Local Industry News

The 2012 Global Innovation Index (GII) ranked 141 countries on the basis of their innovation capabilities. It’s a timely reminder that innovation in business is an essential spur for sustainable economic growth. Switzerland (No. 1), Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as the UK and US, are featured in the top 10 this year too. Surely, it’s obvious that developed high-income countries would rank high in an innovation index – they have the resources to invest in innovation, after all.

The tenth convocation of the University of Colombo BIT Degree was held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) recently along with the Diploma and Higher Diploma awards ceremonies. The convocation was presided over by the Chancellor of the Colombo University his Lordship Dr. Oswald Gomis.

DMS Electronics (DMSE), together with Hewlett-Packard hosted a gathering of CXOs to a session on Cloud solutions under the theme ‘Transforming the Datacenter’ recently. The thought-leadership session explored problems with the current approach to cloud computing faced by organizations and highlighted the importance of choosing the best cloud solution.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), takes a keen interest in the development of the Nation’s Human Resources with a view to enhancing Sri Lanka’s overall competitiveness and narrowing the market gap for Human Resources in the Private Sector, in particular.

The National Transport Commission (NTC) launched a pilot project to monitor driving capabilities of inter- provincial private buses (long distance) using the Global Positioning System (GPS).

Kapila Chandrasena, current CEO of SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, SLT sources said. He will continue to hold the other positions.

Sri Lanka’s first ever degree in applied accounting by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) has received overwhelming response since the institute called for applications from prospective students.

Wirecard AG, provider of a globally accepted payment gateway with a worldwide customer base, is partnering SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier, to take over its payment services for credit card processing and risk management, the airline stated in a media release.

SAP’s Sri Lanka partner of 10 years, The Capital Maharaja Organization (TCMOL), this week announced that it will implement SAP ERP, Business Intelligence (BI), and Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) solutions across its companies.

The Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies (ACCIMT) is the premier institute in Sri Lanka for research and development, advanced technological services and professional development training in the spheres of electronics, space technology, robotics, industrial applications and Information Technology.

By Kumudini Hettiarachchi and Shaveen Jeewandara

Schoolchildren across the country will act as mediators to draw out e-waste lying in homes, in a major move by the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) this month to ensure its proper disposal without polluting the environment and causing illness.
We plan to set up collecting mechanisms in every province, making use of a network of 5,000 schools which are part of an environmental pioneering programme, said CEA’s Waste Management Director Ajith Weerasundara, explaining that care is being taken over the involvement of schoolchildren as they cannot be asked to store e-waste.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will launch the official website of the CHOGM 2013, detailing the main agenda, dates, programs and venues connected to the event, in two weeks time.

The Tea Small Holdings Development Authority (TSHDA) last week launched e-services to improve efficiency and reduce administrative costs of the services provided by the Authority.

The Sri Lanka Branch of the Chartered Management Institute, UK, one of the largest professional bodies for management practitioners recently entered into a long term arrangement with KPMG’s member firm in Sri Lanka to collaborate on a series of knowledge sharing programmes aimed at enhancing professional management practices and collective knowledge sharing as well as networking opportunities amongst business managers in Sri Lanka.

Odel’s popular in-store magazine, which bears the same name, is now in ‘smart phone space’ following the launch of a free app for iPhone and Android-powered mobile phones. The magazine’s second issue for 2013 came out in print for the April shopping season featuring the latest products available at Odel, and can now be downloaded from iTunes or the Google apps store.

International award-winning software company Affno celebrated the first anniversary of its subsidiary Affno Middle East WLL, by showcasing its latest innovations at the Bahrain International eGovernment Forum 2013.

The first ever unique Farmer Empowering Information System will be launched today under a multi-stakeholder initiative.

Dialog Axiata PLC (Dialog), Sri Lanka’s largest mobile services operator has entered into an agreement with the Bay of Bengal Gateway (BBG) consortium to land a high capacity submarine cable at a Cable Landing Station (CLS) to be located in Colombo, a statement by the company said.

Looking through the weekend papers' education supplements, one would be quick to realize there is no dearth of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Sri Lanka.

Venora International Projects (Pvt) Ltd was recently awarded with the Best Enterprise at the Business Leaders Summit held recently in British Institute of Directors, London, United Kingdom.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce takes a keen interest in the development of the Nation’s Human Resources with a view of enhancing Sri Lanka’s overall competitiveness; and narrowing the market gap for Human Resources in the Private Sector, in particular.  In pursuit of these objectives the Chamber has over the years established a dialogue between the Private and the Public Sectors.

Local purchases of goods and services in the information technology sector by government offices has untapped potential for stimulating domestic economic progress, particularly in developing countries, the United Nations reported.

Since the beginning of 2011 the Sri Lanka Customs department has been gradually introducing automation to various divisions of its services. The first was to work online with Motor Traffic department, followed by mandatory Direct Trade Input system (DTI), online payments of customs charges. The manifesting process is also being implemented with ship agents, SLPA and logistics companies.

DMS Electronics (DMSE), together with Hewlett-Packard (HP) hosted a gathering of CXOs to a session on Cloud solutions under the theme 'Transforming the Datacenter' recently. The thought-leadership session explored problems with the current approach to cloud computing faced by organizations and highlighted the importance of choosing the best cloud solution.

South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM ) is the first non state sector higher education institute in Sri Lanka to receive the degree awarding status by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Sri Lanka. SAITM offers degree programmes in Engineering, Medicine, Multimedia, Management and Finance.