government of sri lanka national export …...the national export strategy (nes) of sri lanka is an...

Government of Sri Lanka

NATIONAL EXPORT STRATEGY

OF SRI LANKAINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY 2018-2022

The National Export Strategy (NES) of Sri Lanka is an official document of the Government of Sri Lanka

For any queries about the NES, please contact :

Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade

Address: Level 30, West Tower, World Trade Centre, Colombo 01.Phone : +94 (0) 112337629Phone : +94 (0)112337627 E-mail : [email protected]

Sri Lanka Export Development Board

Address: No. 42 Nawam Mawatha, Colombo-02, Sri Lanka.Phone : +94-11-230-0705 / 11Phone : +94-11-230-0715E-mail : [email protected]

This IT-BPM Strategy was developed on the basis of the process, methodology and technical assistance of the International Trade Centre (ITC) within the framework of its Trade Development Strategy programme.

ITC is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. As part of the ITC mandate of fostering sustainable development through increased trade opportunities, the Chief Economist and Export Strategy section offers a suite of trade-related strategy solutions to maximize the development payoffs from trade. ITC-facilitated trade development strategies and road maps are oriented to the trade objectives of a country or region and can be tailored to high-level economic goals, specific development targets or particular sectors.

Technical support was provided by Charles Roberge, Olga Khomula and Anushka Wijesinha.

Financial support was provided by the European Union, as part of the ‘European Union –Sri Lanka Trade Related Assistance : Increasing SMEs’ trade competitiveness in regional and European Union markets’ project. The contents of this document can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.

The views expressed herein do not reflect the official opinion of ITC. Mention of firms, products, and product brands does not imply the endorsement of ITC. This document has not been formally edited by ITC.

The International Trade Centre

Street address: ITC 54-56, rue de Montbrillant 1202 Geneva, SwitzerlandPostal address: ITC Palais des Nations 1211 Geneva 10, SwitzerlandTelephone: +41-22 730 0111E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.intracen.org

Layout : Jesús Alés (www.sputnix.es)

NATIONAL EXPORT STRATEGY OF SRI LANKA 2018-2022

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY

Government of Sri Lanka

Photo: (cc) @pixabay

[ ii ]

[ SRI LANKA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY ]

MESSAGE FROM THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRYIn the past ten years, the Sri Lankan IT-BPM industry has expanded by 300% to reach $1.2 Billion in export revenue. The sector has therefore provided employ-ment to more than 80,000 professionals and thereby contributing to 12% of Sri Lankan services exports. Compared to other export sectors, the IT-BPM sector has shown great potential to increase export revenue.

The immense potential of Sri Lanka’s IT-BPM sec-tor has been recognised by identifying it as a priority sector of the Sri Lankan National Export Strategy. This strategy is a five-year endeavour that was established through a consultative process involving both public and private sector stakeholders in the country. In line with other aspirations of the National Export Strategy of making Sri Lanka a vital trade & innovation hub in Asia, this strategy seeks to position Sri Lanka as a global IT-BPM destination.

Sri Lankan IT-BPM companies have asserted their competitiveness internationally. This competitiveness stems from reasonable costs, high quality services and having an educated workforce with exceptional skills. This strategy will further Sri Lanka’s aspirations to achieve national level branding of Sri Lanka’s IT-BPM sector. This branding will support SMEs and larger companies to increases overall sector perfor-mance and to enhance visibility and market outreach.

The strategy identifies two specific areas as being priorities for the implementation of the strategy. First, to create a business-enabling environment, address policy & regulatory bottlenecks swiftly, and provide necessary institutional support to improve marketing and promotion of the IT-BPM sector; and second to

launch a 'Champion Builder' program targeting firms with exponential growth potential who can help col-lectively boost sector export revenue by $2 billion.

Critical to achieving the targets as outlined in the strategy will be to coordinate activities, monitor pro-gress and to mobilise resources for implementation. We as sector representatives have recommended that a ‘Special Advisory Committee’ consisting of public-private stakeholders is established to be re-sponsible for overall coordination, provision of rapid solutions to regulatory and procedural bottlenecks, policy guidance, and the monitoring of industry de-velopment along the strategic orientation.

In addition to this, the strategy also seeks to foster and develop skills of individuals in the IT-BPM sector, promote local awareness and regional development of the sector and to develop start-up ecosystems encourage local & international investor interest in the sector.

This strategy bears the formula to transform Sri Lanka into a global IT-BPM destination and Asia’s favourite centre of excellence. The implementation of this strat-egy will have a direct and immediate impact on mil-lions of Sri Lankans through provision of employment and increasing standards of living.

This is a much-awaited strategy for the IT-BPM sec-tor in Sri Lanka. Stakeholders of this sector are com-mitted to collaborate with all relevant professionals to ensure the smooth implementation of this strat-egy to unlock the potential latent on Sri Lanka’s IT-BPM sector.

Dr.Kithsiri Manchanayakke Ruwindhu Peiris Chairman Chairman The Federation of Information Technology Sri Lanka Association of Software and Industry Sri Lanka ( FITIS ) Service Companies ( SLASSCOM )

[ iii ]

[ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The IT-BPM Strategy was developed as part of the National Export Strategy ( NES ) of Sri Lanka, under the aegis of the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade ( MoDSIT ) and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board ( EDB ), with the financial support assistance of the European Union ( EU ), as part of the ‘EU-Sri Lanka Trade Related Assistance’.

The document benefited particularly from the inputs and guidance provided by the members of the IT-BPM sector team that steered the formulation of the sector Strategy, namely :

Name Position Organization

Sector team

Mr. Ruwindhu Peiris Chairman SLASSCOM

Mr. Sachindra Samaratne Project Manager information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka ( iCTA )

Mr. Nilan Thimbiripola Project Manager iCTA

Mr. Saman Maldeni Director EDB

Ms. Renuka Dasanayake Deputy Director ( investment Appraisal )

Board of investment ( BOi )

Dr. Kithsiri Manchanayakke Chairman Federation of iT industry Sri Lanka ( FiTiS )

Mr. Jeevan Gnanam Director / CEO Orion City ( iT Park ) iT Park ( private or government-led EPZ for iT )

Education, capacity and skills building team

Dr. Janaka Wijayanayake Senior Lecturer Department of industrial Management, Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya

Dr. Lalith Gamage Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Professor

Sri Lanka institute of information Technology ( SLiiT )

Mr. Ashique Mohamed Ali Director, Board representative – Technology Forum

Talliance Pvt. Ltd

Dr. Lochandaka Ranathunga Senior Lecturer Department of information Technology – University of Moratuwa

Dr. Ruwan Weerasinghe Senior Lecturer University of Colombo School of Computing

The ‘$2 billion plan’ team

Mr. Ruwindhu Peiris Chairman SLASSCOM

Ms. Lakmini Wijesundara CEO ironOne Technologies

Mr. Upendra Peiris Vice President OreliT Pvt Ltd

The full list of public and private stakeholders that contributed their precious time to the design of this Strategy are detailed in Appendix 1.

[ iV ]


CONTENTS

Message from the Information Technology Industry ii

Acknowledgements iii

Acronyms vii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

A RAPIDLY EVOLVING INDUSTRY DRIVEN BY TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS AND DIGITAL BUSINESS INITIATIVES 5

SRI LANKA’S GROWTH PATHWAY : FROM LOW-END AND SIMPLE TO HIGH-END AND COMPLEX IT-BPM PRODUCTS 11

VALUE CHAIN DIAGNOSTICS 17

THE WAY FORWARD 23

THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY 23

MOVING TO ACTION 30

THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK 30

IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK 32

PLAN OF ACTION 2018–2022 35

Appendix 1 : List of participants in the public-private consultations 43

Appendix 2 : ICT services complementary grouping ( Extended Balance of Payments Services classification ( EBOPS 2010 ) 45

References 46

[ V ]

[ LIST OF FIGURES ]

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 : Sri Lanka IT-BPM and analytics ICT-enable services 1

Figure 2 : World exports of commercial services by main category, 2016 ( annual change, per cent ) 6

Figure 3 : Exported value of global telecommunications, computer, and information services, 2005–2016 ( US $ billion ) 6

Figure 4 : Top 10 countries exporting ICT services and Sri Lanka, 2016 ( US $ thousands ) 9

Figure 5 : Top 10 countries importing ICT services, 2016 ( US $ thousands ) 9

Figure 6 : Sri Lanka ICT export 11

Figure 7 : Existing IT products and future market orientations 12

Figure 8 : Existing BPM products and future market orientations 13

Figure 9 : Regional competitors’ ICT services export value, excluding India 14

Figure 10 : Share of ICT services exports as of total services exports, 2015 14

Figure 11 : Thematic areas for successful IT-BPM development 15

Figure 12 : IT-BPM value chain 18

Figure 13 : IT-BPM future value chain 24

Figure 14 : Institutional framework for IT-BPM industry development 32

[ Vi ]


LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 : Constraints faced by the IT-BPM industry in Sri Lanka 19

Table 2 : Main areas of improvements in IT-BPM sector 25

Table 3 : Product and market opportunities for IT-BPM sector 26

LIST OF BOXES

Definitions used in this document : 3

Box 1 : The EU GDPR 7

Box 2 : TISIs supporting the IT industry 27

Box 3 : Institutional adjustments in the IT-BPM sector 27

Box 4 : Regulation adjustments in the IT-BPM sector 28

[ Vii ]

[ ACRONYMS ]

ACRONYMS

The following abbreviations are used :

ADB Asian Development Bank B2B Business-to-businessBOI Board of InvestmentBPM Business process managementBPO Business process outsourcingCBoSL Central Bank of Sri LankaDoC Department of Commerce DoIE Department of Immigration

and Emigration EDB Sri Lanka Export Development Board ESOS Employee share option schemesETA 2006 Electronic Transactions Act,

No. 19 of 2006 EU European UnionFEEA Foreign Exchange Earners Account FITIS Federation of Information Technology

Industry Sri LankaGDP Gross domestic productGDPR General Data Protection Regulation IP Intellectual propertyICT Information and communication

technologyICTA Information and Communication

Technology Agency of Sri Lanka IoT Internet of thingsIMF International Monetary FundIT Information technologyIT-BPM Information technology-business process

managementITC International Trade CentreJV Joint ventureKPO Knowledge process outsourcingLKR Sri Lanka rupee

LPO Legal process outsourcingMNC Multinational corporationMoDSIT Ministry of Development Strategies

and International Trade MoF Ministry of FinanceMoFA Ministry of Foreign AffairsMoHEH Ministry of Higher Education

and HighwaysMoTDI Ministry of Telecommunications

and Digital Infrastructure MoSDVT Ministry of Skills Development

and Vocational Training MoU Memorandum of understandingNES National Export StrategyNIPO National Intellectual Property OfficeOECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation

and Development PoA Plan of actionPMO Prime Minister’s officePwC PricewaterhouseCoopers R&D Research and developmentRPA Robotic process automationSLASSCOM Sri Lanka Association of Software

and Service Companies SLSI Sri Lanka Standards Institution SME Small and medium-sized enterpriseTISI Trade and investment support institutionTVET Technical and vocational education

and training UGC University Grants CommissionUNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade

and DevelopmentWTO World Trade Organization

1

[ ExECUTiVE SUMMARy ]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The development of Sri Lanka’s IT-BPM industry Strategy is a five-year endeavour and was defined by a consultative process between public and private sector stakeholders. The Strategy aims to transform the country into a global IT-BPM destination and Asia’s favourite centre of excellence. Achieving this objective will depend on the ability of industry and the Government to implement the activities defined in this IT-BPM Strategy. To achieve the Strategy’s targets, stake-holders will need to coordinate actions, monitor progress and mobilize resources for its implementation. Providing business development support to firms, enhancing innovation and cre-ating an enabling business environment are crucial for suc-cessful implementation.

Sri Lanka aims to become a global iT-BPM destination and to unlock sector growth by a factor of five. SLASSCOM foresees the industry achieving US $ 5 billion in exports by 2022, creating 200,000 direct jobs and launching 1,000 start-ups.1 This will be achieved by fostering and enabling an adequate regulatory environment and implementing key guidelines and procedures. This will create conditions that are favourable to starting new companies, operating

1.– Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies and PricewaterhouseCoopers ( 2016 ). Vision 2022 : Sri Lanka IT-BPM Sector. Available from https ://slasscom.lk/report/slasscom-strategy-document-2016.

businesses efficiently, growing markets and building indus-try branding.

In the past decade, the IT-BPM industry in Sri Lanka has seen substantial expansion and had some of the strongest growth among all export sectors. Over the last 10 years, the industry has grown more than 300 %, reaching US $ 1.2 bil-lion in revenue,2 providing jobs to more than 80,000 profes-sionals and contributing 12 % of Sri Lankan service exports.

This innovative and constantly evolving industry can pro-vide significant benefits to the national economy. The Sri Lankan start-up ecosystem is expanding, having creat-ed almost half of all new companies in the computer science area. On average, every IT-BPM job generates 2.5 indirect jobs. IT-BPM work has links to all other sectors, supporting retail, hospitality, engineering, agriculture, healthcare, logis-tics and many other industries. Increased development of the industry will require business assistance for start-ups and SMEs to create and operate efficiently. The industry will grow through the provision of facilities and supporting services such as shared working space and advisory and mentorship programmes. Improving the supply of highly qualified professionals will be essential to satisfy the grow-ing IT-BPM market.

2.– PricewaterhouseCoopers ( 2017 ). ICT/BPM in Sri Lanka – Branding GAP Analysis Report. Colombo.

Figure 1 : Sri Lanka iT-BPM and analytics iCT-enable services

IT

Software R&D

Application development

Application management

IT consulting

Market intelligenceinvestment support market research

fanancial analysis

BPM

Medical transcriptions

Financial transcriptions

Financial and accounting operations(FAO) verticaly served

accounting healthcare bankingtaxation leisure telecommunication

Contact centres operations (CCO)Outbound marketing Customer servicesHospitality services Healthcare services

Data and document conversion

Analytics (KPO)

Legal process outsourcing (LPO)conveyancing

https://slasscom.lk/report/slasscom-strategy-document-2016


2


The iT industry in Sri Lanka has expanded its product base from software and applications development, book-ing support and transaction processing centres. Today the industry offers professional services in a number of differ-ent areas and a full range of IT products, from IT develop-ment and maintenance to innovative solutions for all. There is significant potential for Sri Lankan companies to expand the existing range of products and services to create a full range of new products such as mixed reality, augmented re-ality and Internet of things ( IoT ) solutions, in which software and hardware come together, which will increase the coun-try’s intellectual property ( IP ) products and patents and in-crease its high technology product engineering. For smaller companies, focusing on niche products and services will be the most suitable approach. Untapped opportunities lie in further penetration of fast-growing markets with new prod-ucts for SMEs, the public sector and family-run entities in the Asia–Pacific region, Africa and the Middle East, as well as for large companies and for the diaspora market in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan and Scandinavian countries.

Sri Lankan iT-BPM companies have earned recognition for their cost-competitive advantages, high quality and edu-cated workforce with developed skills, but international recognition of the industry has been limited. Having an IT-BPM national level brand will benefit both large and small companies. Supporting bigger IT-BPM companies by provid-ing consulting services in sales and marketing, building skills and capacities and expanding marketing and promotion will

improve overall industry performance and increase market outreach and the visibility of the industry.

The following key interventions are priorities in order to facilitate the Strategy’s implementation :

� Create a business-enabling environment, address policy and regulatory bottlenecks swiftly and provide necessary institutional support to improve marketing and promotion of the IT-BPM sector ;

� Launch a ‘champion builder’ programme targeting firms with exponential growth potential that collectively can help boost sector export revenue by US $ 2 billion ; and

� Make the industry become higher value and IP-driven.

