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NBQSA, key program
As a country that is looking to its ICT industry to be a catalyst for economic growth, one of the key things to focus on is the growth and development of our human capital or human resources in this sector. Attracting new skills to the industry, and keeping the existing industry workforce motivated and inspired to deliver top quality products and services is an on-going challenge, and an important endeavour that we have to continuously focus on. We believe that the NBQSA is a key program that contributes to this, hence the reason to add national recognition to the event, so as to add further impetus to that contribution.
NBQSA itself has been growing and maturing in various ways over the years. Many new awards have been added, recognising growth areas in the ICT sector including the Government. This is a 
trait of an event or process that is moving with the times and aligning itself with the needs and trends of the present and the future. We must pay tribute to those behind these conceptual changes, as it keeps NBQSA alive and current.
ICTA closely linked to ‘Lifetime achiever’
The ICT Agency, in addition to being engaged as the National Partner of this event, is also closely linked with the ‘Lifetime achiever’ or ‘Outstanding contributor to ICT’ award, which recognise exceptional individuals who have made significant contributions to this industry and its growth.
Since last year we have also been involved in recognising outstanding public sector organisations that have made major strides with ICT, in the radical improvement of their processes, efficiency and citizen service delivery. It is our sincere hope that these special awards, along with the rest, will grow from strength to strength and continue to felicitate outstanding individuals and organisations.
The advancement of the NBQSA event and the growth of the industry are all part of the successful journey we have been traversing in the ICT sphere during the last decade. There have been many achievements and accomplishments as well as international recognition that Sri Lanka has attained as a country in this sector during 
these 10 years.
Three international successes in last three months
I want to mention three important international successes that we have had in the ICT sector in the last couple of months. These three successes relate to the Government, industry and society, showing that we are not just moving forward in one area, but advancing on all fronts – firing on all cylinders so to speak.
The first is the recently-released UN e-GOV Development Index, which saw Sri Lanka leapfrog 41 places to be ranked 74 out of 192 countries in the world, showcasing the country’s tremendous advancement in the e-Government agenda. We also had great recognition in some of the sub-categories in this index, being ranked No. 1 in South Asia, No. 5 among 48 low -middle income countries and No.7 globally in the category of ‘High On-line Service Performance, relative to income’.
Moving on to the industry, the recently-released A.T. Kearney’s Global Services Location Index featuring the top 50 destinations for IT/BPM services, saw Sri Lanka climb up a further five places to be at No.16, demonstrating the remarkable forward momentum of the local industry.
And finally in the area of ICT for society in general, a couple of months ago, Sri Lanka’s Nenasala project was the winner of the Access to Learning Award, presented by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, selected from 200 applicants across 115 countries. The significance of this award is that it is accompanied by a substantial and generous monetary grant. These are all great achievements for our country, just in the last three months, endorsing the journey we have come along and providing great momentum and encouragement for the future. It also goes to show that just as much as an integrated approach to e-development is important, integrated successes such as these are also important. It is this synergistic approach that allows us to move forward faster, as well as contributing more to the success of individual components.
NBQSA winners winning APICTA awards
I like to speak on one other point, before closing. We all know the winners of NBQSA are nominated for the regional Asia Pacific Information Technology Awards (APICTA). NBQSA winners from Sri Lanka have on numerous occasions brought credit and recognition to the country, by winning awards at APICTA as well.
We should be happy to note that Sri Lanka, through the British Computer Society (BCS) and the Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS), has been steadily growing its partnership and involvement in APICTA over the years.
The first achievement in this regard was the appointment of Dr. Dileepa De Silva as the Chairman of APICTA in November 2013. Since then BCS and FITIS, together with the Government of Sri Lanka, have been working to further strengthen this engagement, and have been able to successfully bid and bring the much-celebrated APICTA to Sri Lanka in 2015. So next year in addition to the national event NBQSA, we’ll be privileged to host and be a part of the regional APICTA event as well. I thank all those who contributed to making this happen and sincerely hope we can showcase a truly impressive as well as successful APICTA 2015.
NBQSA 2014 winners
