Southern coast plays host to Etisalat Android Forum

The luxurious Lighthouse hotel in Galle played host to the first Etisalat Android Forum to be held on Sri Lanka’s Southern Coast. The telco who began the innovative idea of Android Forums last November have since successfully completed six forums up to now, the latest being the first in the Southern Province. The forum titled ‘What Can Android Do for You?’ focused on newcomers looking to get their first taste of Android and envision the possibilities that the Android Universe will create for them. More than 300 enthusiasts attended the event; an audience comprised of students, professionals and business executives from the region.

Etisalat CEO Dumindra Ratnayaka commented on the forum saying, “Sri Lanka’s Southern Coast is an economically bursting region in our country, driven by the growth of tourism and the construction of the southern expressway. So we decided that the Southern province was perfect for our latest Android forum, as the people in the region have a lot of potential that they could unlock, through learning how to use the Anndroid Operating System (OS). Our forum in the east was a success, as was this one in Galle, so in the future we are definitely looking to have more outside of Colombo.”

Etisalat pioneered the concept of Android Forums in Sri Lanka as a means of illustrating the potential that the Android Universe has to developers, business professionals and first time users, in the wake of the rise of this OS and the growing popularity of smart mobile devices.

Following the success of the first forum near the close of 2011, Etisalat began the year with three more forums, and then decided to take the idea outside of Colombo. First to the Eastern Province in April, and now to the Southern, where audiences have shown enormous enthusiasm.

Smartphone penetration in Sri Lanka is still very low in comparison to other countries in the region. However, Etisalat’s efforts to introduce lower priced smart phones into the market are aimed at increasing penetration, and forums such as the recent one in Galle allow consumers to understand the full impact that a smart device can have on their lives, inspiring adoption. It also empowers local developers and entrepreneurs with the knowledge and skill required to localise the technological offerings of the Android OS, a key factor in helping the operating system reach its full potential.