Focus on digital economy at CMA National Management Accounting Conference

Advancing growth and job creation through PPPs and Millennials

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​The world of business has changed. Small, agile organisations, built on ideals of ‘disruption’ and ‘innovation’, are challenging plodding monoliths that cannot adapt. Digitisation has given these smaller businesses the power to equalise the playing field and take on companies with far larger resource bases. 

Mirroring that effect on small businesses, research has shown that the digital economy stands to benefit developing countries even more than developed ones. In a timely effort to support Sri Lanka’s efforts in this area, the Institute of Certified Management of Accountants of Sri Lanka selected ‘Digital Transformation’ as the theme of this year’s conference, to be held from 17-19 July at Cinnamon Lakeside.

Chairing the session on ‘Digital Economy’, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Chairman Hemaka Amarasuriya with wide experience in the private sector and now heading one of the Government’s largest insurance companies will be able to introduce how the private and public sector could play a lead role in the digital economy.

Despite measures already taken, the digital economy is unforgiving to laggards, its present effects small in comparison to the changes anticipated over the decades to come. Only countries prepared to address those changes in time can benefit from the direct correlation between digitisation and economic growth. 

National Policies and Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Harsha De Silva will elaborate on that relationship, discuss the need for facilitation and regulation, and reveal the steps that are expected to meet that need. In his delivery of the session keynote, ‘Digitisation for Economic Growth and Job Creation’, his expertise as an economist, development banker, international consultant and entrepreneur prior to taking up public office lend him a holistic perspective of the challenges.

An integrated view is critical because although a government can empower economic growth and creation of jobs by means of the right policies, an ecosystem of both private and public sector organisations is required for success.

LIRNEasia CEO Helani Galpaya will delve into how Public-Private Partnerships can accelerate digital economy development. She shares lessons learnt from her current research on digital labour in South Asia, and explores the subjects of net neutrality, policy and regulatory barriers in Internet access, e-Government, and broadband quality of service, with unique insight from her time at the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka implementing e-Government projects under the World Bank’s e-Sri Lanka initiative.

All development to prepare for the digital economy, whether by business, government, or both together, must be centred on modern consumers – and the workforce who will serve them – offering innovative and relevant services in a connected environment. 

Leveraging his understanding of the unique motivators and drives of the generation who inherit the economy, Virtusa Chief Information Officer Madu Ratnayake formulates Virtusa’s digital strategy and global delivery framework. He brings that knowledge to his presentation, ‘Digital Economy – The Millennial Employee & Millennial Consumer’. 

As Founder Director and Chairman Emeritus of the Sri Lanka Association for Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) and representative of the IT industry on the boards of several leading universities, he is able to evaluate both sides of the coin: the business requirements, and the needs and capabilities of employees entering a market vastly different from a few decades ago.

Are you prepared for the marketplace of the future? Find out at the CMA National Management Accounting Conference 2017. Reserve your place or obtain more information by emailing [email protected] or contacting Shanthi on 071 470 5536.