, people often use ‘voicemail’ as one of their telecommunication activities. If you cannot get through to someone over the phone, you leave a voicemail to convey your message. But in Sri Lanka, surprisingly, people hardly use this service. Instead, they return ‘missed calls’ and in terms of telecommunication costs, returning missed calls is a more expensive alternative than using voicemail services. But, culturally, Sri Lankan users are not interested in voicemail services. Unique habits like that should be taken into consideration when assessing dynamics of the industry.

However, there are several loose ends, which need to be tied up. Protection of software and source codes is a key area which needs to be strengthened in order to develop the ICT and telecommunication industries in Sri Lanka.

Concurrent to that, regulation processes of the industry should be streamlined to facilitate new investors and emerging industry players. That will convince investors that Sri Lanka is a place where there is a friendly ambience for large-scale investments. If Sri Lanka is to reach out to the global market, such loopholes need to be rectified and systems should be streamlined for the benefit of investors and stakeholders of the industry.

(The writer is the Chief Technology Officer of Wavenet and joined the company back in 2011. He has over 20 years of experience within the telecommunications industry, including telephony, cable television, Internet and mobility. The focus throughout his career has been on convergence, working on the edge where developing software driven technology drives change. A career in an environment of overlapping industries has fostered a balanced perspective between established utility engineering and Internet age innovation.)