The following is a delineation of the proposed vision and strategic objectives of this Strategy. The vision statement was agreed upon by all stakeholders of the IT-BPM indus-try in Sri Lanka :

“ Sri Lanka : A global IT-BPM centre of excellence of high-end product

engineering, IP creation and knowledge process outsourcing ”The strategic Plan of Action ( PoA ) responds to this vision

by addressing key constraints and leveraging opportunities in a comprehensive manner. Particular efforts will be made in the following strategic objectives :

Strategic objective 1: Support investment and exports in the IT-BPM sector through a business-enabling, predictable

and transparent policy and regulatory framework.

Strategic objective 2: Drive export growth through innovation and entrepreneurship.

Strategic objective 3: Improve the supply of skilled highly qualified professionals to satisfy the growing

IT-BPM market.

Strategic objective 4: Grow champion firms ('the US$2 billion plan')

• Create an enabling business environment, implement a formal framework and improve sector institutional coordination to direct the industry in the first step towards improved industry growth.

• Provide business development support to firms and enhance innovation to increase the capacities and outreach of IT-BPM start-ups and SMEs in national and international markets.

• Raise awareness about career opportunities, bring more students to the industry during their studies and encourage international experts to share knowledge with youth to sustain IT-BPM industry growth.

• Initiate proactive investment targeting big companies to improve marketing and visibility for Sri Lanka that will enhance the country’s image as a destination for knowledge services and innovation.

Coordinating activities, monitoring progress and mo-bilizing resources for implementation will be critical to successful achievement of these targets. Accordingly, a public-private Advisory Committee for the IT-BPM industry was established, operationalized and empowered. The IT-BPM Advisory Committee is responsible for overall coordina-tion, provision of rapid solutions to regulatory and procedural bottlenecks, policy guidance and the monitoring of indus-try development against the Strategy’s strategic objectives.

An effectively organized and supported advisory commit-tee will plan industry development strategically. High-level support from the Government, in collaboration with strong championship by the private sector, will be the real driv-ers to transform Sri Lanka into a global iT-BPM destina-tion and Asia’s favourite centre of excellence.

3

[ ExECUTiVE SUMMARy ]

Definitions used in this document :

The rapidly changing character of Information and com-munication technology ( ICT ) goods and services has grown in parallel with the need for statistics and analy-sis to support and inform policy making in this area. Since 1999, the OECD Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society has been providing statistical standards and developing definitions of ICT sectors and products, electronic commerce and ICT infrastructure. The Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, in-cluding Eurostat, ITU, UNCTAD, the World Bank and other relevant UN agencies, helps countries to adopt the same statistical standards and definitions for the devel-opment of the information society worldwide.

Despite having a clear definition in international trade statistics, there are currently no agreed upon Partnership indicators for international trade in ICT services. The following are the definitions widely accepted by OECD countries, the European Union and the United National Statistical Commission. For the purpose of international harmonization of terms, the same definitions are used in this Strategy.

The iCT sector is the production ( goods and ser-vices ) of a candidate industry must primarily be in-tended to fulfil or enable the function of information processing and communication by electronic means, including transmission and display.

The iCT products are the products that must primar-ily be intended to fulfil or enable the function of infor-mation processing and communication by electronic means, including transmission and display.

The iCT infrastructure consist of all components that play a role in overall IT and IT-enable operations, namely public switched telecommunication networks, internet and telecommunication equipment, facilities

and services provided to the public ( hardware and software ).

The iCT services is defined in international trade as services including telecommunications and computer and information services.*

The iT services include any type of software devel-opment and implementation, content management and development, programming, application testing, IT consulting, IT support services and IT infrastructure management and maintenance.**

The iCT-enabled services are services products delivered remotely over ICT networks, and includes BPO, BPM, and KPO.

The information society is a conceptual model that encompasses the widely agreed elements of ICT supply, ICT demand, ICT infrastructure, ICT prod-ucts and “content”.

There is no coherent definition for the BPO, BPM or KPO, and the grouping of various services could be created to cover business process outsourcing and manage-ment services. In this Strategy, the Business process outsourcing ( BPO ) is any front and back-office ICT en-able services such as call centres, customer contact centres, simple data entry. The Knowledge process outsourcing ( KPO ) are analytics services such as le-gal process outsourcing, market intelligence and finan-cial and accounting operations vertically served. The Business process management ( BPM ) services cover the delivery of a wide variety of established services, in-cluding financial services, insurance services, etc., but also embrace medical and financial transcription, sales and marketing, management, administration, engineer-ing, R&D, education, as well as any other business ser-vice than can be delivered remotely.***

Source: OECD (2011)v, UNCTAD (2015)

* This definition was approved by the United Nations Statistical Commission at its 47th session in March 2016 based on a proposal by UNCTAD. However, Information services, currently included in the BPM6 standard component 9 Telecommunications, computer, and information services, are not part of the economic activities covered by the OECD’s ICT sector definition. UNCTAD (2015). International trade in ICT services and ICT-enabled services. UNCTAD Technical Notes on ICT for Development No. 3, Geneva.

** UNCTAD’s typology of ICT-based services

*** See Appendix 2 for ICT services complementary grouping.

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[ A RAPiDLy EVOLViNG iNDUSTRy DRiVEN By TECHNOLOGiCAL iNNOVATiONS AND DiGiTAL BUSiNESS iNiTiATiVES ]

A RAPIDLY EVOLVING INDUSTRY DRIVEN BY TECHNOLOGICAL

INNOVATIONS AND DIGITAL BUSINESS INITIATIVES

Over the last decade, the iT sector has experienced sig-nificant growth and developed remarkable innovations. Strong growth in computer services brought to the IT indus-try new technological trends that are changing how compa-nies do businesses today. The industry has been led mainly by Untied States-based companies that are leaders in their fields, such as high-end devices, digital content distribution and app stores, online search and advertising, social me-dia, e-commerce, cloud services and productivity software. Now they are actively diversifying into new businesses.3 Companies offer more and more software solutions provid-ing different type of services, and new global players such as Alibaba, Baidu and Huawei – successful in their home markets – are expanding their scope abroad. There is also a recent tendency for firms providing financial, medical, health-care and legal services to become software companies or companies offering services online. These companies are investing more in the IoT, content, advertising, emerging dis-tribution technologies and devices and services based on fifth generation telecommunications standards.4

Telecommunication, computer and information services have experience increasing export value, with strongly growing computer services. ICT services5 was the most dy-namic sector among commercial services in 2016, growing

3.– Ibid.4.– Ibid.5.– Analyses of trade in ICT services commonly include trade in telecommunications services and in computer and information services, using data from the IMF balance of payments statistics. However, as ICT definition varies and depends on each country, some of them do not report on all three component of ICT commonly accepted components.

by over 4 % ( see figure 2 ) to US $ 493 billion.6 In the 2005–2016 period, the ICT compound annual growth rate was 12.41 % ( see figure 3 ). Outsourced digital business solutions are often used by companies, and ICT uses digital means to connect business processes so that the company can transfer or use those digital business solutions.

6.– World Trade Organization ( 2017 ). WTO Trade Statistical Review 2017. Washington, D.C. Available at https ://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/wts2017_e/wts2017_e.pdf.


https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/wts2017_e/wts2017_e.pdf


6


Figure 2 : World exports of commercial services by main category, 2016 ( annual change, per cent )

Telecommunication, computerand information services

Personal, cultural and recreational services

Other business services

Insurance and pension services

Charges for the use of intellectual property

Financial services

Construction

-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6

Source : World Trade Organization, ITC and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ( UNCTAD ) ( 2017 ). WTO-ITC-UNCTAD

annual trade in services database. Sourced from Eurostat, the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) Balance of Payments Statistics and from

the Trade in Services by Partner Country dataset of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ).

Figure 3 : Exported value of global telecommunications, computer, and information services, 2005–2016 ( US $ billion )

600.000.000

500.000.000

400.000.000

300.000.000

200.000.000

100.000.000

02005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

493

118

Source : World Trade Organization, ITC and UNCTAD ( 2017 ). WTO-ITC-UNCTAD annual trade in services database. Sourced from Eurostat,

the IMF Balance of Payments Statistics and from the Trade in Services by Partner Country dataset of the OECD.

Business process outsourcing ( BPO ) is becoming com-moditized and competition is increasing. The global BPO market continues to grow slowly, with increased competition in all segments of the industry. More experienced players are moving into higher-end services, end-to-end business process outsourcing and domain-specific expertise, while new countries continue to announce themselves as BPO destinations. Definitions for segments of BPO services

are becoming wider and providers are becoming more specialized in their offerings. Key technology innovations are driving companies to outsource business processes. Larger offshore players are setting up onshore or near-shore service centres in key geographic locations. India is a leader in providing offshore BPO services, but China is closing the skill gap with India and is expected to outper-form in coming years. Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, Viet Nam

7


and the Philippines follow in the ranking of top ten global out-sourcing countries.7 The United States of America remains the country most likely to import offshore ICT services, with nearly two-thirds of ICT imports in computer services. 8

Data privacy and data security is particularly important for BPO and outsourcing services. Outsourcing transactions

7.– Sethi, Arun and J. Gott ( 2016 ). The Widening Impact of Automation. New York : A.T. Kearney Global Services. Available at https ://www.atkearney. com/digital-transformation/article?/a/the-widening-impact-of-automation-article.8.– World Trade Organization, ITC and UNCTAD ( 2017 ). WTO-ITC-UNCTAD annual trade in services database. Available at https ://www.wto.org/english/ res_e/statis_e/trade_datasets_e.htm. Accessed December 1, 2017.

involves sensitive data processing and increased cyber-security threats, which mean more difficulties in managing data privacy and security. The number of cybersecurity inci-dents worldwide is increasing and many countries have in-troduced regulations on data protection. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR ) holds data processors responsible for protection of personal data. Should a data breach occur, even third party providers can be account-able. Similar regulation will encourage companies to com-ply with data protection laws and regulations regarding the processing, storage, handling, collection and transmission of data.

Box 1 : The EU GDPR

Approved by the EU Parliament on 14 April 2016, this regula-tion will be directly applied by all member states from 25 May 2018. The regulation was designed to harmonize data privacy laws across Europe, to protect and empower all EU citizens’ data privacy and to reshape the way organizations across the region approach data privacy.

The GDPR not only applies to organizations located within the EU but also will apply to organizations outside the EU if they offer goods or services to EU data subjects. It applies to all companies that are processing and holding the personal data of data subjects residing in the EU, regardless of the company’s location. A data

protection officer must be appointed in an organization that engages in large scale processing of sensitive personal data.

Most established BPO destinations are aligning their regulations with the GDPR to ensure compliance at national or sector level. Personal data is allowed to leave the European Economic Area only if there is a sufficient data protection standard in the destina-tion country. When a country has been awarded the status of a country that meets the GDPR standards, information can pass freely between that country and the European Economic Area. Company-to-company model agreements can be also used.

Source : European Union, https : / / www.eugdpr.org

THE RAPID PACE OF INNOVATION COMBINING SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE SOLUTIONS The IT industry is evolving constantly and new trends change the global pattern. The following are the emerging IT-BPM trends that need to be considered when planning industry development :

� ioT is considered a very disruptive technology that incor-porates smart physical objects into the networked society and digital value networks.9 IoT affects all sectors of the economy and has the potential to transform business-to-customer relationships that are enabled by smart objects.

9.– Oberlaender, Anna Maria and others ( 2017 ) Conceptualising business-to-thing interactions – a sociomaterial perspective on the Internet of Things. European Journal of Information Systems. ( In press ).

A new concept of business-to-thing has emerged and the rise of IoT has facilitated significantly the abilities of businesses to connect, track and measure technologies and human interactions in a digital environment. It can be easily integrated to manage functions such as administra-tion, payroll, recruitment, organizational safety and other tasks that were previously or currently are managed by humans.10 The management of IoT applications should benefit BPM concepts, methods and technologies and eventually should integrate BPM. IoT can reduce manual tasks and lead to more accurate data, reduced errors

10.– Venkatesh, A.N. ( 2017 ). Connecting the Dots : Internet of Things and Human Resource Management. American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, February 8, 2017. ISSN ( Print ) : 2328-3734.

Available at https ://ssrn.com/abstract=2913400.

https://www.atkearney.com/digital-transformation/article?/a/the-widening-impact-of-automation-article

https://www.atkearney.com/digital-transformation/article?/a/the-widening-impact-of-automation-article

https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/trade_datasets_e.htm


https://www.eugdpr.org/

https://ssrn.com/abstract=2913400

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and efficiency gains.11 Businesses however, will have to secure their networks and data to deploy products that are appropriate and protected.

� Big data is data that contains a great variety of data points, which are arriving in increasing volumes and with ever higher velocity.12 Generated from numerous trans-action, production and communication processes, big data is accelerating knowledge and value creation across society. Big data is the core of almost every digital trans-formation today. New analytical techniques and models are being developed to reveal the value provided by this data. Big data solutions help to predict product and con-sumer trends, expose product reliability and enable better customer services. Data-driven innovation, in this regard, refers to the improvement of existing or the development of new products, processes, organizational methods and markets.13 It has the potential to increase efficiency, pro-ductivity and economic competitiveness. IT companies are rapidly deploying big data processing, storage and integration technologies on public cloud-based solutions. It is easier for SMEs than for larger companies to imple-ment synergy between BPM and big data due to more inherent flexibility and shorter implementation periods. However, systematic human interaction remains impor-tant in order to implement and obtain the best results from big data analytics.

� Cloud computing offers an innovative business model through which organizations can adopt IT without upfront investment, software licenses and other requirements. Even governments have become more interested in using cloud computing to reduce in-real-time costs and increase the capabilities and reach of their service delivery.14 It can offer a number of benefits to companies, including re-duced implementation and maintenance costs, increased mobility for a global workforce, flexible infrastructure, quicker time to market and increased availability of high-performance applications and innovation for SMEs. Cloud computing was adopted much more quickly than initially expected, but the security model has significant issues and data sovereignty is still questionable, which impacts adoption of the cloud model. This new technol-ogy can eventually reduce upfront costs for new BPM

11.– Janiesch, Christian and others ( 2017 ). The Internet-of-Things Meets Business Process Management : Mutual Benefits and Challenges. Available at https ://arxiv.org/abs/1709.03628v1. 12.– Heller, Peter and others ( 2016 ). An Enterprise Architect’s Guide to Big Data. Oracle Enterprise Architecture White Paper. Redwood Shores : Oracle Corporation. Available at http ://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/entarch/articles/oea-big-data-guide-1522052.pdf. 13.– OECD ( 2015 ). Data-Driven Innovation : Big Data for Growth and Well-Being. Paris : OECD Publishing. Available at http ://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264229358-en. 14.– Almorsy, M., J. Grundy and I. Miller ( 2016 ). An Analysis of the Cloud Computing Security Problem. Available at https ://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1609/1609.01107.pdf.

operations that are sourced from the cloud with pay-by-usage contact centre packages. With cloud computing, BPM adoption will expand and become more advanced.

� Data analytics and data mining are the processes of ex-tracting and using knowledge from data that lead to bet-ter diagnostics, efficient monitoring and better analysis in various disciplines such as computer science, statistics, mathematics, logistics and others. The data analytics process produces models for solving problems and in-cludes acquiring, pre-processing, modelling, testing and reporting data. Data mining represents the process of finding the required structure in data to develop certain insights. The structure may take many forms, including a graph, a network, a set of rules, etc. The knowledge re-ceived from a data mining session is a generalized model of the data.15 Integrating data mining into business pro-cess allows flexible design, deployment and manage-ment of business processes, and companies using data mining in business processes can improve their produc-tivity and cost efficiency.

