Digitally Transformed Sri Lanka – Measure Your Digital Readiness Using FITIS Digital Excellence Framework

The Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS) the apex body for the ICT industry in Sri Lanka – Software Chapter formally known as Sri Lanka Association for the Software Industry (SLASI) organizing the FITIS Digital Excellence Awards and Conclave for the 2^ndconsecutive year in Colombo 23^rdFebruary, 2022 at the Shangri-La Hotel Colombo.

The event is positioned as one of the premier digital excellence awards and conferences that will hold panel discussions, fireside chats, presentations, and business matchmaking with an agenda to draw insights from participants with respect to digital transformation and exponential organizations (ExO).

The Digital Excellence Awards will be the culmination of the event, the grand finale which would recognize and applaud business enterprises who have adopted digital technologies and have transformed themselves to become Exponential Organizations contributing towards economic prosperity for the industry and country.The event hopes to attract more than 800 delegates from private and government organizations locally and regionally to a common forum and gain insights on how their companies can benefit through digital transformation and move forward amidst a competitive market space.

Themed ‘A Digitally Transformed Sri Lanka’, the event will feature a star-studded line up of global speakers from across the globe who can inspire and guide enterprises to migrate from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0. The Speakers will share their insights, success stories and pragmatic approaches in spearheading transformational change to sustain and grow businesses in today’s disrupted world. 

FITIS is the is the apex body of the ICT sector in the country covering all major industry segments such as Hardware, Software, Training & Education, Communication, Digital Services and Professional. Over the last 2 decades, FITIS which has been actively contributing towards changing the landscape of the Sri Lankan ICT industry.

“FITIS is proud to organize Digital Excellence Awards and Conclave for the second time,a very timely initiative to recognize the enterprises for their efforts on their digital transformation journey,” said Dr. Prasad Samarasinghe Chairman of FITIS. “Widespread adoption of digital technologies will no doubt lead to higher productivity and higher exports, which is imperative as Sri Lanka looks to export its services and products overseas, in a bid to attract more foreign exchange in the country.This initiative aligns well with the Sri Lanka’s vision of drive the Digital Economy Sri Lanka and we invite all organizations to partner with us in making Sri Lanka’s digital economy a success”.

Becoming disruptors and innovators are important if we are serious about making Sri Lanka the most competitive economy in the region, and to ensure it progresses to be a global player. Therefore, the Digital Excellence Conclave and Awards by the Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS) will be the perfect platform for professionals from multiple sectors to kick start this discussion, and thereby contribute effectively towards helping Sri Lanka reach this goal.

A unique feature of the Digital Excellence Awards & Conclave that it will include a range of workshops, demos, success stories, which will provide delegates a holistic learning experience. FITIS Digital Excellence Framework will be used for assessing the digital maturity of the organization covering four (4) major categories including, (i) Digitized Customer Experience, (ii) Digitized Products/Services, (iii) Digitized Operations and (iv) Digitized Organization.

Each main category is grouped in to two sub-categories. A further four more unique categories, (i) Fully Transformed Organization (ii) Born Digital Organization and (iii) Corporate IT Awards (iv) Public Sector Awards, have also been added.Entries will be evaluated by an eminent panel of jury members who have been pioneers in their respective fields and have contributed in the development of the industry and economy. The stage of digital transformation maturity for each domain ranges from “Merit”, “Bronze”, “Silver” and “Gold”

Chairman of the Digital Excellence Conclave and Awards, Fairooz Habeeb said “Despite the pandemic, Sri Lanka is at a crucial juncture in our digital transformation journey. Therefore, as much as we must focuses our attention in harnessing the powers of innovation and continuing to promote a national digitalization implementation strategy, it is paramount that we also honor organizations which have been at the forefront in transforming digitally one corporate at a time. Because brilliance must never go unnoticed”

“With the onset of the fourth industrial revolution, businesses and governments have embraced technology and digitalization to become more efficient and sustainable. At the government level, we have developed an ambitious plan to become digitally smarter. Therefore, professionals and entrepreneurs must innovate, embrace disruption and be the disruptors if we are to create new markets, and succeed in it”, said Prof. Malik Ranasinghe Chairman of ICTA. “In times of unfathomable challenges, no matter how dark the tunnel is, we must learn to keep the light shining and not lose hope. Therefore, despite the darkness surrounding us in these difficult times due to the global pandemic followed by the economic crisis, I am grateful to FITIS for organizing the Digital Excellence Awards 2021. No matter what, it is imperative that we encourage, value and celebrate the brilliant IT companies and its professionals all across Sri Lanka.”

“Sri Lanka is known as the island of ingenuity and is celebrated for creating outstanding ICT solutions which are highly-sought after across the globe. The mission of the Export Development Board (EDB) is to promote these cutting-edge products/services to highly competitive and demanding foreign markets. The Digital Excellence Framework developed by FITIS will provide much needed encouragement for enterprises to produce world-class products and services, which upon export, will boost the country’s economy”, said Suresh de Mel Chairman EDB. “We believe the Digital Excellence Awards will strengthen Sri Lanka’s reputation and competitiveness as an ICT hub on a global scale, while supplementing the national export strategy. ICT related services are the second largest export earner for Sri Lanka in 2022. With the right technical expertise, and by leveraging the right talent and skills, the ICT industry has the potential to soon become the largest export earner for Sri Lanka”.

According to Habeeb, FITIS has partnered with some of the world’s best digital transformation enablers for local companies to connect at the conclave and awards to share following benefits:

• Guide and assist the enterprises to migrate from the 3^rd to the 4^th Industrial Revolution by adopting world-class best practices.
• Obtain impartial and third-party evaluation of the digital maturity of an organization.
• Identify the issues and gaps in digital transformation initiatives aligning industry best practices
• Identify the elements of successful digital transformation and how to assess your firm’s digital maturity.
• Improve credibility and marketability of the products and services offered by the organization.
• Support the country’s vision to build a digital economy.

This conference is open to companies who are already in their digital transformation journey, are digitally boned, as well as companies where digital technology has become the backbone of the organization. 

For more details on the event, visit www.digitalexcellenceawards.lk

The Gold Sponsor of the Digital Excellence Conclave and Awards are WSO2, BPC Banking, while the ICTA Agency Sri Lanka and EDB will be the National Partners and EY and Open ExO are knowledge partners.