By Shannine Daniel

With the objective of creating regional cities and inclusive growth within Sri Lanka, IT/BPM Week will be held this year from 10-12 June in Kandy.

Organised by SLASSCOM, and supported by the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), the export Development Board (EDB) and the Ministry of Education this is an initiative to build the regional skill capacity to encourage the growth of the nation’s IT/BPM industry. 

The program will share ICT, entrepreneurial and Business Promotion Management (BPM) related knowledge through leadership sessions and workshops, targeting a varied audience of school children, exporters, entrepreneurs and university students.

“We sincerely believe that there is an opportunity to build up the IT/BPM sector. Our aspiration is to be a $ 5 billion industry and to generate employment and more so we want to do this with 1000 start ups,” proclaimed SLASSCOM Chairman Mano Sekaram. 

 “I personally believe that the next stage of our growth will come from young entrepreneurs and not from the existing companies which we see today. It is so important for a country to nurture entrepreneurship because the next wave of growth comes from start ups,” Sekaram added.

He stated that he is a firm believer in inclusive growth and in terms of inclusive growth the regions must be considered because 80% of the country’s workforce comes from the regional areas outside of Colombo. 

Second tier cities 

“This is where our greatest available human resources lie,” Sekaram opined. 

He added that growth has been concentrated in the Western Province and regional hubs need to be created. Colombo has become very congested and in future it could become more so. Increased expenses would also mean higher costs of start ups for companies and this is another great concern he stressed.

“There is a viable option to move to the regions and in the IT business we don’t need to be based in Colombo. If companies from developed countries to invest in Sri Lanka, location is irrelevant. What we need is good infrastructure,” Sekaram opined.

He went on to say that so far, Jaffna, Kandy and Galle had the potential to be developed as second tier cities when considered with the Location Development Index since they have the given infrastructure already in place, as well as connectivity and the capacity to generate skilled workforces through existing schools and universities.

Kandy is one of the cities which have the potential to be developed due to its the existing network of schools and more importantly the university of Peradeniya holds the capacity to generate a skilled workforce, which is a pressing requirement to compete in the global IT/ BPM sector. 

Sekaram is quite positive about the potential of the IT/BPM sector and what it can achieve in future. 

“For two consecutive years we have won the award for Best outsourcing destination from others chosen at the National Sourcing Awards Conference. This shows that the IT industry in our country is maturing and we have a lot of potential, it is of paramount importance that we make good use of these opportunities.” 

Speaking about the Jaffna IT/BPM week in 2014 Sekaram said that as a result of this initiative WSO2 decided to set up a branch in Jaffna and an IT ecosystem called Yarl IT which has started building up a very good base in Jaffna as well. He further stated that the IT undergraduates at Jaffna University had doubled last year and a separate IT and Technology faculty is currently being tested out. 

Commenting on Kandy/ IT BPM Week Sekaram stated that the creation of ‘second tier cities’ would empower regional economy and we would see a paradigm shift from being Colombo-centric to becoming regional-centric. 

He also added that the people living in the regions will be able reap benefits while living in their own households, allowing them to enjoy a far better life through the enhancement of the IT industry within these areas.

A wide range of job opportunities available

Kandy IT/BPM Week will consist of five programs namely the Future Careers Program on the 10th, Export Forum and Entrepreneurship workshop on the 11th June and the BPM conference and IT conference on the 12th. 

80 schools have been invited for the Future Careers Program revealed SLASSCOM Capacity Forum Head Subramaniam Muralidharen. The main aim of this program is to educate the students about the global and local IT/BPM sector and create awareness on the wide range of job opportunities available.160 teachers and principals are to be briefed prior to the event so that they too may be aware of the IT field and its many opportunities.

The Export Forum and Entrepreneurship workshop will target those interested in starting up a business, aspiring entrepreneurs and those who already run small and medium scale enterprises. 

The BPM Forum will be held primarily for university undergraduates in order to build up the HR capacity in the IT/ BPM sector in second tier regional cities, revealed SLASSCOM Director Hariharan Padmanaban. 