� Robotic process automation ( RPA ) is a software based solution to automate rules-based business processes that involve routine tasks, structured data and determinis-tic outcomes. Most of these solutions were used on back-office business process operations in which the customer was not directly involved. The use of RPA has a number of benefits in terms of productivity, costs, speed and error reduction. RPA allows organizations to automate current tasks and does not require complex integration process-es, as RPA interacts with individual systems in the same way as a human user and robotic software can be rap-idly modelled, with subsequent deployment of automa-tion. On average, RPA software processes are three times faster than if the same work was undertaken by humans, and cost one-third as much as an offshore employee and one-fifth as much as onshore staff. RPA can save 25 % to 50 % in costs in select back-office processes. RPA can threaten low-skills jobs but it represents an opportunity for sophisticated solutions for BPM operations.

For companies to follow global iT trends and to keep up with industry expansion, innovation is important, but it is necessary also to focus on affordability, reliability and the quality of provided services. To succeed in an econo-my driven by innovation, businesses should adapt efficient management solutions, develop new skills required for data processing and comply with the rules and standards for the industry. Legal and regulatory frameworks should match the pace of technology advancement, as well as be aligned to emerging global requirements for data protection and cybersecurity.

15.– Roiger, Richard ( 2016 ). Data Mining : A Tutorial-Based Primer, Second Edition. Boca Raton : CRC Press.

https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.03628v1

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/entarch/articles/oea-big-data-guide-1522052.pdf


http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264229358-en

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264229358-en

https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1609/1609.01107.pdf


9


With improved economic conditions, global demand for iT software and services has been on the rise. Ireland is a leader in exporting ICT services ( see figure 4 ) because the country has a competitive tax environment and an open economy which attracts many European, Middle Eastern and African headquarters of global IT companies, including

Google, Facebook, PayPal, Amazon, Twitter, Intel, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, MSN and Adobe. Among the coun-tries that import IT services, the United States is number one, while the Netherlands, Germany and France are also top im-porters of IT services ( see figure 5 ).

Figure 4 : Top 10 countries exporting iCT services and Sri Lanka, 2016 ( US $ thousands )

80.000.00070.000.00060.000.00050.000.00040.000.00030.000.00020.000.00010.000.000

-

Irelan

dInd

ia

Netherl

ands USA

German

yChin

a

United

Kingdo

mFra

nce

Sweden

Switzerla

nd

Sri Lan

ka



Figure 5 : Top 10 countries importing iCT services, 2016 ( US $ thousands )

40.000.00035.000.00030.000.00025.000.00020.000.00015.000.00010.000.0005.000.000

-

United

States

Netherl

ands

German

yFra

nce

Switzerla

ndJa

pan

United

Kingdo

mChin

aIta

ly

Belgium



10


BPM, AN EFFICIENT WAY OF ADAPTING TO THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

The BPM sector shows growth in various application ar-eas, especially in the iT, telecom and healthcare sectors. In 2016, the global BPM market was worth US $ 6.96 billion ; the industry is expected to grow at an annual rate of 13.52 % during 2017–2021 to reach US $ 14.89 billion by 2021.16 This growth is caused mainly by the benefits offered by BPM so-lutions, including cost and time efficiency, better productivity, ease of use, flexibility and the capacity to monitor individu-al processes throughout the entire lifecycle. Organizations looking for optimization of their business processes are most likely to adopt BPM software.

Banking, financial services and insurance, the public sector, consumer products and retail businesses use the most

16.– MarketsandMarkets ( 2016 ). Business Process Management Market by Solution, by Service, by Deployment Type ( Cloud, On-Premises ), by Organization Size ( SMES, Enterprises ), by Business Function, by Industry Vertical, by Region ( NA, Europe, APAC, MEA, LA ) Global Forecast to 2021. Hadapsar.

BPM solutions. Due to the early adoption of BPM services in public, banking and financial sectors, North American com-panies dominated the industry with more than 30 % share in 2015. The Asia–Pacific region is gradually growing, and a number of countries provide more and more BPM ser-vices, thanks to the large scale industrialization and emer-gence of several start-ups in India, China and countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region.

A continuously developing sector, iT-BPM puts an impor-tant focus on research and development ( R&D ) initiatives that help companies stay competitive. To diversify skills, to develop new offers that provide different solutions and to keep up the increasing pace of industry development, merger and acquisition by bigger players is also anticipat-ed as a key trend.17

17.– Ibid.

• Although the sector starts from a low base, export growth demonstrates the interest in and recognition of Sri Lankan products by markets. Consistent export growth demonstrates that the country is in a good position to upscale the sector and transform it into a leading industry, serving as a major component of national branding and becoming a leading foreign exchange earner.

• Over the last decade, the IT sector has experienced significant growth and remarkable and continually evolving innovations.

• BPO is becoming commoditized and competition is increasing.

• Data privacy and data security is particularly important for BPO and outsourcing services.

• The IT industry evolves constantly and new trends change the global pattern.

• To follow global trends in IT and to keep up with industry expansion, innovation is important, but it is also necessary to focus on the affordability, reliability and quality of the services provided.

• A continuously developing sector, IT-BPM puts an impor-tant focus on R&D initiatives that help companies to stay competitive.


11

[ SRi LANKA’S GROWTH PATHWAy : FROM LOW-END AND SiMPLE TO HiGH-END AND COMPLEx iT-BPM PRODUCTS ]

SRI LANKA’S GROWTH PATHWAY : FROM LOW-END AND SIMPLE TO HIGH-END AND COMPLEX

IT-BPM PRODUCTS

The Sri Lankan iT-BPM industry has seen substantial growth in the past decade and has very strong potential to increase export revenue compared to other sectors. The overall ICT sector has experienced growth over past 10 years, growing on average by 17.31 % per year ( see figure 6 ). The IT industry’s share of exported Sri Lankan services is 12 %. Large companies contribute over 85 % and it is one of the largest export revenue earners, with 95 % value addi-tion. More than 300 IT companies operate in Sri Lanka and

the IT-BPM sector directly employs more than 80,000 profes-sionals. IT-BPM achieved a growth of almost 300 % over the last 10 years and in 2017 reached US $ 1.2 billion in revenues. SLASSCOM foresees the industry achieving US $ 5 billion in exports by 2022.18

18.– Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies and PricewaterhouseCoopers ( 2016 ). Vision 2022 : Sri Lanka IT-BPM Sector. Colombo. Available at https ://slasscom.lk/report/slasscom-strategy-document-2016.

Figure 6 : Sri Lanka iCT export

900.000800.000700.000600.000500.000400.000300.000200.000100.000

-2005

Computer services Telecommunications services

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016





12


The Sri Lankan iT industry has earned recognition and has the established labour pool to move forward and to bring more and bigger contracts to Sri Lankan iT profes-sionals. Sri Lankan IT companies have had a number of contracts with global leaders and the country is emerging as an international IT destination of choice for several key focus domain areas. The IT infrastructure offers tier one ser-vices with a tier two cost structure, fast adoptive technology and a trainable and competent work force, most of which is under 30 years of age.

Despite the relatively recent development of the BPM seg-ment, this niche in the Sri Lankan iT industry represents a number of high-end products developed by local SMEs that are in demand in global markets. The BPM industry is emerging and already offering high-end product engi-neering built around relevant cost-competitive advantages, high quality and an educated workforce pool with devel-oped skills. The country has chosen to concentrate efforts on selected areas such as financing and accounting, among others, because of the large number of internationally cer-tified professionals in accounting. Higher education in ac-counting and finance is offered in Sri Lankan public and private institutes and by the main professional accounting bodies.19 Sri Lanka has the largest pool of qualified pro-

19.– The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka ; the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, United Kingdom ; the Institute of Certified Management Accountants ; Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, United Kingdom and The Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka offer professional accounting qualifications.

fessionals holding the United Kingdom-based Chartered Institute of Management Accountant’s Certificate in Business Accounting outside the United Kingdom.

Sri Lanka’s start-up ecosystem is expanding, having cre-ated almost half of all new companies in the computer sci-ence area. Sri Lanka has a growing number of start-ups in the IT industry and various programmes such as Venture Engine, the Startup Sri Lanka Next Generation programme, SeedStars Colombo, StartupXFoundry and John Keells X Open Innovation Challenge support their development. These programmes allow young entrepreneurs and devel-opers to find affordable workspaces, access international and local investment and overcome barriers to future growth. Despite that, limited office space facilities for IT start-ups re-mains one of the bottlenecks for industry expansion.

The IT industry has expanded its product base beyond soft-ware and application development, call centre and book-ing support and transaction processing centres. Today the industry offers professional services in different areas and a full range of IT products, from IT development and main-tenance to innovative solutions and IP creation. Sri Lankan IT companies have been providing services to global cli-ents for customized and outsourced software development ( see figure 7 ). The services most in demand are for product categories such as software for travel and tourism, com-puter graphic design, mobile application, e-commerce and content management systems for websites. These products have high potential to be developed in the future.

Figure 7 : Existing iT products and future market orientations

Software products, solutions to emerging markets (owned in Sri Lanka: patent, trademark)

Products

IPcreation

5%

Share of curent export value

30%

40%

25%

High-end productengineering

Customized softwaredevelopment

Outsourced software development,training and maintenance

Target markets: United States, Canada, EU, Japan

Software, application, products development locally, but owned abroad (concept from abroadTarget markets: United States, United Kingdom, EU, Australia

Content management, customer management, human resource management

Target markets: Australia, United Kingdom, Japan, Scandinavian countries

Technical support with software maintenance

Target markets: Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Japan, Scandinavian countries

Source : Adapted from Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies and PricewaterhouseCoopers ( 2016 ) Vision 2022 :

Sri Lanka IT-BPM Sector and based on stakeholder consultations.

13


Professional services from low-end, simple activities to high-end, complex activities in various fields also are pro-vided as offshore services for international companies. Financial and accounting services are the most demanded, but Sri Lankan companies also have qualified professionals in knowledge process outsourcing ( KPO ) services such as engineering, law and architecture. Other specialized services provided by companies include healthcare KPO services, legal process outsourcing and macro and socioeconomic research. KPO activities such as call centre and booking support and basic analytics are also in high demand and have great potential. The range of services vary from low-end, simple tasks such as book keeping and payroll pro-cessing to high-end, complex activities, including investment and quantitative research, financial analysis and others.

The export clients of Sri Lankan iT companies are not only big international companies but also SMEs from abroad, many of which were founded by members of the Sri Lankan diaspora. A number of large foreign compa-nies are clients for Sri Lankan IT, software and BPM ser-vices, including the holiday booking sections of Emirates and Qatar Airways and immigration entities in Mauritius and Fiji. Several multinational companies have set up offshore business support operations in Sri Lanka, including HSBC, the London Stock Exchange, Pearson, Sysco, Navantis and others. Along with large Sri Lankan companies that have already gained a reputation in regional and international markets, there are smaller companies that target mainly

medium-sized companies abroad. Many of their clients are from the diaspora. Most of these projects are from Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and France.

Sri Lankan BPM companies provide professional services in various fields, but, with a large pool of internationally certified accountants, finance and accounting services lead professional services exports. The BPM segment con-sists of outsourced business process management opera-tions and analytics outsourcing operations ( see figure 8 ). Other value added services include such services as data and document conversion and financial and accounting ver-tical service operations, as well as services in banking, tax-ation, healthcare and leisure. Other value added services include legal process outsourcing and market intelligence services, in addition to investment support, financial analysis and conveyancing. Companies providing outsourced BPM operations services take a larger share in export value terms ( around 70 % ) and work mainly with multinational corpora-tions ( MNC ), while analytics services are mainly provided to SMEs in the Middle East, Africa and Asia–Pacific counties.20 The finance and accounting services lead the industry, but the number providing offshore analytics services, legal and medical diagnostics and architectural services are growing.

20.– Stakeholders consultations results and Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies and PricewaterhouseCoopers ( 2016 ). Vision 2022 : Sri Lanka IT-BPM Sector. Colombo. Available at https ://slasscom.lk/report/slasscom-strategy-document-2016.

Figure 8 : Existing BPM products and future market orientations

Legal process outsourcing:• conveyancingMarket intelligence:• investment support• market research• financial analysisFinancial and Accounting Outsourcing verticals served operations:• accounting• healthcare• banking• taxation• leisureTarget markets: African, Asia Pacific and Middle East countries

Contact centre operations:• outbound marketing• customer services• hospitality services• healthcare servicesTarget markets: New Zealand, Canada, African countries

ProductsShare of export value

30%

70%

Analytics• Data and

document conversion• Financial and

medical transcriptions

Outsourced business processmanagement (contact centres)

Source : Adapted from Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies and PricewaterhouseCoopers ( 2016 ), Vision 2022 :




14


Sri Lankan companies have a number of advantages compared to other iT-BPM destinations in the region in terms of financial attractiveness and information security. Average associated costs can be 30 % lower than other off-shore destinations and the country’s investment laws permit total foreign ownership, with no restrictions on repatriation of earnings, fees, capital or forex transactions relating to current account payments. The country has the most rigor-ous IP protection regimes in region and an efficient IT infra-structure. Broadband, leased-line and satellite connectivity is widely available, and there are eight telecom operators and three international submarine cables.

Even though the industry has great importance for the country, its share in the global market is low. The Sri Lankan IT-BPM sector is small in comparison to regional peers and global leaders, both in volume and value ( see fig-ure 9 ). Sri Lanka as an IT-BPM destination is not well known globally, despite some big international companies using its services. The share for ICT services in Sri Lankan exports is also much lower than for ICT exports in neighbouring coun-tries ( see figure 10 ).

Figure 9 : Regional competitors’ iCT services export value, excluding india

8.000.000

6.000.000

4.000.000

2.000.000

0

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Singapore

Sri Lanka

Malaysia Indonesia

Thailand



Figure 10 : Share of iCT services exports as of total services exports, 2015

PhilippinesIndia

MauritiusSingapore

BangladeshIndonesiaMalaysiaThailand

Sri Lanka

0 20 40 60 80

72.29%67.28%

30.12%29.37%

28.3%26.5%

23.73%15.24%13.24%

Source : World Bank ( 2015 ). Sri Lanka Innovation, ICT and Competitiveness. Draft working paper. Washington, D.C. : World Bank.

15


Although the talent pool of IT professionals in Sri Lanka is limited, a technically qualified workforce together with low la-bour costs gives the country a strong advantage ( see figure 11 ). The size of the IT-BPM industry is directly linked to the number of professionals working in the sector. Even though the size of the workforce in the sector is limited, it continues to grow rapidly. Some state and private educational institu-tions offer diplomas in computer science and engineering and in IT ; most university offer degrees in accounting and finance, as well as post graduates diplomas and master pro-grammes in this field. Around 5,000 students graduate annu-ally with IT diplomas, with more graduating in technical and professional disciplines related to BPM ( engineering, law, architecture ). At the same time, the IT-BPM companies pro-vide internal and external training to their employees, as well as initial training of between three and seven weeks when starting a job. A number of workers have more than one fi-nance or accounting qualification and have internationally recognized certifications, such as those from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, the Chartered Institute

of Management Accountants in the United Kingdom, the Institute of Certified Management Accountants, and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in the United Kingdom.

