10-Jan-2009

IOM is providing a USD 750,000 grant to the Department of Immigration and Emigration to improve document management systems. The Front-End image and application electronic technology is a significant milestone in a series of efforts to make migration safer under the IOM – Government of Sri Lanka Technical Cooperation on Migration (TCM) framework. It does so by introducing electronic document management systems and photo matching technology (Front Desk digital scanning of image matching End Desk document processing product) therefore reducing the space for fraudulent activities in the passport issuance service chain.

9-Jan-2009

The 20th Annual General Meeting of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka was held recently where Chrisantha Silva was elected as the president.
In taking over as CSSL’s Presidency Mr. Silva highlighted some of the tough challenges which CSSL has to face during his year. “As a professional organization Computer Society has a responsibility to serve both its members and also the ICT community of Sri Lanka. It is important that we bring the benefits of ICT to all so that the digital divide is minimized. CSSL will concentrate on ICT in rural areas. This is mainly to improve the awareness and ICT literacy rate in rural areas. The annual National IT Conference and National Schools Software Competition are another two major events conducted by the Computer Society of Sri Lanka. The CSSL is planning to have Special Interest Groups, workshops and seminars for its membership”. Mr. Silva stated that CSSL has started most of these projects during 2008 and will continue in 2009 to get the maximum benefits to the members, and thanked the Past President Dr. Prasanna Lokuge for initiating these projects and the tremendous progress made during 2008. He further said, “We hope to work closely with the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka and other relevant government bodies.”

9-Jan-2008

Although Colombo bourse was flat yesterday large volumes got traded with SLT topping the most traded stocks with over 3 million shares.
SLT was the highest trading stock amounting to 3,708,100 shares that got traded yesterday up by 0.68% at prices up by 25 cents on the heels of the court ruling yesterday which cleared a sale of an equity stake to a foreign buyer.

SLT accounted for the highest turnover, contributing 137 million rupees to the day's turnover .

Some 3.7 million SLT shares were traded within a range of 35-37.25 rupees, after a court ruling permitted the managing shareholder NTT to sell its stake to Malaysia's UT group.

9-Jan-2009

MUMBAI, (AFP) - India reeled Thursday over a false accounting scandal at outsourcing giant Satyam, likened to that at US energy giant Enron, amid fears for jobs, foreign investment and the country's economic credibility.
The Satyam affair could not have come at a worse time, analysts said, with growth in India slowing and the government struggling to revive the flagging economy.

There were even fears the Hyderabad-based company -- India's fourth-largest IT exporter -- could go to the wall, as existing clients run scared and potential bidders shy away from being associated with a tainted firm.

9-Jan-2009
Forms Sri Lanka Association for Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) to take IT/BPO to become the number 1 industry in Sri Lanka

On 31st of October, leaders of the Software and BPO industry came together to form the unified national IT/BPO industry association - Sri Lanka Association for Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) - to lead the advancement of the IT/BPO industry in Sri Lanka.

SLASSCOM represents the fruition of a long felt need within the software and IT enabled services industry, for a unified, strong, and representative body that can speak with one voice, and provide inspired leadership to an industry that has tremendous potential to become the highest export earner for Sri Lanka. It is the culmination of months of deliberation and a sustained effort made by a large number of committed individuals from the industry and the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka.

5-Jan-2009

The Government gave an apt new year gift to the technology-hungry youth and public of Jaffna at the dawn of 2009.

That was at the conclusion of the mega industrial and educational exhibition and trade fair held from 27th to 29th of December at the Jaffna Vembadi Girls’ High School and Jaffna Central College.

On the sidelines of the exhibition which registered a count of over 400,000 on Monday (29) the fifth and the latest Nenasala in the Jaffna district installed at the Vembady Girls’ High School as a technology stall of the exhibition drew its own expected crowds from day one with over 20,000 entrants on the last day.

4-Jan-2009
by Surekha GALAGODA

IFS, the Global Enterprise Applications company will focus more on foreign projects this year to balance the mix and also earn more foreign exchange but we will never neglect our local clients, said Vice President South Asia IFS Solution Asia Pacific Jayantha de Silva.