260 undergraduates are expected to attend from the state universities and It will provide them with an opportunity to identify the required professional skills and expertise to employed in the BPM sector. It will also provide further knowledge for the staff that educate the younger generation about the industry. This forum will be held at the Peradeniya University. 

The IT conference will be held at the Peradeniya University as well once again mainly targeting the undergrads from state universities exposing them to the IT industry and providing them with knowledge on the latest trends and innovations in IT. 

Pix by Daminda Harsha 

Sound legal framework needed 

ICTA Chairperson Chithranganie Mubarak asserted that the goal of achieving $ 5 billion and 200,000 jobs through 1000 start-ups by 2022 is not impossible.

“Google selected Sri Lanka to pilot their Loon project. There’s been criticism about it as well, yet I think the very fact that Google selected our country, put it on the map. It is something that we should be proud of. Other big companies may want to invest here in future,” stated Mubarak.

She revealed that Sri Lanka and the ICT industry is ranked among the top 15 offshore destinations for delivering IT, BPM and other knowledge services by the prestigious international consultancy firm ATKEARNEY. It has also been ranked among the 6 Primary Countries in Asia Pacific by Gartner.

“I believe that SL has the best environment conducive in taking this industry forward we have the kind of environment that can bring in big multi nationals and big game players, people who can change the ICT landscape in the country,” she asserted.

Mubarak went on to state that a lot of work has been done in terms of the legal system, because it is necessary to have sound legal framework to take the IT/BPM industry forward. 

“We have the Computer Crimes Act and the Electronic Transactions Act in place and we are signatories to the Budapest Cyber Crimes convention and the European Electronic Transactions convention,” she revealed.

“These are some of the conventions which some countries in the region and even some developed countries do not have in place. We have an edge over these countries when we project ourselves as a destination for BPM,” she declared.

Mubarak further stated that one common misconception that happens when considering ITC professionals is that people always expect them to serve in the ITC industry, yet that is not the only place where ICT professionals can create a career for themselves. 

“Today we are looking at a digitally inclusive Sri Lanka, we are moving forward hoping to connect 4500 government buildings within the next two years. All government services, at least the important ones are going to be online and people need to have capacity to run these organisations and deliver the services online to give and maintain support,”

She went on to say that there is to be a Lanka Government network, a Lanka Government cloud and also datasets released from the government. Payment platforms which will enable people to access these services from their home are also going to be made available.  “This is an opportunity for young people to develop solutions that will be useful for the general public, government and the private sector. There’s a lot going on right now and in the near future we will need more IT professionals,” she said

“There so many ways in which IT can be used to develop the country’s society and due to this we have worked very closely with SLASSCOM from the very inception in taking the Future Careers initiative forward. The fact that we are strategic partner for Kandy IT/BPM Week is a given and we hope that it will be as successful as it was in Jaffna,” she stated in conclusion. 

Sri Lanka can no longer rely on traditional exports

Exports Development Board (EDB) Chairperson Indira Malwatta recently stated at the media briefing and official launch of the Kandy IT/BPM Week that Sri Lanka can no longer rely on our traditional exports.

“As part of the EDB the IT/BPM sector is extremely important. As most of you know we can no longer depend on our traditional exports. We have to move on to other industries, and this becomes very relevant to the country’s growth,” Malwatta stated. 

She added that it is better to export our knowledge than face losses by exporting our traditional goods.

“I recently visited the University of Jaffna and I was told that those who graduate from the University of Jaffna with an IT background are snapped up immediately by employers. I personally think that it is a great choice and a great investment because those students are very enthusiastic and very skilled,” she opined.

She went on to say that IT does not revolve around only one sector; it is a dynamic part of many other sectors as well also adding that the EDB is actively supporting the service sector and it extends its fullest cooperation to the youth, as we can no longer depend on government jobs. 

“We must give the opportunity to the young people to bring their entrepreneurship up and create jobs. We can also see a number of people who are interested in starting their own businesses,”

She went on to say that the last government budget proposed to initiate a loan scheme through the state banks to be made available for 1000 young entrepreneurs to encourage their businesses. 

In conclusion she stated that there is a lot of potential in our country and the youth will benefit by measure such as the SLASSCOM IT/BPM week.