Sector support is provided mainly through chambers and IT associations that concentrate efforts on developing a start-up ecosystem and on capacity building, while the Government of Sri Lanka is committed to improving the busi-ness environment. The Government recognizes the impor-tance of sector development by making efforts to increase IT literacy at the national level and by encouraging investment in the sector through the provision of special tax benefits for IT-BPM. The Government is also committed to improving the business climate in the country by digitalizing the processes for registering employees and paying taxes online. Foreign investment in higher education also has been liberalized to attract private universities to establish branches in Sri Lanka. However, there are other challenges that companies face, namely with supply-side capacity and market entry.

Figure 11 : Thematic areas for successful iT-BPM development

Branding

Workforcecapacity

Workforceretention

Regionalization:inclusive growth

Businessinfrastructure

Attract FDIs

US$5 billion revenue,200 000 jobs,1,000 startups Entrepreneurship

and start-ups

Source : Adapted from Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies and PricewaterhouseCoopers ( 2016 ) Vision 2022 :


• The Sri Lankan IT-BPM industry has seen substantial growth in the past decade and has great potential to increase export revenue compared with other sectors.

• The IT industry has earned recognition, thanks to cost-competitive advantages and a high-quality and educated workforce pool with developed skills, and is ready to move

forward and bring more and bigger contracts to Sri Lankan IT companies.

• The relatively recent development of the BPM sector, a niche IT industry in Sri Lanka, today is represented by high-end products developed by local SMEs that are in demand in global markets.

17

[ VALUE CHAiN DiAGNOSTiCS ]

VALUE CHAIN DIAGNOSTICS

The value chain analysis in figure 12 and in table 1 gives a better understanding of the dynamics in and the issues af-fecting performance of the industry.


18


Figure 12 : iT-BPM value chain

Labo

ur L

aw

Hard

war

e

Elec

trici

ty, t

elec

om,

inte

rnet

Softw

are

R&D

R&D

Inte

llect

ual p

rope

rty

right

s

IT in

vest

men

t and

exp

ort

prom

otio

nIT

regu

latio

ns (e

-sig

natu

re,

cybe

r sec

urity

)

Regu

lato

ry a

nd p

olic

y in

puts

Softw

are

deve

lope

rs H

ardw

are

engi

neer

s Co

mpu

ter p

rogr

amm

ers

Acco

unta

nts

Mar

kete

rsHe

alth

pro

fess

iona

ls L

awye

rs A

rchi

tect

s

TVET

Glob

al u

nive

rsity

par

tner

ship

Ph.D

Lege

nd Natio

nal c

ompo

nent

Inte

rnat

iona

l com

pone

nt

Mix

ed c

ompo

nent

High

edu

catio

n

Skill

ed la

bour

Busi

ness

eco

syst

em

Dom

estic

mar

ket

Busi

ness

Gove

rnm

ent

IT

Inte

rnat

iona

l mar

kets

Mar

kets

Unite

d Ki

ngdo

m

Unite

d St

ates

Cana

da

EU Japa

n

Aust

ralia

Afric

a

Mid

dle

East

Asia

Softw

are

prod

ucts

, ap

plic

atio

ns, F

AO, L

PO, C

CO

Softw

are

prod

ucts

, ap

plic

atio

ns, F

AO, L

PO, C

CO

Softw

are

prod

ucts

Softw

are

prod

ucts

Softw

are

prod

ucts

FAO

CCO

FAO

CCO

Othe

r BPM

CCO

Prod

ucts

Anal

ytic

s (K

PO)

BPM

Med

ical

tran

scrip

tions

Fina

ncia

l tra

nscr

iptio

ns

Cont

act c

entr

es o

pera

tions

(CCO

)Ou

tboa

nd m

arke

ting

Cust

omer

ser

vice

sHo

spita

lity

serv

ices

Hea

lthca

re s

ervi

ces

Data

and

doc

umen

t con

vers

ion

Lega

l pro

cess

out

sour

cing

(LPO

)co

nvey

anci

ng

Mar

ket i

ntel

ligen

cein

vest

men

t sup

port

mar

ket r

esea

rch

finan

cial

ana

lysi

s

Fina

ncia

l and

acc

ount

ing

oper

atio

ns(F

AO) v

ertic

aly

serv

edac

coun

ting

heal

thca

re b

anki

ngta

xatio

n le

isur

e te

leco

mm

unic

atio

n

Softw

are

R&D

Appl

icat

ion

deve

lopm

ent

Appl

icat

ion

man

agm

ent

IT c

onsu

lting

Capi

tal/f

inan

cing

Supp

liers

of e

nabl

ing

serv

ices

Offic

e sp

ace

Inpu

tsPr

oduc

t dev

elop

men

tM

arke

t ent

ry

19


Table 1 : Constraints faced by the iT-BPM industry in Sri Lanka

Lim

ited

finan

cial

and

infr

astr

uctu

ral s

uppo

rt to

enc

oura

ge e

ntre

pren

eurs

hip

and

IT-B

PM s

tart

-ups

:•

Lim

ited

avai

labi

lity

of c

omm

on s

hare

d sp

ace

prov

ided

to IT

sta

rt-u

ps b

y th

e Go

vern

men

t to

build

eco

-sys

tem

.•

Lim

ited

finan

cial

sup

port

to re

duce

the

oper

atio

nal c

osts

of o

ffice

spa

ce.

Lim

ited

avai

labi

lity

of in

dust

ry-r

elev

ant w

orkf

orce

dim

inis

hes

supp

ly-s

ide

capa

city

:•

Wor

kfor

ce p

ipel

ine

is n

arro

w.

• M

igra

tion

of ta

lent

.

Out

date

d la

bour

regu

latio

n le

ads

to la

bour

cha

lleng

es:

• Li

mite

d fle

xibi

lity

in la

bour

regu

latio

ns, s

peci

fical

ly re

latin

g to

nee

ds to

:

- Re

form

the

com

pens

atio

n fo

rmul

a fo

r IT

busi

ness

es (t

o al

low

flex

ibilit

y in

und

erta

king

inte

rnat

iona

l pro

ject

s).

-

Perm

it w

orki

ng h

ours

for w

omen

afte

r 22:

00.

• Co

mpl

icat

ed p

roce

dure

of g

ettin

g w

orke

rs/o

ccup

atio

nal v

isa

for I

T-BP

M in

dust

ry d

ue to

intro

duct

ion

of q

uota

s sy

stem

. L

imite

d in

dust

ry-a

cade

mia

col

labo

ratio

n:•

Diffi

culti

es in

brin

ging

the

exis

ting

wor

kfor

ce in

to in

dust

ry (w

ork

forc

e co

nver

sion

).•

Low

aw

aren

ess

of in

dust

ry c

aree

r pro

spec

ts w

ithin

the

BPM

sec

tor a

mon

g yo

uth,

esp

ecia

lly in

the

regi

ons.

• Li

mite

d co

ordi

natio

n be

twee

n pr

ivat

e se

ctor

and

aca

dem

ia o

n cu

rric

ulum

dev

elop

men

t and

inco

rpor

atio

n of

IT a

nd

appl

ied

skills

into

hig

her e

duca

tion

inst

itutio

ns’ p

rogr

amm

es.

Inad

equa

te p

olic

y an

d re

gula

tory

fram

ewor

k im

pede

s su

stai

nabl

e gr

owth

of I

T-BP

M in

dust

ry:

• Lo

ng, c

ostly

and

bur

dens

ome

proc

edur

e to

sta

rt a

nd to

clo

se a

bus

ines

s.•

Rest

rictiv

e fo

reig

n ex

chan

ge ru

les,

incl

udin

g a

man

dato

ry d

epos

it on

a F

orei

gn E

xcha

nge

Earn

ers

Acco

unt (

FEEA

) and

th

ose

rela

ting

to o

vers

eas

empl

oyee

sha

re o

ptio

n sc

hem

es (E

SOS)

.•

Rest

ricte

d ac

cess

to in

tern

atio

nal o

nlin

e pa

ymen

t sys

tem

s (s

uch

as P

ay P

al) d

ue to

pen

ding

e-p

aym

ent r

egul

atio

n.•

Lack

of r

egul

atio

n to

impl

emen

t a le

gal f

ram

ewor

k fo

r acc

eptin

g el

ectro

nic

sign

atur

es.

• Co

mpl

icat

ed IP

regi

stra

tion

regi

me.

Inad

equa

te in

dust

ry b

rand

ing

and

no p

roac

tive

inve

stor

s ta

rget

ing

limit

mar

ket o

utre

ach

and

awar

enes

s ab

out I

T in

dust

ry:

• La

ck o

f bra

ndin

g st

rate

gy to

pro

mot

e th

e in

dust

ry lo

cally

and

inte

rnat

iona

lly.

• Li

mite

d Go

vern

men

t sup

port

for s

how

casi

ng th

e Sr

i Lan

kan

IT in

dust

ry a

t reg

iona

l and

inte

rnat

iona

l lev

els.

• Su

ppor

t cha

lleng

es w

ith fo

reig

n m

issi

ons

and

com

mer

cial

atta

chés

for t

rade

pro

mot

ion

abro

ad.

• La

ck o

f col

labo

rativ

e go

vern

men

t-to-

gove

rnm

ent p

rogr

amm

es to

pro

mot

e IT

and

ove

rsea

s pa

rtne

rshi

ps.

Lim

ited

gove

rnm

ent-i

ndus

try

dial

ogue

hin

ders

the

IT-B

PM s

ecto

r dev

elop

men

t:•

No c

oord

inat

ion

mec

hani

sm a

long

the

IT in

dust

ry v

alue

cha

in in

the

coun

try.

• Li

mite

d aw

aren

ess

by p

ublic

aut

horit

ies

on h

ow to

sup

port

indu

stry

dev

elop

men

t.

Lim

ited

mar

ket i

ntel

ligen

ce a

nd n

o kn

owle

dge

shar

ing

amon

g bi

g an

d sm

all c

ompa

nies

abo

ut

mar

ket o

ppor

tuni

ties

resu

lts in

insu

ffici

ent

acce

ss to

fore

ign

inve

stor

s:•

Lim

ited

info

rmat

ion

abou

t glo

bal t

rend

s an

d cl

ient

dem

ands

.•

Insu

ffici

ent k

now

ledg

e of

glo

bal s

tand

ards

in

com

putin

g.•

Low

ove

rsea

s ne

twor

king

cap

aciti

es o

f co

mpa

nies

.•

Insu

ffici

ent p

artic

ipat

ion

by S

MEs

in d

eleg

a-tio

ns g

oing

abr

oad

to a

cces

s an

d al

ign

thei

r in

tere

st w

ith in

vest

ors.

Inpu

tsPr

oduc

tion

Mar

ket e

ntry

Lege

nd:

Ente

rpris

e pe

rfor

man

ce is

sues

Re

gula

tory

and

pol

icy

issu

es

Inst

itutio

nal a

nd c

oord

inat

ion

issu

es

20


FOCUSING ON THE MOST PRESSING ISSUES

Extensive stakeholder consultations, field visits and litera-ture reviews have revealed constraints in the IT-BPM sector that challenge its short and medium-term growth. To en-sure that the Strategy is efficient and precise, only the most critical bottlenecks to be addressed in this Strategy are de-tailed below.

Inputs and production issues

Inadequate policy and regulatory framework impedes sustainable growth of IT-BPM industry

Bottlenecks exist in the policy framework that can impede successful industry development. Regulatory constraints relating to the opening and closing of businesses do not enable companies to start or to fail cheaply. There is a cost-ly closing down fee and no incentive to create a business. Labour regulation is not adequately flexible : it is difficult to break a labour contract and three months noticed must be given by an employee wishing to leave a company. Despite the high literacy rate among women and with a 60 % female share of enrolments in university, the female labour force participation rate is around 35 %, while the male participation rate is at 75 %. The IT-BPM sector traditionally is perceived as a male dominated sector and current regulation impedes women’s integration into the industry, partly because of the policy on late working hours for women. Another policy limi-tation is the restraint on students having full-time occupa-tions while being a full-time student, which stops students from getting complete practical experience. In addition, ob-taining a worker / occupational visa to bring foreign profes-sionals and experts into the country for the IT-BPM industry requires going through complex procedures.

The IT-BPM sector is based on outsourced activities. No guidelines exist to implement the Electronic Transaction Act, No. 19 of 2006 ( ETA 2006 ) at the institutional level to in-stitute electronic solutions, including e-payment, e-signa-ture, e-documents and tracking, and restricted access to international online payment system such as Pay Pal hin-der businesses’ abilities to grow globally. Most Sri Lankan businesses, however, have access to smaller internation-al gateways such as 2Checkout and Skrill ( formerly called Moneybookers ). Existing restrictive rules are also applied to foreign exchange, including those relating to ESOS. It is mandatory to use an FEEA to receive or make a payment in a foreign currency.

Two other constraints are the complicated IP registration re-gime and the lack of awareness about how to secure IP. Very few innovations and R&D inventions are exported, and of-ten the ownership belongs to a foreign company. It should

be noted that the Sri Lankan IP protection regime is one of the most rigorous in the region and companies do not face any particular concerns for business-to-business ( B2B ) products.21

These constraints are addressed in PoA : 1.2.3, 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.3, 1.3.4, 1.3.5, 1.3.6, 1.4.1, 1.4.2.

Limited availability of an industry-relevant workforce diminishes supply-side capacity

Despite several state and private universities providing high-quality education in the IT-BPM sector, the number of gradu-ates is insufficient to satisfy the growing industry demand. The industry in coming years will require at least twice the current workforce on the supply side. During sector consul-tations, industry players noted that as many as 18,000 new IT graduates would be needed annually.

There is also an issue in retaining the existing labour force and halting the brain drain. Fresh graduates have high sal-ary expectations. The average wage for an IT programmer in Sri Lanka is on par with Bangladesh and Pakistan and lower than in India, Viet Nam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Mauritius.22 The average wage for a BPO analyst is in the same range as for one working in Viet Nam and much low-er than in Mauritius, India and Pakistan.23 Graduates look for employment abroad in search of better pay or because they have limited awareness of career opportunities in the Sri Lankan BPM industry. IT companies in Colombo attract more graduates ( including those from universities around the country ) as they often provide good internship opportu-nities, higher salaries and additional benefits. This, in turn, affects the availability of talent for IT businesses in regions outside Colombo. Moreover, there are limited IT career guid-ance / awareness campaigns targeting youth, parents and teachers through the media.

These constraints are addressed in PoA : 2.3.1, 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.2.3, 3.2.4, 3.2.5, 3.2.6, 3.2.7, 3.3.1, 3.3.2.

Product development issues

Limited industry-academia collaboration makes it difficult to bring existing workforce to industry

There is a skills gap due to limited dialogue between the pri-vate sector and universities. Graduates have good technical

21.– A.T. Kearney ( 2012 ). Competitive Benchmarking : Sri Lanka Knowledge Services. Washington, D.C. Available at https ://www.atkearney.com/documents/10192/430128/Country_Competitiveness_Study-Sri_Lanka.pdf/7d3033a4-5935-41d8-bf99-a1462bf7d553. 22.– Ibid.23.– Ibid.

https://www.atkearney.com/documents/10192/430128/Country_Competitiveness_Study-Sri_Lanka.pdf/7d3033a4-5935-41d8-bf99-a1462bf7d553



21


skills, but often are missing soft skills and practical experi-ence. Some internship opportunities are provided to stu-dents, but state universities favour full-time, lecture-mode education and do not promote working experience during university years. This creates a problem with workforce con-version and bringing graduates into the industry. There is limited industry-education sector collaboration for curricu-lum development and incorporation of IT and applied skills into the programmes of schools and higher education insti-tutions to satisfy industry needs. There is also sometimes an overlapping syllabus between different degrees at uni-versities. Recently, the IT Skills Council, under the Ministry of Skills Development and Vocational Training ( MoSDVT ), revised the curriculum with industry, and some emerging technical and vocational education and training ( TVET ) in-stitutes are offering certification to IT technicians, computer graphic designers, computer hardware technicians, Cisco technicians and computer network technicians, but there are no placement opportunities for students coming out of vo-cational training institutes. In addition, there is limited shar-ing of practical knowledge and experience with students to encourage the cultivation and development of an entrepre-neurial mindset at an early age. The limited established re-lationship between industry and academia has meant that there is no research centre to focus on IT industry develop-ment and to build links to other sectors.

