EDB, industry unite to promote IT exports to Asian region

Nisthar Cassim reporting from Singapore

Sri Lanka is making a bold push to win business from Asia by putting up a country pavilion, a first, at the region’s biggest IT and Telecom industry event CommunicaAsia 2011 in Singapore this week.

Under an initiative by the Export Development Board (EDB) five companies are showcasing their world class ICT software solutions to the Asian region.

The four-day CommunicAsia with EnterpriseIT 2011 and BroadcastAsia 2011 running in parallel began on Tuesday at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre.

The Companies are John Keells Computer Services Ltd., hSenid Business Solutions, EVES Information Technology Lanka Ltd., Just In Time Group and Sanje Lanka Ltd.

The events are positioned as Asia’s premier business gathering for the global broadcasting, digital media and infocomm (ICT) industries. Over 55,000 industry visitors, exhibitors, conference speakers and delegates, and media guests from over 100 countries and regions are attending the events.

EDB Head Export Services Saman Maldeni said that with the Government actively promoting the IT/BPO sector, EDB under the leadership of Janaka Ratnayake took a decision to establish a country pavilion at this mega event for Asian ICT industry.

“In the past Sri Lankan companies have taken part on their own but this year the EDB decided on having a country pavilion for a more concerted and aggressive push to promote ICT exports,” Maldeni told the Daily FT, which is covering CommunicAsia 2011 on an invitation from Nokia.

According to industry sources Sri Lanka’s ICT exports in 2010 are estimated to have topped the US$ 400 million mark. The industry led by the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) in partnership with the EDB and several other agencies including ICTA is aiming at a one billion dollar export target by 2015. A doubling of the ICT sector human capital base to 80,000 is also a target in parallel. At present there are over 250 companies engaged in the IT sector.

EDB also promotes the country pavilion at Europe’s biggest ICT fair CeBIT in Germany and GITEX in Dubai.

Maldeni said Sri Lanka is emerging as a global IT destination of choice in a number of key focus domain areas. Sri Lanka was recently ranked among the top 25 global outsourcing destinations by AT Kearney and was ranked among top 10 emerging cities by Global Services magazine.

SLASSCOM Chairman and hSenid Managing Director Dinesh Saparamadu who is also attending CommunicAsia 2011 said that participation at this key industry event in Asia is helpful in exploring new business opportunities in the region.

“As a company which has participated in CommunicAsia for nearly 10 years we have seen good results. We hope more companies will consider participation at next year’s event under the Sri Lanka Pavilion concept,” Saparamadu added.

Sri Lanka Pavilion member John Keells Computer Services has been providing software services to the aviation industry for over a decade. As an IATA strategic partner, JKCS established footprint in the aviation industry covers full service carriers and regional airlines, airports and aviation software companies. According to JKCS, the hospitality industry is its new frontier as it keeps re-defining market space.

hSenid is the premier HRIS software solutions provider in total human resources applications, payroll solutions, time and attendance solutions, tailor made software developments, etc. It has over 650 customers in 24 countries.

Another participant, Just In Time Group is a leading systems integrator whilst Sanje Lanka Ltd. styles itself as the largest enterprise document management solutions and services provider in Sri Lanka. EVES Information Technology Lanka is an outsourced subsidiary of EVES Group of Companies of Germany which delivers IT services to 20 DAX companies in Germany. Its participation at CommunicAsia is part of efforts to expand business in Southeast Asia.

As participants to concurrent technical and business conferences there were several Sri Lankan company representatives as well.

Sri Lankan Upali Arambewale, Head of Transmission Technology and Spectrum for Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), on Tuesday presented a paper on ‘Digital Migration: A practical guide for developing countries’ at BroadcastAsia 2011.

A seven member Lankan delegation led by MP Nishantha Muthuhettigama is attending BroadcastAsia 2011 as well.

MBC Networks Sri Lanka Director Engineering MTV Channel Tharaka Mohotty is another participant at BroadcastAsia 2011.

This year, CommunicAsia and BroadcastAsia features over 2,000 exhibitors from 59 countries and regions showcasing the latest technologies and solutions available today. Ranging from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to multinational companies (MNCs), the two shows occupy more than 55,000 square metres of floor space. The robust interest in exhibition space highlights the increasing importance of the shows as a platform for companies to reach out to the global marketplace.

Global giant Nokia returned to CommunicAsia 2011 after a long absence. On Tuesday it demonstrated how the company was making significant progress on the new strategy it laid out earlier this year. From smartphones to mobile phones, from services to user interface design, and from improved device experiences to developer tools, Nokia outlined concrete actions for growth and taking leadership across the board.

Nokia introduced three new affordable devices – the Nokia C2-02, Nokia C2-03 and Nokia C2-06. The portfolio includes dual and single SIM options, and all three models offer a new, advanced web and maps experience for Series 40 phone users, as well as the choice of a touch screen or a keypad. Nokia also restated its commitment to Symbian.

This July, Nokia will start shipping Nokia N8s, E7s, C7s and C6-01s with the new Symbian Anna software update, which includes a number of user experience improvements. By the end of August, existing owners of these devices can also download Symbian Anna. And over the next 12 months Nokia plans to bring up to 10 new Symbian-based smartphones to market.

To win the smart phone segment Nokia said it will later this year launch the first Windows phone whilst on Tuesday it revealed its latest high end smartpone – the N9, an all-screen device with three home views and a new user interface navigated through a simple swipe of the finger.

CommunicAsia also said many first-time exhibitors have chosen to make their debut at the 2011 show underlying the international standing and innovative approach of this iconic event. These include 3M, AsiaSat, Bharti Airtel, Conax, Dehao Electronics, FibreHome, National Instruments, Tata Communications, VeriFone, Vislink News and Entertainment, Vu TelePresence Inc. and Zynga, to name a few.

They join returning key exhibitors such as BlackBerry, Ericsson Television, Huawei, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, NTT DoCoMo, PCCW Global, ZTE and many others to showcase their latest range of innovations, and take part in the myriad of networking opportunities available during the show which ends tomorrow.