He said that the company is planning some contingencies while IFS will work in synergy with other companies to mitigate the effects of the down turn that is gripping the world.

The core areas of IFS are Defence such as Lockheed Martin, Enterprise asset management and not the traditional areas of banking and insurance.

4-Jan-2009

A Sri Lankan has been elected to the Board of the Australian Computer Society (ACS).

Yasas Abeywickrama MACS, Young IT Professional, was elected to the 10-member Board of directors.

3-Jan-2009

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has declared 2009 as the year of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and English.
This declaration is not a mere verbal decoration. It is comparable to the green light for a great 365-day voyage in which every citizen of the country is a member of the crew of the ship that is on sail to the destination of a new world of equal and optimum life style and opportunity for all Sri Lankans. Just as much deliberation and minute planning goes into the building of the ship that will take the people on the journey towards the destination, long and short term plans have been in place for this declaration. A cabinet sub-committee on Human Resources Development had recommended it. The organisational structures which were involved with the subject got revamped in advance. The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) the single apex body involved in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy, direction and development for the nation was given a new lease of life. The amending Act No. 33 of 2008 passed in Parliament unanimously rendered ICTA set up in July 2003 by Act No. 27 of 2003 more implementation-friendly. The amending Act also made ICTA’s life span open-ended and not limited just for five years as was the case earlier.

1-Jan-2009

Dharma Sri ABEYRATNE

Under the national drive of the Presidential Task Force which was established to improve the standard of English and Information Technology of our younger generation, the Education Department together with the Presidential Task Force will launch a mechanism to improve the teaching methods of English and Information Technology at grassroots level based on the methods adopted in India.

Accordingly, 40 teachers who had followed the `Communicative English' scholarship program at the English and Foreign Language University in Hyderabad will be utilized to train other English teachers who are serving at Government schools. The 40 teachers will function as English Language Master Trainers.

1-Jan-2009

"I want to be a fighter pilot" said young vibrant Shalinka when her parents were curious about what plans the tom boy in the family had about her future. She laughs and goes on to explain how she wanted to explore new avenues, and how curious she was to experience adventure and excitement. She reminicises how her friends wanted to become a doctor, engineer and a teacher, and being a fighter pilot was quite a contrast ambition to imagine.

Born and raised in Nugegoda, an old girl of Anula Vidyalaya, Shalinka Jayatilleke is presently the Business Development Manager plus a lecturer at Sri Lanka's premier degree awarding education institute, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology.

16-Jan-2009

"I want to be a fighter pilot" said young vibrant Shalinka when her parents were curious about what plans the tom boy in the family had about her future. She laughs and goes on to explain how she wanted to explore new avenues, and how curious she was to experience adventure and excitement. She reminicises how her friends wanted to become a doctor, engineer and a teacher, and being a fighter pilot was quite a contrast ambition to imagine.

Born and raised in Nugegoda, an old girl of Anula Vidyalaya, Shalinka Jayatilleke is presently the Business Development Manager plus a lecturer at Sri Lanka's premier degree awarding education institute, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology.

29-Dec-2008

Sri Lanka made the most progress in South Asia last year in easing business start-up accoding to The Doing Business indicators.

Afghanistan cut the number of procedures for transferring property and began digitizing title deeds.

Bhutan made it easier to start a business by cutting the number of procedures required.

The country also implemented its first labor law. The law prohibits forced labor, discrimination, sexual harassment, and child labor. It also removes the 12-month limit on fixed-term contracts, eases restrictions on night work, and does away with mandatory pay premiums for daytime overtime. Bhutan also sped up property registration by a month by adding more judges to handle property transfers.

24-Dec-2008
By Ishan Dantanarayana, Director HR, Asia Head of HR CCT BU, Virtusa

HR plays a key role in a company’s ability to leverage top talent to grow in turbulent economic conditions

A company’s success is most dependent on its top talent.

In today’s environment, HR should effectively contribute as a trusted advisor towards developing and retaining “top talent” because these individuals are central to achieving the company’s overall business strategy and corporate goals. Thus, HR plays a crucial role creating avenues to harness their full potential to benefit the organization. To make this successful in the current challenging market conditions, HR practices and processes should be aligned to attract, select, create, develop, retain and reward top talent. The result of having a highly delighted and clever top talent team will be having equally delighted customers. Growth and profits then will naturally follow.