These constraints are addressed in PoA : 2.2.1, 3.2.4, 3.2.5, 3.2.6, 3.2.7.

Limited financial and infrastructure suppor t to encourage entrepreneurship and IT-BPM star t-ups in Colombo and in the regions

The number of start-ups in the IT industry is growing, thanks essentially to private sector initiatives. Several start-up net-works have been created and support is provided through private sector associations. However, there is limited start-up funding and mentoring support outside of Colombo. Training and guidance for IT start-ups on how to set up a business or follow-up on payments and on negotiation skills are lacking. Limited start-up friendly credit facilities through a dedicated model for infant companies and the few office and incubator spaces in Colombo and Jaffna are the main constraints to creating a supportive start-up environment. In most cases, companies are started using the founders’ personal savings or funding from family and friends. During the initial stages of a start-up, there is no support to reduce operational costs by providing co-working spaces and lower cost office space or by subsidizing electricity or internet charges. There are few accelerator programmes for start-ups to attract investors and foreign clients. Obtaining finance for SMEs from banks is very difficult, as banks do not understand the valuation models for IT companies and therefore cannot value pro-jects and understand business models. Recently, FITIS and Hatton National Bank launched specialized loan schemes for the IT sector.

These constraints are addressed in PoA : 2.2.2, 2.2.3, 2.2.4, 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3.


22


Market entry issues

Inadequate industry branding and no proactive investor targeting limits market outreach and awareness in the world about Sri Lankan IT industry

The lack of a national level brand for the IT-BPM industry hin-ders the development and promotion of Sri Lankan products in the global markets. Improved marketing and determined promotion campaigns that can increase visibility of the sec-tor and add to global recognition of Sri Lanka’s capabilities in knowledge services are lacking. At the same time, at the national level there is a limited recognition of existing suc-cessful IT start-ups case studies in the media. This results in companies needing to make greater efforts to convince customers of their capability and quality and emphasizes the need to raise the importance of the sector among policy makers. Support from Sri Lankan embassies abroad is also limited, as trade missions are understaffed and commer-cial attachés concentrate their efforts mainly on addressing bilateral trade-related issues or on narrowly focused trade promotion activities.

These constraints are addressed in PoA : 1.2.1, 1.2.3, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.4, 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3.

Limited market intelligence and no knowledge sharing among large and small companies about market oppor tunities results in insufficient access to foreign investors and a knowledge mismatch between product offerings and customer demand in the IT-BPM sector

There are study and survey results available on the IT-BPM sector in Sri Lanka ; however, there is limited informa-tion about global trends and clients’ demands that can be

provided to local companies. The low networking capaci-ties of companies and insufficient participation in outbound delegations to events to access foreign investors, suppliers and partners limits opportunities for discussions between entrepreneurs and investors to align their interests. This re-sults in a knowledge mismatch between what investors see as potentially high growth sectors and the sectors to which entrepreneurs are catering.

In addition, there are limited established mechanisms for mentorship through which large IT companies can share their experiences with smaller companies. Successful com-panies with experience in the global market can support IT SMEs in accessing new markets and can facilitate business matching with their partners.

These constraints are addressed in PoA : 2.2.2.

Issues affecting the entire value chain

Limited Government-industry dialogue hinders the IT-BPM sector development

Despite Government recognition of the importance of IT-BPM sector growth, there is weak coordination between public and private sector stakeholders and limited aware-ness by public authorities of how to support industry de-velopment. This can be explained by the fact that there is no coordination mechanism for the IT industry value chain in the country. Sector associations assist companies, but Government assistance is crucial. Public authorities do not always understand what needs to be improved to create an enabling environment in which IT companies can grow.

These constraints are addressed in PoA : 1.1.1.

Most of the issues identified in the IT-BPM industry are related to institutional and regulatory frameworks. The industry has been developing, stimulated by international demand, but with limited support from the public sector.

At this stage, it is crucial for the Government to create an enabling environment while also providing targeted business development support to firms, enhancing innovation, raising awareness about career opportunities, bringing more students to the industry dur-ing their studies, initiating proactive investment targeting for large companies and improving marketing and visibility for Sri Lanka that will maintain current industry growth.

23

[ THE WAy FORWARD ]

THE WAY FORWARD

Industry stakeholders developed the following industry vision to bring the Sri Lankan IT industry to the next level of IT-BPM industry performance and sophistication :

“ Sri Lanka : A global IT-BPM centre of excellence of high-end product engineering, IP creation and knowledge process outsourcing ”

THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY Unlocking the potential of Sri Lanka’s IT-BPM industry will require transformations throughout the value chain. The tar-geted efforts detailed in the Strategy’s PoA will address the constraints identified earlier. The industry’s future value chain

( see figure 13 ) will be characterized by improved input pro-duction, improved overall coordination and governance, en-hanced forward planning and increased product and market development ( table 2 ).

Strategic objective 1: Support investment and exports in the IT-BPM sector through a business-enabling,

predictable and transparent policy and regulatory framework.

Strategic objective 2: Drive export growth through innovation and

entrepreneurship.

Strategic objective 3: Improve the supply of skilled highly qualified

professionals to satisfy the growing IT-BPM market.

Strategic objective 4: Grow champion firms ('the US$2

billion plan').

• Create an enabling business environment, implement a formal framework and improve sector institutional coordination to direct the industry in the first step towards improved industry growth.

• Provide business development support to firms and enhance innovation to increase the capacities and outreach of IT-BPM start-ups and SMEs in national and international markets.

• Raise awareness about career opportunities, bring more students to the industry during their studies and encourage international experts to share knowledge with youth to sustain IT-BPM industry growth.

• Initiate proactive investment targeting big companies to improve marketing and visibility for Sri Lanka that will enhance the country's image as a destination for knowledge services and innovation.

24


Figure 13 : iT-BPM future value chain

Hard

war

e

Conn

ectiv

ity T

elec

omm

unic

a-tio

ns a

nd in

tern

et b

andw

idth

Softw

are

Inno

vatio

n

Lege

nd

Natio

nal c

ompo

nent

Inte

rnat

iona

l com

pone

nt

Mix

ed c

ompo

nent

Inve

stm

ent

Incr

ease

sha

red

offic

e sp

ace

faci

litie

s

Esta

blis

h de

dica

ted

ICT

rese

arch

cen

tres

at u

nive

rsiti

es

‘Plu

g an

d pl

ay’ a

ccel

erat

or s

olut

ions

for s

tart

-ups

Enha

nced

com

pone

nt

New

mar

kets

/pro

duct

s

Mar

ket p

enet

ratio

n

Busi

ness

eco

syst

em

Dom

estic

mar

ket

Supp

ort w

ith in

dust

ry b

rand

ing

and

outr

each

Cham

pion

bui

lder

pro

gram

Colla

bora

te w

ith d

iasp

ora

and

emba

ssie

s

Set u

p in

dust

ry re

pres

enta

tives

or b

usin

ess

mat

chm

aker

s in

targ

eted

mar

kets

Busi

ness

Gove

rnm

ent

IT

Inte

rnat

iona

l mar

kets

pen

etra

ion*

Anal

ytic

s (K

PO)

BPM

Med

ical

tran

scrip

tions

Fina

ncia

l tra

nscr

iptio

ns

Data

and

doc

umen

t con

vers

ion

LPO

conv

eyan

cing

Mar

ket i

ntel

ligen

cein

vest

men

t sup

port

mar

ket r

esea

rch

finan

cial

ana

lysi

s

FAO

vert

ical

y se

rved

acco

untin

g he

alth

care

ban

king

taxa

tion

leis

ure

tele

com

mun

icat

ion

New

pro

duct

s: m

ixed

real

ity, a

ugm

ente

d re

ality

, loT

so

lutio

ns (s

oftw

are

and

hard

war

e co

me

toge

ther

)

Softw

are

R&D

Appl

icat

ion

deve

lopm

ent

Appl

icat

ion

man

agm

ent

IT c

onsu

lting

Capi

tal/f

inan

cing

Supp

liers

of e

nabl

ing

serv

ices

Inpu

tsPr

oduc

t dev

elop

men

tM

arke

t ent

ry

Labo

ur L

aw

R&D

Inte

llect

ual p

rope

rty

right

s

IT in

vest

men

t and

exp

ort

prom

otio

nIT

regu

latio

ns (e

-sig

natu

re,

cybe

r sec

urity

)

Regu

lato

ry a

nd p

olic

y in

puts

Softw

are

deve

lope

rs H

ardw

are

engi

neer

s Co

mpu

ter p

rogr

amm

ers

Acco

unta

nts

Mar

kete

rsHe

alth

pro

fess

iona

ls L

awye

rs A

rchi

tect

s

TVET

Glob

al u

nive

rsity

par

tner

ship

Ph.D

High

edu

catio

n

Indu

stry

coo

rdin

atio

n an

d re

cogn

ition

Skill

ed la

bour

Unite

d Ki

ngdo

m

EU

Cana

da

Japa

n

New

Zea

land

Aust

ralia

Scan

dina

vian

cou

ntrie

s

Asia

Pac

ific

coun

trie

s

Mid

dle

East

cou

ntrie

s

Afric

a co

untr

ies

Unite

d St

ates

IT p

rodu

cts

and

solu

tions

KPO

BPM

IT p

rodu

cts

and

solu

tions

IT p

rodu

cts

and

solu

tions

KPO

BPM

KPO

KPO

BPM

KPO

BPM

KPO

KPO

BPM

KPO

BPM

IT p

rodu

cts

and

solu

tions

KPO

IT p

rodu

cts

and

solu

tions

KPO

IT p

rodu

cts

and

solu

tions

*Pro

duct

s ra

nge

will

depe

nd o

n ea

ch c

ompa

ny’s

prio

rity

targ

et

25

[ THE WAy FORWARD ]

Table 2 : Main areas of improvements in iT-BPM sector

Lege

nd:

Mar

ket p

ersp

ectiv

eIn

stitu

tiona

l adj

ustm

ents

Regu

lato

ry a

men

dmen

tsIn

vest

men

t req

uire

men

ts

Incr

ease

ava

ilabi

lity

of in

dust

ry-r

elev

ant t

alen

t/wor

kfor

ce b

y:•

Attra

ct h

ighl

y ra

ted

high

er e

duca

tion

inst

itutio

ns to

set

up

bran

ches

in S

ri La

nka.

• In

crea

se IT

aw

aren

ess

for y

outh

by

impl

emen

ting

a na

tiona

l IT

care

ers

awar

enes

s ca

mpa

ign.

• In

itiat

e a

prog

ram

me

to in

crea

se th

e nu

mbe

r of I

T an

d IT

rela

ted

grad

uate

s.

Sho

wca

se th

e Sr

i Lan

kan

IT in

dust

ry a

nd p

rom

ote

it at

nat

iona

l and

inte

rnat

iona

l lev

els:

• Co

llabo

rate

clo

sely

with

em

bass

ies

and

the

Sri L

anka

n di

aspo

ra in

targ

eted

cou

ntrie

s.•

Stre

ngth

en o

vers

eas

prom

otio

n an

d pr

oact

ive

inve

stor

s ta

rget

ing

with

cou

ntry

bra

ndin

g an

d pr

ofilin

g to

attr

act

new

con

tract

s an

d in

vest

men

t.•

Orga

nize

mor

e B2

B an

d ta

rget

ed m

atch

mak

ing

mee

tings

in e

ach

indu

stry

seg

men

t.•

Set u

p in

dust

ry re

pres

enta

tives

or b

usin

ess

mat

chm

aker

s (in

divi

dual

con

sulta

nts

or fi

rms)

in ta

rget

ed m

arke

ts.

• In

volv

e co

mm

erci

al a

ttach

és a

nd tr

ade

prom

otio

n of

ficia

ls in

key

targ

et m

arke

ts to

col

lect

, ana

lyse

and

di

ssem

inat

e tra

de in

form

atio

n En

able

and

sup

port

the

deve

lopm

ent o

f stro

ng a

nd d

urab

le G

over

nmen

t–in

dust

ry d

ialo

gue

by c

reat

ing

an ‘I

T sp

ecia

l adv

isor

y co

mm

ittee

’.

Esta

blis

h IT

Res

earc

h Ce

ntre

s at

uni

vers

ities

to s

uppo

rt IT

indu

stry

dev

elop

men

t in

the

nort

hern

, cen

tral

and

wes

tern

pro

vinc

es, a

nd c

reat

e lin

ks w

ith o

ther

indu

strie

s.

Impr

ove

the

regu

lato

ry fr

amew

ork:

• Im

plem

ent k

ey re

gula

tory

cha

nges

to a

ddre

ss re

stric

tive

fore

ign

exch

ange

rule

s an

d en

sure

the

IT in

dust

ry

can

grow

in v

alua

tion.

• Ad

opt a

regu

latio

n to

impl

emen

t the

lega

l fra

mew

ork

for a

ccep

ting

elec

troni

c si

gnat

ures

.•

Allo

w m

ore

flexi

bilit

y in

labo

ur re

gula

tions

rela

ted

to re

form

ing

the

com

pens

atio

n fo

rmul

a fo

r IT.

Crea

te a

n en

ablin

g en

viro

nmen

t for

fost

erin

g IP

cre

atio

n an

d re

focu

sing

out

sour

ced

engi

neer

ing

serv

ices

to IP

-led

prod

uct d

evel

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and

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to c

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on

IP in

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and

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n m

arks

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r inf

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ort t

o fo

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e IT

firm

s by

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atin

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ed s

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for s

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to b

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a

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ld c

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plug

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ccel

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olut

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).

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nch

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ham

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lder

' pro

gram

me:

• Cr

eate

a p

rogr

amm

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anag

emen

t offi

ce a

nd

set u

p m

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ring

mod

aliti

es a

mon

g im

plem

en-

tatio

n pa

rtne

rs.

• Es

tabl

ish

elig

ibilit

y cr

iteria

for s

elec

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of th

e co

mpa

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.•

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ch a

sur

vey

to id

entif

y th

e ta

rget

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ienc

e.•

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ss th

e re

sults

and

iden

tify

the

pool

of

com

pani

es.

• In

terv

iew

sho

rtlis

ted

com

pani

es to

iden

tify

thei

r ne

eds

and

prio

ritie

s.•

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lop

indi

vidu

al tr

ade

supp

ort p

lans

for

com

pani

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t a c

ount

ry b

rand

ing

cam

paig

n:•

Posi

tion

Sri L

anka

in a

naly

st p

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atio

ns s

uch

as G

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nd A

T Ke

arne

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ove

IT c

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’ mar

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omm

unic

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ns m

ater

ials

and

ski

lls.

26


MARKET PERSPECTIVE

Sri Lankan iT-BPM keeps growing and there are many op-portunities for product and market development ( table 3 ). Further penetration in fast-growing markets with untapped new product opportunities for SMEs, the public sector and family run entities will be possible if an innovative and con-tinuously conducive environment for growth is built for in-dustry development.

