Fresh boost for ICT industry as Sri Lanka hosts WSA Global Congress in October

Tuesday, 2 July 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam For the first time Sri Lanka will host the prestigious World Summit Award (WSA) Global Congress in October this year giving a fresh boost to the country’s fast improving profile in the ICT industry. The three day event from 23 to 26 October will feature 40 outstanding application developers and over 60 high-profile speakers and is expected to attract over 1,000 international delegates. The multiple events will be held at the Nelum Pokuna (Lotus Pond) Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre, Kingsbury Hotel and Mount Lavinia Hotel, in Colombo.

The last WSA Global Congress was successfully held in Cairo, Egypt. Hosted by the Information and Communications Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) this year, the objective of the global event is to present creative mobile and web applications from all over the world, whereas it will also serve as a platform to discuss the crucial role of e-content for the global economy, environment, government, healthcare, education, and mobility. “The developers will demonstrate the richness and diversity of e-content around the globe and will show that in an almost entirely connected world, it takes quality content to fulfil the promises of the information society,” said visiting UN-based WSA Initiative Chairman Peter A. Bruck, at a press conference held last week in Colombo. According to him, the congress will also put a special focus on social entrepreneurship and the role played by the internet and mobile phones in reaching the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Bruck revealed that to showcase the huge potential of ICT, 18 young entrepreneurs will present their award-winning projects in categories such as fight hunger, poverty and disease, power to women and pursue truth. “The social entrepreneurs who will present their work in Sri Lanka this year will demonstrate how new media can play a central role when addressing global issues such as hunger, child mortality, lack of education, and environmental pollution. Many of them use the problems they encounter in their daily lives as a starting point for their own work,” he added. Opining that the event will turn Sri Lanka into a global hub for excellence in e-content, ICTA CEO Reshan Dewapura expressed that the congress would create business opportunities for the nation’s entrepreneurs and help attract foreign investments. Speaking on how Sri Lanka is poised to host the global congress which takes place once every two years, Dewapura said: “The ICT policy of the Government of Sri Lanka has been both ambitious and successful. It includes making the dividends of ICT accrue to all the people of the country in the best way possible. One of its aims in the regional area is to make Sri Lanka the knowledge hub of the region.” He went on to say the privilege Sri Lanka has received to host the WSA Global Congress 2013 itself is a further eloquent proof that ICTA has played its role as the apex body of implementing the national ICT policy.