Japanese digital IT experts in town

Tuesday, 10 March 2015 00:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Pioneering EDB meet packs 62 Lankan ICT firms
14 Lankan CEOs, 10 MDs among Lankan reps
Lanka ICT exports projected to cross $ 1 b in 2015
Lanka’s exports to Japan at $ 890 m

Amidst EDB projections that next year’s Lankan ICT exports would top the $ 1 billion mark, four Japanese experts – including two digital IT experts flying in – will meet Lankan IT exporters today (10) in Colombo. The first-ever such face-to-face IT meet and seminar between Japanese experts and Lankan ICT exporters to be held here is a collaborative effort of EDB with SLASSCOM and JETRO.

The session is scheduled to pack 62 top reps from Lankan ICT sector, amongst them 14 Lankan ICT CEOs, and 10 managing directors, country managers and consultants. Among the ICT firms taking part are PricewaterhouseCoopers, Kasper Holdings, Zillione Systems, Openarcsystems, i-context Convergence, Just in Time Group, hSenid Mobile Solutions and Celcey Ltd. In 2014, Sri Lanka’s ICT exports were estimated at $ 815 m and EDB’s projections are for volumes to surge to $ 1 billion by 2015. Japan is Asia’s high-tech powerhouse. The 2014 estimate for global production by Japanese electronics and IT companies stands at $ 362 b. Of this, only 14% ($ 50 b) is “IT/software solutions” while the rest (86%) consists of hardware manufacturing such as computers, semiconductors, communication equipment, and display terminals. The $ 50 b “IT/software solutions” share signifies that there is promising scope for new players in the sector to increase this rate. The Japanese “outsourcing industry” is tilted towards enterprise levels with demand for cloud computing. It is projected to hit $23B mark by 2017. As for “electronics and IT (E&IT) industry”, the Japanese companies claim 15% of global E&IT output with an annual (Japanese) production increase of 3%. A Tsuyomu Tsuchiyama (Corporate Officer, Strategic Planning Division, Nippon RAD Inc) previously served at Mitsui and Critical Path Pacific. From 2002 he served as the Chief Strategic Officer of Osaka based Internet marketing and e-commerce service firm Ergo Brains switching to digital content delivery firm Limelight Networks Japan in 2007. Starting 2014, he serves as the Corporate Officer (Strategic Planning) of the Tokyo based $ 28 m revenue data centre and cloud solution provider, Nippon RAD Inc. At the EDB event Tsuchiyama is scheduled to speak on ‘Japanese companies’ perspective on Sri Lanka as an emerging market as well as a resource for their business’. Hidemi Yamamoto (Senior Executive – Global Affairs of Japan Information Technology Service Industry Association – JISA) has been dealing with international trade issues and the making day to day operation of JISA’s international activities and events since 1990. Yamamoto became a Vice-President in 2005 and contributed to promote international IT trade for Japanese IT services vendors. He had been serving as a member of Investment Advisory Group of Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), and also a member of IT Working Group, India-Japan Investment Dialogue, at the Japan Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Yamamoto is the writer of Software Industries’ Chapter of Japan-China Economic Industry White Paper 2012-2011, 2011-2010 issued by the Japan-China Economic Association. Yamamoto is scheduled to overview the Japanese IT service industries at the EDB event. JETRO reps Kazuhiko Obama (Resident Representative, JETRO Colombo) and Mitsuaki Sano (Asian Cooperation Division of JETRO) too are scheduled meet Lankan exporters at the EDB event today. In 2013, Sri Lanka’s exports to Japan stood at $894.15 m and in the first half of 2014, it stood at $477.87 m.