Table 3 : Product and market opportunities for iT-BPM sector

Products Rationale Existing markets New markets

iT ( existing products : software products and solutions, application, iT consulting ; new products : mixed reality, augmented reality, ioT solutions where software and hardware come together )

Market segment : MNC and SMEsWhy? Growing market demand, quality of products ; for emerging markets – growing middle class consumption, better understating of market needsHow? Promotion of Sri Lankan products in these countries, business tours

United States, United Kingdom, EU and regional emerging markets including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia

Australia, Scandinavia, Japan

KPO ( finance and accounting outsourcing, data and document conversion )

Market segment : SMEsWhy? Growing market demand, English language, world’s second largest pool of United Kingdom qualified management accounting professionals, diaspora, cultural and professional links to Sri LankaHow? Promotion of Sri Lankan products in these countries, publishing BPM case studies and success stories in targeted markets, B2B

United Kingdom, United States, Hong Kong SAR, Australia, Singapore, Luxembourg, ireland, Africa, Asia–Pacific

Norway, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Middle East

BPM and technical support Market segment : MNCWhy? Growing market demand, alternative to india, English languageHow? Publishing BPM case studies and success stories in targeted markets, B2B

United Kingdom, United States, Japan, Asia–Pacific

New Zealand, Canada, Africa

Source : ITC

INSTITUTIONAL ADJUSTMENTS

The role of trade and investment support institutions ( TiSis ) is crucial to supporting companies’ efforts to ex-pand their performance and to export. TISIs play an impor-tant role in assisting SMEs to improve their competitiveness and to help them connect to value chains.24 TISIs provide essential intelligence on trade development and support en-terprises through training, tools and assistance to find ad-equate market entry channels and international partners. The quality of a country’s business ecosystem hinges on the quality of each of the TISIs.

24.– International Trade Centre ( 2017 ). SME Competitiveness Outlook 2017 : Regional Export Strategies. Geneva.

The institutions are divided into four main categories : pol-icy support, trade services, business services, academia and civil society ( box 2 ). They are the drivers for future lo-gistics industry growth, but certain issues of capacity and resources must be addressed to ensure their efficient sup-port of the sector.

Some key institutional adjustment will be required to unlock sector growth. These changes are crucial in the areas of sector coordination, skills development and market outreach and branding.


27

[ THE WAy FORWARD ]

Box 2 : TISIs supporting the IT industry

Support TiSis

Policy support • Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure• MoDSIT• Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

Trade support • EDB • BOI • ICTA

Business support • SLASSCOM• FITIS • Computer Society of Sri Lanka• Ceylon Chamber of Commerce• American Chamber of Commerce

Academia, incubators and accelerators

• Faculty of Information Technology, University of Moratuwa• Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology • Informatics Institute of Technology • University of Colombo School of Computing• Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology• Chartered Institute of Management Accountants• Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka• Spiralation• Xeleration• Venture Engine• Lanka Angels Network• MIT Global Startup Labs

Box 3 : Institutional adjustments in the IT-BPM sector

institutional adjustment How to implement?

Establish a high-level formal public-private dialogue.

To create a continuous public-private dialogue capable of directing IT-BPM sector development, appoint a high powered ‘IT special advisory committee’ that would be responsible to coordinate all industry development interventions.

Strengthen academia-industry links.

Increase the availability of industry-relevant workforce with technical and soft skills can be achieved through the activities such as :• Conduct an annual skill demand survey and disseminate information about top skills demanded

in the IT sector.• Organize an annual skill demand round table to present the survey findings and to give guidance

to youth and university graduates about sector needs and opportunities.• After conducting the survey and holding a series of meeting between industry and academia,

align the existing vocational training institutes and their programmes to IT industry needs.• Introduce a six-month conversion programme for arts students to guide them to IT-BPM careers.• Incentivize more on-the-job training and internships during student years.

Enhance links in the industry between small and large companies.

To ensure up-to date knowledge and experience sharing, big companies could transfer their know-how on accessing new markets and developing new products by introducing mentorship programmes and more IT events to provide business advice on product development, taxation, negotiation, pricing, etc.

Establish a dedicated iCT research centre.

To facilitate IT industry development, as well as to build links with other sectors outside the Colombo area, establish IT R&D centres at universities in three major cities ( Jaffna, Galle, Kurunegela ).

28


REGULATORY AMENDMENTS

in order to stimulate and enable sustainable growth in the iT-BPM industry, a number of regulatory amendments need to be implemented. Key adjustments to be carried out are summarized in box 4.

Box 4 : Regulation adjustments in the IT-BPM sector

Regulatory adjustments Purpose

issue the necessary guidelines for implementation of ETA 2006, including e-payment, e-signature, e-documents and tracking.

The main reason that government agencies do not use e-signatures and e-documents in electronic records, as outlined in ETA 2006, is that no central guidelines exist to enact electronic solutions at the institutional level. Easing regulations that currently restrict the operations of international payment platforms like PayPal and Stripe in Sri Lanka will allow entrepreneurs to receive overseas payments directly, and overall will enhance trade and businesses.

Allow more flexibility in labour regulations. More flexible work arrangements are needed to : • reform the compensation formula for IT businesses ( to allow for flex-

ibility in undertaking international projects ) ;• permit working hours for women after 22 :00.Shop and Office Employee Act and Section 2A of Employment of Women, young Persons, and Children, Act No. 24 of 2006.

Address restrictive foreign exchange rules. Adjust foreign exchange rules relating to overseas ESOS and permit payments in foreign currency with no mandatory deposit in a FEEA.

Simplify the procedure for obtaining a workers / occupational visa for the iT-BPM industry.

Fast track the current approval process for IT enterprises to bring in international experts, as required, by introducing necessary procedural reforms for visas at the Department of Immigration and Emigration ( DoIE ). initiate a programme similar to the French Tech Visa, a simplified, fast-track procedure for three types of international start-up founders, employees and investors.

Allow universities to establish companies and start-ups independently.

Allow universities to establish companies and start-ups independently and facilitate those companies in individually applying for bids and contracts and in leveraging their research through commercialization and entrepreneurship.Universities Act, No. 16 of 1978

Ease regulatory constraints relating to closing down a business and the overall cost of doing business.

Reduce the business closing fee and directors’ personal liability. Sections 266 and 319 of the Companies Act No. 7 of 2007

Align the Sri Lankan regulatory framework with global requirements for data protection ( data classification, encryption, and intermediaries’ liability ).

Provide sufficient data protection standards to meet the requirements of the European GDPR and global requirements for data protection ( data classification, encryption and intermediaries’ liability ) so companies may offer their services in EU countries without obstacle.

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

To provide favourable conditions for SME development as well as for bigger companies’ growth, investment in the iT-BPM sector will need to be concentrated mainly on two components. The two-track Strategy goal to grow pipe-lines of SMEs and to bring big contracts to large compa-nies will need to be supported by coordinated activities and

regulatory mechanisms that support the implementation of identified activities.

The following investment activities will help to support in-dustry growth :

29

[ THE WAy FORWARD ]

� Launch a ‘champion builder’ programme targeting ex-ponential growth firms that collectively can help boost sector export revenues by US $ 2 billion. This activity would establish a programme to provide support to five of the biggest IT-BPM champion companies. The initia-tive will be implemented by MoDSIT together with EDB and SLASSCOM. The target for the initial investment of US $ 100,000 from the national budget would be to grow exports by US $ 2 billion by 2022.

� Create a shared space ( 100,000 square feet ) for start-ups, with common facilities and support services, by converting existing government buildings under pub-lic-private partnerships. Procuring support services and facilities for start-ups is the number one condition needed to grow a pipeline of start-ups and SMEs. An initial investment of US $ 50,000 from the national budget will provide shared facilities and support services ( lower or no electricity cost or internet cost ) to offer ’plug and play‘ accelerator solutions for start-ups. The lead im-plementing agency for this initiative is the Ministry of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure ( MoTDI ).

� Establish dedicated iCT research centres. To support IT industry development in the northern, central and western provinces – and to create linkages with other sectors such as agriculture, electronics and tourism – it is important

to develop technologies, applications and methods for improving production and services. To achieve this, es-tablishment of dedicated ICT research centres at univer-sities throughout the country – starting with University of Jaffna, University of Moratuwa and University of Peradeniya – is required. Financing can come from pub-lic-private partnerships with technical support from the Ministry of Higher Education and Highways ( MoHEH ) and the Ministry of Finance’s ( MoF ) University Grants Commission ( UGC ).

� Attract foreign universities. Bringing top foreign univer-sities to set up satellite campuses in Sri Lanka will en-hance advanced skill levels and local R&D capability. Universities such as the Carnegie Mellon University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology can be tar-geted through public-private efforts.

� Set up industry representatives or business match-makers ( individual consultants or firms ) in targeted markets. Collaborating closely with embassies and the diaspora in targeted countries by establishing a network of individual consultants or firms will help to promote the industry abroad. Business matchmakers, financed through cost sharing, will prepare local and regional roadshows, place articles in newspapers and organize local briefings and B2B meetings.

Photo: ITC

30


MOVING TO ACTION

THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK

The strategic objectives define the main directions that will guide the Strategy’s implementation to achieve the vision laid out by the industry. The PoA will respond to the vision by addressing the sector’s constraints and leveraging op-portunities in a comprehensive manner. To this end, these strategic objectives will be addressed :

Support investment and exports in the IT-BPM sector through a business-enabling,

predictable and transparent policy and regulatory framework

• Enable and support the development of strong and durable Government-industry dialogue capable of steering the IT-BPM sector’s development

• Attract new contracts and investment to grow the IT-BPM industry

• Implement key regulatory changes to stimulate and enable sustainable growth of the IT-BPM industry

• Create an enabling environment to foster IP creation

• Substantially increase market outreach and targeting

• Provide financial and infrastructure support to foster more IT-BPM firms in Colombo and in the regions

• Organise a “Start-up in Sri Lanka” campaign to facilitate return of diaspora and setting up IT-BPM companies

• Increase IT-BPM awareness among youth and encourage innovation

• Increase the availability of industry-relevant talent / workforce

• Enable access to global talent

• Build a cohort of firms with exponential growth potential, currently in the second tier

• Implement a country branding programme focused on growing champion firms and the overall industry

Drive export growth through innovation and

entrepreneurship

Improve the supply of skilled highly qualified

professionals to satisfy the growing IT-BPM market

Grow champion firms (’the US$2 billion plan’)

31

[ MOViNG TO ACTiON ]

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1 : SUPPORT INVESTMENT AND EXPORTS IN THE IT-BPM SECTOR THROUGH A BUSINESS-ENABLING, PREDICTABLE AND TRANSPARENT POLICY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Creating an efficient business and policy environment for enterprises is a first step for the future growth of the IT-BPM sector. Identifying areas for improvement in order to create an enabling environment, as well as having a formal frame-work and improving sector institutional coordination to direct industry development, will be achieved through continuous public-private dialogue. This strategic objective has four op-erational objectives :

� Enable and support the development of strong and du-rable Government-industry dialogue capable of steering IT-BPM sector development.

� Attract new contracts and investment for growing the IT-BPM industry.

� Implement key regulatory changes to stimulate and en-able sustainable growth of the IT-BPM industry.

� Create an enabling environment for fostering IP creation.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2 : DRIVE EXPORT GROWTH THROUGH INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP This strategic objective tackles the lack of infrastructure and of financial and promotional support for start-ups and SMEs to boost their expansion. It covers activities that can improve outreach and business development by firms in national and international markets. At the same time, industry branding and promotional campaigns would increase industry vis-ibility and market outreach. This strategic objective is com-posed of three operational objectives, namely :

� Substantially increase market outreach and targeting. � Provide financial and infrastructure support to foster more

IT firms in Colombo and other regions. � Organize a ‘start-up in Sri Lanka’ campaign to facilitate

the return of members of the Sri Lankan diaspora to start IT companies.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3 : IMPROVE THE SUPPLY OF SKILLED, HIGHLY QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS TO SATISFY THE GROWING IT-BPM MARKET Human capital is a core component of the industry and having highly skilled professionals will help to move sector development forward. Raising awareness about career op-portunities, bringing more students to the industry during their studies, introducing conversion programmes and bring-ing national and international experts to share their knowl-edge with youth are the main activities needed to sustain IT-BPM industry growth. To reach this strategic objective, there are three operational objectives :

� Increase IT awareness among youth and encourage innovation.

� Increase the availability of industry-relevant talent /workforce.

� Enable access to global talent.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 4 : GROW CHAMPION FIRMS ( ‘THE US $ 2 BILLION PLAN’ )Providing support and guidance to companies on brand-ing, licensing, IP and the global standards in computing that need to be met to improve their competitiveness is another important element in achieving industry growth. Institutions can provide essential intelligence on trade development and support enterprises through trainings, tools and financial as-sistance. Through the development of a country branding programme, companies will acquire adequate market entry channels and access to international partners. This strate-gic objective is composed of two operational objectives, namely :

� Build a cohort of firms that are currently in the second tier but have exponential growth potential.

� Implement a country branding programme, focused on growing champion firms.

32


IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK

The strategic development of the IT-BPM industry in Sri Lanka aims to transform the country into a global IT-BPM destination and Asia’s favourite centre of excellence. Achieving this ambitious objective will depend on the abil-ity of the industry to implement the activities defined in this IT-BPM Strategy. To structure sector development, it is rec-ommended that the following interventions be implemented as a priority :

� Create a business-enabling environment, address policy and regulatory bottlenecks swiftly and provide the neces-sary institutional support to improve marketing and pro-motion for the IT-BPM sector ;

� Launch a ‘champion builder’ programme that targets firms with exponential growth potential that can help col-lectively boost sector export revenue by US $ 2 billion ; and

� Make the industry become higher value and IP-driven.

These immediate quick win activities are necessary to initi-ate successfully the Strategy implementation and to create rapid industry growth.

MANAGING FOR RESULTS

It is the actual translation of the priorities into implementa-ble projects that will contribute to achieving the substantial increase in export earnings and export competitiveness en-visaged under the Strategy. These increases will be driven by reforming the regulatory framework, optimizing institu-tional support to exporters and strengthening private sector capacities to respond to market opportunities and challeng-es. Allocation of human, financial and technical resources is required to efficiently coordinate, implement and monitor overall implementation.

Success in the execution of activities will depend on the abil-ity of stakeholders to plan and coordinate actions in a tacti-cal manner. Diverse activities must be synchronized across public and private sector institutions to create sustainable results, and it is necessary to foster an adequate environ-ment and create an appropriate framework for its implemen-tation ( see figure 14 ).

Figure 14 : institutional framework for iT-BPM industry development

Cabinet

Investment and private sector initiatives aligned to strategic

priorities

Implementation through national institutions and

national budget Development partners’

projects

MoDSIT

EDB coordination

NES Management Unit(MODSIT)

“Advisory committee” on Information technology

Private: Nine private companies, FITIS, and SLASSCOM

Public: Board of Investment, School of Computing at the University of Colombo, Faculty of Computing at SLIIT,

University of Kelaniya, University of Moratuwa, ICT agency of Sfi Lanka, Ministry of Development Strategies and

International Trade, Export development Board

33

[ iMPLEMENTATiON FRAMEWORK ]

Key actions needed to achieve the targets will be coordinat-ing activities, monitoring progress and mobilizing resources for implementation. Industry representatives recommended that a public-private ‘special advisory committee’ for the IT-BPM industry be rapidly established, operationalized and empowered. The IT-BPM special advisory committee is to be responsible for overall coordination, provision of policy guidance and the monitoring of industry development in re-lation to the Strategy.

