Local Industry News

Leapset Production and Operation Senior VP Jim O’Connor, was the keynote speaker at the CXO briefing on the future of eCommerce organised by SLASSCOM, the industry chamber for the Sri Lankan IT and Knowledge Services Companies.

Research aspirations in Sri Lankan universities could not be realized due to 30 years of terrorism and war. You all belong to that generation. The generation-long conflict in our country deprived you of enjoying the generation's benefits, said Professor Rohan Gunaratna of University of Ruhuna addressing the General Convocation recently.

The top is the only position that counts for businesses and individuals in the contemporary success-oriented world. The likes of Sir Richard Branson, Sheryl Sandberg and Steve Jobs, have dominated the media and made business leaders the rock stars of today, with fame, fortune and even fashion following in their footsteps.

The fourth IT centre of the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) ‘e-diriya’, being set up in each Province, was declared open in the Sabaragamuwa Province recently. Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister and Sabaragamuwa Province Chief Minister Mahipala Herath jointly declared open the province-level centre at the Zonal Education office in Kegalle recently.

Prime Grameen hopes to raise around Rs 500 million within a year with the launch of “Sip Saviya” Minor’s Account which is aimed to help power a Childs’ University Education.

M. D. Gunasena the leading publisher, printer and bookseller together with Microimage and Etisalat, launched the “Book Hub Reader” an ebook reader, revolutionizing the publishing industry in Sri Lanka with new technology. The maiden device was handed over to veteran children's book writer and illustrator Kala Keerthi Sibyl Wettasinghe.

The winner of the ‘Institution of Engineers’, Sri Lanka (IESL) Junior Inventor of the Year (JIY) competition 2012, Master Pubudu Kapuge, has done Mother Lanka proud by winning several top awards at the ‘2013 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), in Phoenix, Arizona recently.

Sri Lanka Telecom, the national telecommunication services provider successfully connected the country’s first and largest Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) surveillance system through its advanced Fibre optic based Metro Ethernet Network (MEN) infrastructure to improve road safety and national security by providing facilities to authorities of the Sri Lanka Police Department to carry out real-time video monitoring, control cameras remotely, record, store and playback.

Advances in technology as well as higher sophistication in terms of threats are resulting in greater risks for local telecommunications companies, according to Priyankara Perera, Head of IT for the Sri Lankan unit of celco Etisalat.

Local human resource technology conference HCM Connect 2013, organised by Sri Lankan IT company Microimage, will expand its scope to also include Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and even other countries, over the course of this year, according to the company’s Funder and Chief Executive Harsha Purasinghe.

The Institute of Personnel Management of Sri Lanka (IPM) has decided to have a simple theme “In search of Human Resource Excellence” for this year’s National HR Conference 2013 to be held on 18 and 19 June at the Water’s Edge Hotel.This was revealed by Dr. Ajantha Dharmasiri, Chairman, Technical Committee of the conference at a news briefing held last week in Colombo.

According to the latest world ICT facts and figures for 2012 and 2013, released by International Telecommunication Union (ITU), mobile subscription and internet penetration is increasing rapidly and continuously in all regions of the world.

WorkInSriLanka, a volunteer-led initiative to advocate Sri Lanka as an attractive destination for highly skilled individuals and high calibre businesses was launched at a forum comprising key public sector officials, industry leaders, heads of international non-government organisations, representatives of all major industries and relevant government institutions, and civil society experts held at the Taj Samudra, Colombo, on 14 of May 2013 with Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal as the Chief Guest.

The John Keells Group places an emphasis on the importance of higher education among youth, with the aim of encouraging more local graduates to consider employment in the private sector. Whilst there is fierce competition to enter local Universities, some of the selected students may refrain from commencing or may discontinue their university education due to financial constraints.

While the landlines are still stationed on the same tables they’ve been on since they arrived and laptops continue to not serve their namesake, mobile phones have taken the leap from a simple wireless device to a modern convenience that has empowered lives and enabled businesses to communicate in previously unimaginable ways.

The South Eastern University of Sri Lanka will be opening an Engineering Faculty shortly. Eng. Tilak De Silva, the President of the Institute of Engineers of Sri Lanka, recently visited the University to hold discussions on establishing standards with the Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University Prof. S.M.Mohomed Ismail, the Provincial Centre of the IESL, some Engineers and other University officials.

ESOFT Computer Studies, with best results islandwide from the years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 in the Colombo University BIT Degree examination, have begun recruiting new students for the BIT Degree which is a high quality ICT degree of national and international acceptance.

Participants at Google I/O Extended 2013 in Sri Lanka

The National Mobile Service Provider, Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel hosted the live-streaming of the Google I/O Extended Conference in Colombo at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute today. The event, streamed live from San Francisco which commenced at 7pm on the 15th ran throughout the night with an overwhelming participation by Sri Lankan developers.

The purpose of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as ways to bridge the digital divide around the world. May 17th marks the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union. The theme for 2013 is ‘ICTs and improving road safety’.

CICRA Consultancies Ltd., Sri Lanka’s pioneering cyber security training provider and Metropolitan Computers Ltd, computer sales arm of one of the biggest conglomerates in the country have joined hands to fight cyber-crimes. Under this agreement, Metropolitan customers will receive discount vouchers to follow computer security training programs from CICRA.

Virtusa Corporation (NASDAQ: VRTU), a global business consulting and IT outsourcing company that combines innovation, technology leadership and industry solutions to transform the customer experience, today reported consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013, ended March 31, 2013.

Blue Chip Technical Services (Pvt) Ltd., a total IT solutions provider, announces its expanded partnership with Infor (Software principal for Blue Chip) to sell Infor M3 in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Blue Chip boasts a decade-long partnership with Infor to sell, implement and provide support services for Infor System21 ERP.

Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT) released financial performance of its Group and Company for the first quarter 2013.

Q: How has Sri Lanka’s IT industry evolved in recent decades?

A: It has gradually transformed itself from being informal to formal – i.e. into a fully-fledged industry. For example, we have been involved in the BPO industry for a long time because of the foresight of visionaries.

However, the full potential of this industry has yet to be recognised.

While Sri Lanka’s IT industry comprises around 300 companies, most of them have been involved in this field for decades. We must adopt a formalised structure for the industry to grow, and for it to compete globally.