24-Dec-2008

Shilpa Sayura, the flagship e-SDI rural e learning project from Sri Lanka won DISKOBOLOS 2008 international award, At final ceremony in the Hotel Continental Belgrade, on 18th December 2008, this year's the most qualitative solutions in the application of information and communication technologies in almost all spheres of economy and non-economy were announced.

Ms. Jasna Matić, Minister of Telecommunication and Information Society of Serbia, opened the ceremony and award recognition attended the highest bodies of Serbia and President of CEPIS - Council of European Professional Informatics Societies,

23-Dec-2008

Minister of Construction and Engineering Services Rajitha Senaratne who was the Chief Guest at the Certificate Awarding ceremony of the Handwerk Centre, Western Province situated in Malegoda Payagala, addressing the gathering said that the 254 youth trained at this centre in 2007/08 are assured of a prosperous future to work with professional dignity.

He added that the first university for vocational education established by the Ministry of Vocational Training and Tertiary Education will welcome youth who have already followed training in construction related fields and opportunities therefore are available to obtain a degree in Vocational subjects and even to obtain postgraduate qualifications for those who desire to take on responsibilities at managerial and /or higher levels in the industry. There is an unmet demand to fill over 200,000 vacancies overseas and possession of vocational qualifications would make one competitive to secure such jobs he added. Minister also said that new legislation will be introduced shortly to enhance the image, acceptance and positioning of the skilled tradesmen of the construction industry with designations of dignity which will meet the aspirations of the modern day youth.

19-Dec-2008

As stated by many researchers, carbon emission due to technological advancement has already reached an unprecedented level all over the world. Today the average global temperature is increasing at a rate that was never observed before.

As a result severe consequences such as extreme weather conditions, sea level rise, forest fires, the spread of deseases and water pollution are already being experienced. As such, it is the prime responsibility of everyone to protect the environment for our future generations to enjoy.

In addressing this alarming carbon crisis, Eurocenter DDC (Pvt.) Ltd. has launched an environment care programme titled "Towards a Carbon Free IT World", which intends to create a strong awareness on 'environment protection' among other organisations in the local IT industry. In this regard Eurocenter DDC aims to plant 2000 trees throughout the island over the next three years. As an initial step 500 trees will be planted along with the cooperation of the Ministry of Environment and the Bandarawela Municipal Council over the November 1st weekend in Bandarawela. According to Eurocenter's CEO, Mano Sekaram, this exercise alone will neutralise the total carbon emission created by Eurocenter employees over the next three years.

19-Dec-2008

As recorded by the participants, close upon US$ one million worth of export contracts were created as a result of Sri Lanka's participation at Gitex Technology Week 2008.

Addition to these contracts, participants of the Sri Lanka pavilion managed to obtain first hand experience in the Middle Eastern ICT market. Sri Lankan participants also could benchmark their products and services in relation to international competition prevalent in the Middle Eastern market. Eight Sri Lankan ICT companies representing various ICT niches exhibited at the Sri Lanka pavilion in the Business Solutions Sector at Gitex 2008.

18-Dec-2008

Sri Lanka had the personnel to lead the country in ICT said Administration and Security Vice Minister of the Republic of Korea, Kim Youngho.

He made these comments when he paid a courtesy call on the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) on an invitation of Chairman Prof. P. W. Epasinghe with Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in Sri Lanka Choi Ki Chul.

Speaking on the occasion Minister Youngho said that appropriate policies must be followed in making the benefits of modern development accrue to the people. The Minister also emphasised the need of proper personnel to take the lead in carrying out this task. Kim went on to say that after visiting ICTA he was convinced that Government officials in Sri Lanka were more than ready to take on the task of providing the lead in bringing about the benefits of developments in Information and Communication Technology to the rural people of Sri Lanka.

18-Dec-2008
At a lunch hosted in honor of Virtusa, Ambassador Robert Blake congratulated Keith Modder, Managing Director of Asian Operations, Madu Ratnayake, General Manager Virtusa, Sri Lanka, and the entire Virtusa Sri Lanka team for being selected as a finalist for the U.S. Secretary of State's 2008 Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE).