IT-BPM SPECIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The Export Development Act ( 1979 ) grants the EDB the au-thority : ‘On advice from the Board, the Minister may by Order in the Gazette, establish advisory committees for the devel-opment and promotion of certain products, product groups and commodities as well as functional aspects of trade.’ Additionally, ‘each such advisory committee shall have the power to fix and regulate its own procedure, including the power to determine the number of members necessary to form a quorum at its meeting.’ The advisory committees have the function ‘to advise the Board on any or all of the matters which the Minister considers necessary for the pur-poses of carrying out or giving effect to the principles and provisions of this Act.’

An IT advisory committee has been established by Minister MoDSIT to enable private sector and public institutions to strategically steer development of the ICT / BPM industry. The ICT / BPM advisory committee is composed of the fol-lowing members:

Private sector :

� Nine private companies � FITIS � SLASSCOM

Private sector :

� BOI � School of Computing, University of Colombo � Faculty of Computing, Sri Lanka Institute of Information

Technology � Department of Industrial Management, University of

Kelaniya � Department of Information Technology, University of

Moratuwa � ICTA � MoDSIT � EDB

The advisory committee is empowered to meet quarterly and implement the following functions:

i. Create a shared understanding of key market challenges and opportunities facing the sector ;

ii. Set goals and targets that, if achieved, will strengthen the sector’s competitive position and enhance Sri Lanka’s overall capacity to meet the changing demands of markets ;

iii. Propose key policy changes to be undertaken and pro-mote these policy changes among national decision makers ;

iv. Support the coordination, implementation and monitor-ing of activities in the sector by the Government, private sector, institutions or international organizations to en-sure alignment to goals and targets and, as required, contribute to resource identification and alignment.

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS FOR EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION

The presence of the advisory committee to oversee the im-plementation of the Strategy is a key success factor, but it is not sufficient to effectively fulfil its assigned functions.

Private sector support and participation in implementation

The private sector clearly expressed its willingness to con-tribute, directly or in partnership with public institutions, to the implementation of the Strategy. Their implementation ef-forts can range from providing business intelligence to in-stitutions to contributing to project design, promotion and branding, policy advocacy, etc. The private sector’s practi-cal knowledge of business operations is essential to ensur-ing that the Strategy remains aligned to market trends and opportunities.

Proactive networking and communication

The key implementing institutions detailed in the PoA need to be informed of the content of the Strategy and the impli-cations for their 2018–2022 programming. This networking and communication is essential to build further ownership and to provide institutions with the opportunity to confirm the activities they can implement in the short-to-long term. It will be important for the EDB, MoDSIT and members of the special advisory committee to reach out to relevant institu-tions nationally to create awareness of and support for the IT-BPM industry development.

34


Resources for implementation

The special advisory committee, in collaboration with the EDB and the NES Management Unit at MoDSIT, will need to leverage additional support for efficient implementation. Effective planning and resource mobilization is indispensa-ble in supporting Strategy implementation. Resource mobi-lization should be carefully planned and organized.

As the IT-BPM industry is a priority of the NES, the Govern-ment of Sri Lanka should define annual budget allocations and support to drive industry growth forward. This commit-ment will demonstrate clear engagement to strengthening the sector and will encourage private partners to support

development. In addition to national budget support, re-source identification will require the BOI to release land and to provide a shared space, with common facilities and sup-port services, for start-ups by converting existing govern-ment buildings under public-private partnerships. Investment flows to Sri Lanka also should be considered as a valua-ble driver of Strategy implementation and overall industry development.

The various implementation modalities detailed will deter-mine the success of Strategy implementation. However, high-level support from the Government, in collaboration with strong championship by the private sector, will be the real driver of successful Strategy implementation.

To achieve the vision and strategic objectives discussed, a robust, actionable and realistic strategic PoA is required. This is provided below, and constitutes the heart of this Strategy.

The PoA is structured along the four strategic objectives and their respective operational objectives. For each objective, the PoA outlines detailed activities and their implementation modalities, which include:

• Priority level: Priority 1 is the highest and 3 the lowest.• Start/end dates: The desired time frame of the activity.• Targets: Quantifiable targets that allow completion monitor-

ing of the activity during the implementation stage.

• Leading implementing partners: One single accountable lead institution per activity. (The institution can restrict itself to an oversight and coordination role but also can have a technical role.)

• Suppor ting implementing par tners: Any institution that should be involved at any stage of an activity’s implementation.

• Existing programmes or potential support: Existing initia-tives ongoing in the specified area of the activity.

• Indicative costs (US$): An estimate of the activity’s cost for the total implementation


PLAN OF ACTION 2018–2022

36


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oard

; SL

ASSC

OM; F

eder

atio

n of

Info

rmat

ion

Tech

nolo

gy

Indu

stry

; Dep

artm

ent o

f Co

mm

erce

–

1.2.

2 Hi

re a

n in

tern

atio

nal a

genc

y an

d as

sign

the

task

of

brin

ging

five

IT s

ecto

r mul

tinat

iona

ls (s

econ

d tie

r) to

es-

tabl

ish

oper

atio

ns o

r JVs

in S

ri La

nka,

with

rem

uner

atio

n ba

sed

on a

suc

cess

fee,

pai

d up

on a

chie

ving

targ

ets.

201

/04/

2018

31/0

3/20

22•

1 IT

com

pani

es

succ

essf

ully

attr

acte

d by

th

e hi

red

agen

cy p

er y

ear

Boar

d of

Inve

st-

men

t (BO

I)M

inis

try o

f Dev

elop

men

t St

rate

gies

and

Inte

rnat

iona

l Tr

ade;

Exp

ort D

evel

op-

men

t Boa

rd; S

LASS

COM

; Fe

dera

tion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

Indu

stry

50,

000

1.2.

3 Am

end

Sect

ions

266

and

319

of t

he S

ri La

nka

Com

-pa

nies

Act

, No.

7 o

f 200

7. to

eas

e re

gula

tory

con

stra

ints

re

latin

g to

clo

sing

a b

usin

ess,

par

ticul

arly

the

busi

ness

cl

osin

g fe

e an

d di

rect

ors'

pers

onal

liab

ility

,

101

/04/

2018

30/0

3/20

20Re

gula

tion

# to

ope

n an

d cl

ose

the

busi

ness

adj

uste

dM

inis

try o

f De

velo

pmen

t St

rate

gies

and

In

tern

atio

nal

Trad

e

Min

istry

of I

ndus

try a

nd

Com

mer

ce; M

inis

try o

f Fi

nanc

e; S

LASS

COM

; Fed

-er

atio

n of

Info

rmat

ion

Tech

-no

logy

Indu

stry

; Sri

Lank

a Re

gist

rar o

f Com

pani

es

–

1.3:

Impl

emen

t ke

y re

gula

tory

ch

ange

s to

st

imul

ate

and

enab

le s

usta

inab

le

grow

th o

f the

IT

indu

stry

1.3.

1 Pr

ovid

e in

form

atio

n se

ssio

ns to

SM

Es a

nd s

tart-

ups

on th

e av

aila

ble

inst

rum

ents

to re

ceiv

e fo

reig

n pa

ymen

ts

and

exch

ange

mon

ey d

igita

lly, s

uch

as B

usin

ess

Fore

ign

Curre

ncy

Acco

unts

(BFC

A) a

nd E

lect

roni

c Fu

nd Tr

ansf

er

Card

. Add

ition

ally

, dev

elop

of a

dditi

onal

inst

rum

ents

to

faci

litat

e th

e ex

chan

ge o

f mon

ey d

igita

lly.

101

/04/

2018

30/0

3/20

20•

Sens

itiza

tion

and

info

rmat

ion

sess

ions

co

mpl

eted

• Ne

w in

stru

men

ts

deve

lope

d

Cent

ral B

ank

of

Sri L

anka

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

i-ca

tion

Tech

nolo

gy A

genc

y (IC

TA);

SLAS

SCOM

; Fe

dera

tion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

Indu

stry

10,

000

1.3.

2 Is

sue

the

nece

ssar

y gu

idel

ines

for i

mpl

emen

tatio

n of

ETA

200

6 to

fully

ena

ble

e-pa

ymen

t, e-

sign

atur

e, e

-do

cum

ents

and

trac

king.

201

/04/

2018

30/0

3/20

20Pr

ovis

ion

of th

e “E

lect

roni

c Tr

ansa

ctio

ns A

ct, N

o. 1

9 of

20

06”

(ETA

200

6) im

ple-

men

ted

Min

istry

of T

el-

ecom

mun

ica-

tion

and

Digi

tal

Infra

stru

ctur

e

Cent

ral B

ank

of S

ri La

nka;

In

form

atio

n an

d Co

mm

uni-

catio

n Te

chno

logy

Age

ncy

(ICTA

); M

inis

try o

f Jus

tice

–

37

[ PLAN OF ACTiON 2018–2022 ]

Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ives

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tivity

Prio

rity

Star

t dat

eEn

d da

teTa

rget

sLe

adin

g im

plem

entin

g pa

rtne

rs

Supp

ortin

g im

plem

entin

g pa

rtne

rsIn

dica

tive

cost

s (U

SD)

1: S

uppo

rt

inve

stm

ent

and

expo

rts

in th

e IT

-BPM

se

ctor

thro

ugh

a bu

sine

ss-

enab

ling,

pr

edic

tabl

e an

d tra

nspa

rent

pol

icy

and

regu

lato

ry

fram

ewor

k.

1.3:

Impl

emen

t ke

y re

gula

tory

ch

ange

s to

st

imul

ate

and

enab

le s

usta

inab

le

grow

th o

f the

IT

indu

stry

1.3.

3 Al

low

mor

e fle

xibili

ty in

labo

ur re

gula

tions

, spe

cifi-

cally

to:

• Re

form

the

com

pens

atio

n fo

rmul

a fo

r IT

busi

ness

es (t

o al

low

flexib

ility

in u

nder

takin

g in

tern

atio

nal p

roje

cts)

; an

d•

Perm

it wo

rkin

g ho

urs

for w

omen

afte

r 22:

00, b

y am

endi

ng th

e Sh

op a

nd O

ffice

Em

ploy

ees

Act,

No. 1

5 of

19

54 a

nd S

ectio

n 2A

of E

mpl

oym

ent o

f Wom

en, Y

oung

Pe

rson

s an

d Ch

ildre

n Ac

t, No

. 24

of 2

006.

201

/04/

2019

31/1

2/20

22

Depa

rtmen

t of

Labo

ur

The

Empl

oyer

s' Fe

dera

tion

of C

eylo

n; S

LASS

COM

; Fe

dera

tion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

Indu

stry

–

1.3.

4 Pr

ovid

e in

form

atio

n se

ssio

ns to

SM

Es a

nd s

tart-

ups

on: f

orei

gn e

xcha

nge

rule

s (in

clud

ing

thos

e re

latin

g to

ov

erse

as E

SOS)

for s

tart-

ups

and

digi

tal e

ntre

pren

eurs

, and

pa

ymen

ts in

fore

ign

curre

ncy

with

no

man

dato

ry d

epos

it on

FE

EA. T

his

follo

ws p

assi

ng o

f For

eign

Exc

hang

e Ac

t, No

12

of 2

017.

As

requ

ired,

dev

elop

of a

dditi

onal

inst

rum

ents

to

faci

litat

e th

e fo

reig

n ex

chan

ge tr

ansa

ctio

ns.

101

/04/

2018

30/0

3/20

20•

Info

rmat

ion

sess

ions

pr

ovid

ed•

Addi

tiona

l ins

trum

ents

de

fined

and

pro

mot

ed

Cent

ral B

ank

of

Sri L

anka

Min

istry

of D

evel

opm

ent

Stra

tegi

es a

nd In

tern

atio

nal

Trad

e; E

xpor

t Dev

elop

men

t Bo

ard;

SLA

SSCO

M

20,

000

1.3.

5 Si

mpl

ify th

e pr

oced

ure

for o

btai

ning

a w

orke

rs/o

c-cu

patio

nal v

isa

for t

he IT

-BPM

indu

stry

by

intro

duci

ng a

pr

e-ap

prov

ed, q

uota

-bas

ed s

yste

m.

201

/04/

2018

31/1

2/20

22Re

gula

tion

# a

djus

ted

To b

e fin

alize

d by

Dep

artm

ent

of Im

mig

ratio

n an

d Em

igra

tion

Boar

d of

Inve

stm

ent (

BOI);

In

form

atio

n an

d Co

mm

uni-

catio

n Te

chno

logy

Age

ncy

(ICTA

); SL

ASSC

OM;

Fede

ratio

n of

Info

rmat

ion

Tech

nolo

gy In

dust

ry

–

1.3.

6 In

trodu

ce a

men

dmen

ts to

faci

litat

e th

e es

tabl

ish-

men

t of s

pin-

off c

ompa

nies

and

sta

rt-up

s to

spu

r res

earc

h co

mm

erci

aliza

tion

in s

tate

uni

vers

ities

and

to a

llow

them

to

func

tion

inde

pend

ently

of c

urre

nt u

nive

rsity

regu

latio

ns.

201

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

19UG

C Ac

t am

ende

dM

inis

try o

f Hi

gher

Edu

ca-

tion

and

High

-wa

ys

Univ

ersi

ty G

rant

s Co

m-

mis

sion

–

1.4:

Cre

ate

enab

ling

envi

ronm

ent

for f

oste

ring

IP

crea

tion.

1.4.

1 Fa

st tr

ack

the

spee

d/pr

oces

ses

of g

rant

ing

IP re

gis-

tratio

n by

the

Natio

nal I

ntel

lect

ual P

rope

rty O

ffice

(NIP

O)

and

impr

ove

the

awar

enes

s an

d gu

idan

ce p

rovi

ded

by N

IPO

rega

rdin

g IP

cre

atio

n, a

pplic

atio

n fil

ing

and

regi

stra

tion.

201

/04/

2019

31/1

2/20

19•

IP a

pplic

atio

n pr

oces

sing

tim

e re

duce

d by

50%

• 2

guid

ance

and

aw

aren

ess

sess

ions

on

IP a

pplic

atio

n an

d fil

ing

cond

ucte

d an

nual

ly

Natio

nal I

ntel

-le

ctua

l Pro

perty

Of

fice

Expo

rt De

velo

pmen

t Boa

rd;

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

i-ca

tion

Tech

nolo

gy A

genc

y (IC

TA);

SLAS

SCOM

; Fe

dera

tion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

Indu

stry

40,

000

1.4.

2 Pr

ovid

e tra

inin

g to

com

pani

es o

n IP

in c

onne

ctio

n wi

th b

rand

ing

activ

ities

and

esp

ecia

lly o

n ce

rtific

atio

n m

arks

. Offe

r tra

inin

g to

SLA

SSCO

M a

nd F

ITIS

sta

ff. S

uppo

rt al

l the

men

tione

d in

stitu

tions

to d

evel

op g

uida

nce

and

ser-

vice

s fo

r ind

ustry

repr

esen

tativ

es. L

ink

to 1

.4.1

201

/04/

2018

31/0

3/20

221

train

ing

to b

e co

nduc

ted

annu

ally

to a

ll th

e in

stitu

-tio

ns

Natio

nal I

ntel

-le

ctua

l Pro

perty

Of

fice

Expo

rt De

velo

pmen

t Boa

rd;

SLAS

SCOM

; Fed

erat

ion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

In

dust

ry

50,

000

38


Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ives

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tivity

Prio

rity

Star

t dat

eEn

d da

teTa

rget

sLe

adin

g im

plem

entin

g pa

rtne

rs

Supp

ortin

g im

plem

entin

g pa

rtne

rsIn

dica

tive

cost

s (U

SD)

2: D

rive

expo

rt

grow

th th

roug

h in

nova

tion

and

entre

pren

eurs

hip.

