ICT Industry Skills Council appoints new Board of Directors

First row from left: TVEC Industrial Liaison Division Assistant Director Hashanthi Lakmini, FITIS Software Chapter President Wellington Perera, AvoNet Technologies CIO Shanta Yapa, Sala Enterprises Managing Director Chinthaka Wijewickrema, IFS Vice President (Consulting) Poorna Bandara , Debug Managing Director Abbas Kamrudeen, Ministry of Skills Development and Vocational Training Assistant Director (ICT) and CIO Thilina Panduka, Institutions of Engineers of Sri Lanka Vice President Arjuna Manamperi, ICT Industry Skills Council Manager Chadika Yahampath

Second row from left: BCS ExCo Member Alanzo Doll, SLASSCOM Board Director Hasith Yaggahavita, TVEC Acting Deputy Director Chammika Gunathilaka, Virtusa Talent Capability Development Head Sampath Thrimavithana, Orel IT Vice President Upendra Peiris, Lanka Bell Managing Director Dr. Prasad Samarasinghe, and ICTISC Company Secretary Vipula Silva

Consisting of Industry leaders and stakeholders, the ICT Skills Council is an ICT Industry-driven organisation supported by the Government of Sri Lanka. 

The ICT Skills Council aims to prepare Sri Lankan workforce for Digital Sri Lanka, and make Sri Lanka an ICT skill hub for the global ICT industry. ICTISC is aligned with the Government strategy of creating a $5 billion industry, and creating a 200,000-strong skilled labour force by 2022. Further, ICTISC functions as the platform between the IT Industry and the Vocational Education Sector of the country.

A leading entrepreneur in the ICT sphere, Sala Enterprises Managing Director Chinthaka Wijewickrema was elected as the Chairman of the ICT Industry Skills Council, whilst Arjuna Manamperi of the Institutions of Engineers of Sri Lanka was appointed as the Vice Chairman. Hasith Yaggahavita of SLASSCOM (Treasurer), and Shanta R Yapa of Avonet Ltd (General Secretary) were appointed as Office Bearers. 

Other Directors are L.G. H. Karunarathne (CSSL ExCo Member), Ministry of ICT and Digital Infrastructure Senior Assistant Secretary Waruna Sri Dhanapala, NAITA Planning and Monitoring Director Eng. Rohan Rodrigo.

ICTIS Chairman Wijewickrema said: “Like its economy, the Sri Lankan ICT scenario is developing. In order to bridge this gap between ICT skills expectation and local demand, the ICT Skills Council was tasked with the responsibility of developing highly skilled people in the industry. ICT Skills Council has established collaboration and believes that the national competency development is a collaborative effort by multiple stakeholders. ICTISC link up industry, industry bodies, government bodies, Government training arms, private training arms, academia and the workforce under a defined set of national goals.” 

“We hope to achieve several objectives in coming two years. One main task is to develop a clear ICT skills policy for the vocational education sector in Sri Lanka. We also hope to conduct workshops for career guidance counsellors and teachers of the vocational education system, highlighting the latest trends in ICT. Job training and Job Portal for students are also expected to be implemented,” he added.

ICT Industry Skills Council is truly an apex body of the ICT Sector, since it has brought the whole industry together by involving all leading industry associations, corporates, government entities and academia in its membership. The strategy of ICTISC for the next two years will depend upon four pillars, namely: infrastructure improvements, education and networking, professional and career development, and events and programs.