Keith Modder, EVP and MD Asian Operations, Ambassador Robert Blake, Madu Ratnayake GM, Sri Lanka

Virtusa was one of only eleven companies selected by the Secretary of State from nominations made by U.S. Ambassadors around the world. Virtusa and its employees were recognized for their significant time and resource contribution to the "Sahana" disaster recovery system, “Virtusa Campus Reach,” “Virtusa Digital Reach,” and IT advocacy programs aimed at improving IT skills and curriculum in Sri Lanka.

17-Dec-2008
By Salmaan Saheedullah, Consultant – Creative Cohort

Global Warming/Recessions and Wars have augmented the Cost of Living. Individuals opt to survive by digging deeper into their wallets while Organizations go the extra mile cutting down on resources. In fact history is repeating itself, bad times come & go. However, this time around measures could be taken to minimize effects on businesses, in turn benefiting stakeholders. This article encourages Organizations to make positive decisions regarding their current policies and business norms, challenging an upgrade to those of Western Standards, for the betterment of the nation.

17-Dec-2008

The first and only national level competition of its kind to be held in Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Education and Microsoft’s initiative, the Innovative Teachers Competition is held exclusively for teachers across the country on an annual basis. This competition is designed to help motivate and recognize all teachers who actively use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in their teaching and learning, to create effective and productive learning experiences in their classrooms on a day to day basis. The main objective of this competition is to jumpstart the use of ICT in schools, so that children become aware of the potential of IT from a young age and also to encourage educators to adopt ICT as part and parcel of their teaching methods. As it is a main objective of the Ministry of Education and Microsoft's efforts to bridge the digital divide by making IT more accessible to students across the island, it is both Microsoft Sri Lanka’s and the Ministry of Education’s primary aim, to reach out to all schools across the island via this competition.

16-Dec-2008

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) today announced that it has entered into a strategic agreement with PC House, Sri Lanka and appointed it as the sole regional distributor for the Sri Lankan region. PC House is Sri Lanka’s leading and renowned distribution company and with a strong portfolio of complimentary product lines which offer a symbiotic environment for leading IT vendors.

Thariq Sanoon Director PC House (Pvt) Ltd., S. H. M Rishan Chairman PC House (Pvt) Ltd and PCH Holdings, Shankar Narayanan, Director, Corporate Development AMD India, Ashutosh Mehrotra Distribution Manager AMD India

15-Dec-2008

The Boa rd of Investment of Sri Lanka granted investment approval for eight new projects representing a total worth of USD 43.71 million. Board members Mr. Eshana de Silva and Mr. Upali Samaraweera signed the agreements and formally presented the BOI Certificate of Registrations to the investors.

Peoples Leasing Property Development Limited signed an agreement to set up a mixed development project located in Colombo 8. Peoples Leasing Property Development Limited, a subsidiary venture of Peoples Leasing Co. Limited is an initial investment of US $ 5 million. The 12 storeyed building will house the Head Office of the group and also a Peoples Bank Branch with two ATM machines will be established in the Ground Floor.

14-Dec-2008

E-W Information Systems Limited (E-WIS) plans to use its 'Mithuru PC' concept as strategy to facilitate the spread of IT education in Sri Lanka, ultimately contributing to the creation of more IT professionals in the 'near future'. The company also indicates, through a statement, that they intend "spreading this concept among Educational institutes including schools, universities [to] allow more students to experience the newer vistas of knowledge and IT".

According to E-WIS Chairman, Mr. Sanjeewa Wickramanayake, the 'Mithuru PC' came about from the realisation that a computer does not fully utilise 100% of its available resources all the time, therefore there was the potential to pool the total resources of a number of computers such as when they were connected through a Local Area Network (LAN). Elaborating, he added that " according to the 'Mithuru PC' concept, a computer only consumes the necessary resources for its task... So there is no waste of resources while at the same time it produces the opportunity to gain the maximum output with a lesser amount of resources." The company also claims that as the 'Mithuru PC' concept allows for the reaching of maximum output with lower resource rates, there is less investment required.