SLISM launches first Digital Customer Experience Management conference

Axiata VP and Axiata Analytics Head Pedro Uria Recio, SLISM VP Sandra De Zoysa, SLISM President Dr. Sunil Nawarathna, and Digital Customer Experience Management Exchange Event Chair Rekha Weerasooriya 

The Sri Lanka Institute of Service Management (SLISM) announced the inauguration of Sri Lanka’s first one-day ‘Digital Customer Experience Management Exchange’ (Conference), scheduled to be held on Thursday 4 April at Shangri-La, Colombo. The event will be graced by Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Chief Guest and Guest of Honour State Minister of Finance and MP Eran Wickramaratne. 

The service sector in Sri Lanka, referring to tourism, hospitality, telecommunication, IT, healthcare, public service, education, financial, insurance, logistics, legal, accounting and other professional services, account for over half of the country’s GDP and is instrumental in furthering the nation’s growth.

The core objective of SLISM is to accelerate the growth of the service sector by promoting public interest and awareness of effective Service Management. Promoting education, R&D in Service Management and to be a platform for professionals and academics to exchange ideas and best practices. SLISM is under the esteemed leadership of Prof. Gamini Gunawardane (Founder), Dr. Sunil J Nawarathna (President), Sandra De Zoysa (Vice President), Yasa Karunaratne (Secretary) and Nelson Nagasinghe (Treasurer) as well as an Advisory Council of SLISM comprising of an eminent group of professionals from across the private and public sectors.

The event draws together renowned service professionals, expert speakers/ panellists from across the country and the globe, who will present the latest strategies, technology trends and innovation in CEM, digital transformation, omni-channel management, retail and social customer journey management; and data-driven approaches to segmentation and personalisation; as well as the use of AI and RPA to drive customer experience; improving productivity, adopting human centred design and achieving brand loyalty.

Commenting on the scheduled conference, SLISM Founder Professor Gamini Gunawardane said: “Sri Lanka’s service sector contributes nearly 60% to the country’s GDP. This sector includes public services, hospitality and tourism, communication, it, healthcare, education, banking, insurance, transportation and distribution, legal, accounting, and retail services. Through the planned exchange, SLISM aims to increase public and corporate awareness of the importance of having effective service management in Sri Lanka; to promote improvements in service management practices, education, training and research in Sri Lanka; and to provide a forum for professionals and academics in service management to exchange ideas and best practices catapulting our service providers to a new era of digital customer service management.”

Concluding on the subject, SLISM Vice President Sandra De Zoysa (Group Chief Customer Officer at Dialog Axiata) said: “With decades of local research, international practices and trial and error experience in the field, we have cultivated the knowledge and skills via our customer service experts and their success stories to further the quality of service in Sri Lanka. We are honoured to be at the forefront of this exchange and look forward to boosting our nation’s forerunners of the service industry.”

This event hopes to promote positive change by cultivating a culture of learning and growth, facilitating knowledge and best practice sharing by global panellists, service practitioners and thought leaders from the region. The event is expected to bring together 300 decision makers, Senior Management professionals and functional heads across tourism, hospitality, Retail, IT, BFSI and Telecom sectors in Sri Lanka.

SLISM aims to publish a Sri Lankan Journal of Service Management as well as a publication named ‘The Service Manager’ which will take the form of practice guides for Service Managers on key practical issues.

Professional managers of services in the public and private sectors, and service management academics, researchers and students are invited to contact the SLISM General Secretary Yasa Karunaratne on [email protected] to become members of SLISM. 

The Sri Lanka Institute of Service Management (SLISM) was inaugurated in 2017 by professionals in both public and private sector practice, as well as Academics in service management. The key objectives of SLISM are to provide education related to service management, as well as acting as a platform for professionals, practitioners and academics in the industry to network, collaborate and share international, locally-focused best practice to move forward, as a nation.