2.1:

Sub

stan

tially

In

crea

se m

arke

t ou

treac

h an

d tra

getin

g

2.1.

1 In

trodu

ce s

truct

ured

mec

hani

sm to

hav

e at

leas

t two

B2

Bs a

nd ta

rget

ed m

atch

-mak

ing

mee

tings

per

indu

stry

se

gmen

t per

yea

r on

both

loca

l and

inte

rnat

iona

l lev

els.

B2

B m

eetin

gs m

ust b

e ve

ry fo

cuse

d an

d we

ll-st

ruct

ured

an

d cr

oss-

subs

idiza

tion

fund

ing

shou

ld b

e en

able

d, in

-cl

udin

g a

trans

pare

nt m

echa

nism

to u

tilize

the

fund

s in

a

timel

y m

anne

r.

The

mai

n fu

ndin

g ag

ency

for t

his

activ

ity w

ill b

e ED

B/M

oDSI

T. Th

e bu

dget

s se

t for

this

wou

ld b

e fo

r adm

inis

tra-

tion.

Eac

h of

the

mar

ketin

g ev

ents

wou

ld re

quire

add

ition

al

fund

ing.

The

spe

cific

mar

kets

are

in d

iscu

ssio

n.

101

/04/

2018

31/1

2/20

22•

B2B

mec

hani

sm o

n ho

w to

con

duct

the

mee

ting

deve

lope

d;•

Resu

lts o

f mee

tings

m

onito

red

SLAS

SCOM

Min

istry

of F

orei

gn A

ffairs

; Ex

port

Deve

lopm

ent B

oard

; Fe

dera

tion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

Indu

stry

30,

000

2.1.

2 Se

t up

indu

stry

repr

esen

tativ

es o

r bus

ines

s m

atch

-m

aker

s (in

divi

dual

con

sulta

nts

or fi

rms)

in ta

rget

ed m

arke

ts

(sta

rting

with

Aus

tralia

, New

Zea

land

, Sca

ndin

avia

, Uni

ted

King

dom

, EU,

Uni

ted

Stat

es, C

anad

a, J

apan

and

the

Mid

dle

East

) thr

ough

cos

t sha

ring

by E

DB a

nd D

oC a

nd c

olla

bo-

rate

clo

sely

with

em

bass

ies

and

the

Sri L

anka

n di

aspo

ra in

ta

rget

ed c

ount

ries.

Bus

ines

s m

atch

mak

ers’

resp

onsi

bilit

ies

incl

ude,

but

will

not

be

not l

imite

d to

:

• Or

gani

zing

loca

l ana

lyst

brie

fings

;•

Plac

ing

artic

les

in lo

cal/r

egio

nal m

edia

;•

Prep

arin

g lo

cal/r

egio

nal r

oads

hows

and

mis

sion

s; a

nd•

Esta

blis

hing

a n

etwo

rk w

ith th

e lo

cal d

iasp

ora.

201

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

2110

B2B

mee

tings

per

indu

s-try

seg

men

t in

targ

eted

mar-

ket a

re o

rgan

ised

by

indu

stry

re

pres

enta

tive

year

ly

Expo

rt De

velo

p-m

ent B

oard

Min

istry

of F

orei

gn A

ffairs

; SL

ASSC

OM 5

0,00

0

2.1.

3 Bu

ild c

apac

ities

in o

vers

eas

fore

ign

mis

sion

s fo

r pr

omot

ion

and

proa

ctiv

e in

vest

or ta

rget

ing

in ta

rget

ed

mar

ket b

y:

• Or

gani

zing

train

ing

of c

omm

erci

al a

ttach

és a

nd tr

ade

prom

otio

n of

ficia

ls in

key

targ

et m

arke

ts to

col

lect

, an

alys

e an

d di

ssem

inat

e tra

de in

form

atio

n; a

nd•

Activ

ely

invo

lvin

g IT-

BPM

indu

stry

repr

esen

tativ

e in

ou

twar

d m

issi

ons

and

trade

sho

ws).

101

/04/

2018

31/1

2/20

20•

Ccom

mer

cial

atta

chés

in

key

targ

et m

arke

ts tr

aine

d;•

prom

otio

nal p

acka

ge

targ

eted

at c

usto

mer

for

com

mer

cial

atta

chés

de

velo

ped;

• 10

exa

mpl

e ca

se

stud

ies

and

test

imon

ials

de

velo

ped

(by

loca

l ed

itor)

Expo

rt De

velo

p-m

ent B

oard

Min

istry

of F

orei

gn A

ffairs

; SL

ASSC

OM; D

epar

tmen

t of

Com

mer

ce

30,

000

2.1.

4 Tr

ain

SMEs

on

best

pra

ctic

es in

bra

ndin

g, s

ales

and

pr

omot

ion

stra

tegy

, and

app

ly th

e ne

w br

andi

ng s

trate

gy,

deve

lope

d by

the

Asia

n De

velo

pmen

t Ban

k (A

DB)/P

ricew

a-te

rhou

seCo

oper

s’ (P

wC) p

roje

ct, t

o ad

apt a

nd im

prov

e th

eir

mar

ketin

g co

mm

unic

atio

ns m

ater

ials

and

to b

uild

cap

ac-

ity in

sel

ecte

d in

divi

dual

firm

s to

pro

mot

e th

e ne

w br

and

posi

tioni

ng to

cus

tom

ers.

Thi

s ca

n be

com

plet

ed th

roug

h wo

rksh

ops

and

clin

ics

with

indi

vidu

al fi

rms

on b

rand

ing,

sa

les

train

ing

and

com

plem

ent t

he d

esig

n of

mar

ketin

g pl

ans

with

impr

oved

com

mun

icat

ion

stra

tegi

es.

101

/04/

2018

31/1

2/20

19•

Wor

ksho

ps o

n be

st

prac

tices

in b

rand

ing

– m

arke

ting

com

mun

icat

ion

for S

MEs

con

duct

ed;

• Ad

viso

ry o

n ho

w to

im

prov

e m

arke

ting

com

mun

icat

ion

mat

eria

ls

thro

ugh

clin

ics

with

se

lect

ed in

divi

dual

firm

s pr

ovid

ed;

• Se

ctor

leve

l prin

ted

mar

ketin

g m

ater

ials

for

sele

cted

firm

ada

pted

and

im

prov

ed.

Expo

rt De

velo

p-m

ent B

oard

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

i-ca

tion

Tech

nolo

gy A

genc

y (IC

TA);

SLAS

SCOM

; Fe

dera

tion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

Indu

stry

100

,000

39


Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ives

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tivity

Prio

rity

Star

t dat

eEn

d da

teTa

rget

sLe

adin

g im

plem

entin

g pa

rtne

rs

Supp

ortin

g im

plem

entin

g pa

rtne

rsIn

dica

tive

cost

s (U

SD)

2: D

rive

expo

rt

grow

th th

roug

h in

nova

tion

and

entre

pren

eurs

hip.

2.2:

Pro

vide

fin

anci

al a

nd

infra

stru

ctur

al

supp

ort t

o fo

ster

m

ore

IT fi

rms

in

Colo

mbo

and

in

the

regi

ons.

2.2.

1 Es

tabl

ish

dedi

cate

d IC

T re

sear

ch c

entre

s at

uni

vers

i-tie

s th

roug

hout

the

coun

try, s

tarti

ng w

ith th

e Un

iver

sity

of

Jaffn

a, U

nive

rsity

of M

orat

uwa

and

Univ

ersi

ty o

f Per

aden

iya

to s

uppo

rt IT

indu

stry

dev

elop

men

t in

the

north

ern,

cen

tral

and

west

ern

prov

ince

s an

d cr

eate

link

s to

the

agric

ultu

ral

sect

or (i

.e. A

g-Te

ch) i

n pr

ovin

ces

to d

evel

op te

chno

logi

es,

appl

icat

ions

and

met

hods

to im

prov

e yi

elds

.

201

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

21IC

T Re

sear

ch C

entre

at U

ni-

vers

ity o

f Jaf

fna,

Uni

vers

ity

of M

orat

uwa,

Uni

vers

ity o

f Pe

rade

niya

esta

blis

hed

Min

istry

of

High

er E

duca

-tio

n an

d Hi

gh-

ways

Min

istry

of F

inan

ce; U

ni-

vers

ity o

f Mor

atuw

a; U

ni-

vers

ity o

f Per

aden

iya;

Uni

-ve

rsity

of J

affn

a; U

nive

rsity

Gr

ants

Com

mis

sion

100

,000

2.2.

2 Ho

ld 'b

usin

ess

clin

ics

for I

T st

art-u

ps' in

thre

e m

ajor

ci

ties

(Jaf

fna,

Gal

le, K

urun

egel

a) tw

ice

a ye

ar to

pro

vide

bu

sine

ss s

ervi

ces

and

advi

ce o

n co

ntra

cts,

neg

otia

tion,

pr

icin

g, la

bour

regu

latio

ns, t

axat

ion,

etc

. To

be im

plem

ent-

ed b

y SL

ASSC

OM/F

ITIS

.

201

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

21'B

usin

ess

Clin

ics

for I

T St

art-u

ps' in

3 m

ajor

citi

es

orga

nise

d tw

ice

a ye

ar.

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

ica-

tion

Tech

nolo

gy

Agen

cy (I

CTA)

Expo

rt De

velo

pmen

t Boa

rd;

SLAS

SCOM

; Fed

erat

ion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

In

dust

ry

150

,000

2.2.

3 Cr

eate

a s

hare

d sp

ace

(100

000

squ

are

feet

) for

st

art-u

ps b

y co

nver

ting

exis

ting

gove

rnm

ent b

uild

ing.

Sh

ared

spa

ce to

pro

vide

:

• Fl

exib

le le

asin

g op

tions

that

invo

lve

min

imal

co

mm

itmen

t;•

High

-spe

ed In

tern

et a

nd b

usin

ess

cent

re s

ervi

ces;

and

• Co

nfer

ence

room

s.

A fir

st s

tep

is fo

r the

Gov

ernm

ent t

o pr

ovid

e th

e fa

cili-

ties

and

thro

ugh

a te

nder

pro

cess

let m

anag

emen

t of t

his

shar

ed s

pace

to S

LASS

COM

.

101

/04/

2018

31/1

2/20

19A

land

for s

hare

d sp

ace/

faci

litie

s fo

r sta

rt-up

s pr

o-vi

ded

Min

istry

of T

el-

ecom

mun

ica-

tion

and

Digi

tal

Infra

stru

ctur

e

Min

istry

of D

evel

opm

ent

Stra

tegi

es a

nd In

tern

atio

nal

Trad

e; M

inis

try o

f Fin

ance

; In

form

atio

n an

d Co

mm

uni-

catio

n Te

chno

logy

Age

ncy

(ICTA

); SL

ASSC

OM;

Fede

ratio

n of

Info

rmat

ion

Tech

nolo

gy In

dust

ry

100

,000

2.2.

4 En

hanc

e fin

anci

al s

uppo

rt fo

r ear

ly -s

tage

IT s

tart-

up

com

pani

es u

nder

the

‘spi

rala

tion’

pro

gram

me,

pro

vidi

ng u

p to

LKR

2 m

illio

n ea

ch fo

r 50

com

pani

es.

201

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

22Gr

ants

for 5

0 st

art-u

ps to

su

bsid

ise

infra

stru

ctur

e,

capa

city

bui

ldin

g, b

usin

ess

deve

lopm

ent p

rovi

ded

year

ly

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

ica-

tion

Tech

nolo

gy

Agen

cy (I

CTA)

Min

istry

of D

evel

opm

ent

Stra

tegi

es a

nd In

tern

atio

nal

Trad

e; M

inis

try o

f Fin

ance

; Ex

port

Deve

lopm

ent B

oard

500

,000

2.3:

Org

anize

a

‘Sta

rt-u

p in

Sri

Lank

a’ c

ampa

ign

to fa

cilit

ate

retu

rn

of m

embe

rs o

f th

e Sr

i Lan

kan

dias

pora

and

se

tting

up

of IT

co

mpa

nies

.

2.3.

1 In

clud

e fa

st tr

ackin

g of

vis

as a

nd o

ther

resi

denc

y re

quire

men

ts to

attr

act m

embe

rs o

f the

Sri

Lank

an d

iasp

ora

to c

reat

e IT

sta

rt-up

com

pani

es a

nd p

rom

ote

thes

e op

por-

tuni

ties

abro

ad (l

inke

d to

2.1

.2).

201

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

21•

Fast

trac

king

visa

for

dias

pora

impl

emen

ted;

• Pr

omot

ion

to d

iasp

ora

of

busi

ness

opp

ortu

nitie

s th

roug

h so

cial

med

ia a

nd

othe

r com

mun

icat

ion

chan

nels

com

plet

ed

Min

istry

of T

el-

ecom

mun

ica-

tion

and

Digi

tal

Infra

stru

ctur

e

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

i-ca

tion

Tech

nolo

gy A

genc

y (IC

TA);

SLAS

SCOM

; De-

partm

ent o

f Im

mig

ratio

n an

d Em

igra

tion;

Fed

erat

ion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

In

dust

ry; S

ri La

nka

Regi

s-tra

r of C

ompa

nies

; Dep

art-

men

t of C

omm

erce

20,

000

3: Im

prov

e su

pply

of s

kille

d,

high

ly q

ualif

ied

prof

essi

onal

s to

sa

tisfy

gro

win

g IT

-BPM

mar

ket

grow

th.

3.1:

Incr

ease

IT

aw

aren

ess

amon

g yo

uth

and

enco

urag

e in

nova

tion.

3.1.

1 Co

nduc

t IT

awar

enes

s ev

ents

in a

ll pr

ovin

ces,

sta

rting

wi

th s

even

citi

es (G

alle

, Mat

ara,

Rat

hnap

ura,

Kur

uneg

ala,

An

urad

hapu

ra, B

attic

aloa

, and

Ban

dara

wela

) to

rais

e aw

are-

ness

abo

ut IT

indu

stry

car

eers

opp

ortu

nitie

s.

001

/04/

2018

31/1

2/20

22•

Year

ly e

vent

s fo

r IT

Care

ers

Awar

enes

s in

the

regi

ons

cond

ucte

d

Expo

rt De

velo

p-m

ent B

oard

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

i-ca

tion

Tech

nolo

gy A

genc

y (IC

TA);

SLAS

SCOM

; Fe

dera

tion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

Indu

stry

20,

000

3.1.

2 Sh

owca

se th

e Sr

i Lan

kan

IT in

dust

ry b

ased

on

ex-

istin

g di

gita

l con

tent

and

pro

mot

e in

a ta

rget

ed m

anne

r th

roug

h so

cial

med

ia a

nd w

ebsi

tes

to ra

ise

awar

enes

s ab

out i

ndus

try im

porta

nce.

To b

e im

plem

ente

d by

SLA

SS-

COM

/FIT

IS.

001

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

22•

6 Sh

ow c

ases

and

su

cces

s st

orie

s pe

r yea

r pu

blis

hed

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

ica-

tion

Tech

nolo

gy

Agen

cy (I

CTA)

Expo

rt De

velo

pmen

t Boa

rd;

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

i-ca

tion

Tech

nolo

gy A

genc

y (IC

TA);

SLAS

SCOM

; Fe

dera

tion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

Indu

stry

50,

000

40


Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ives

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tivity

Prio

rity

Star

t dat

eEn

d da

teTa

rget

sLe

adin

g im

plem

entin

g pa

rtne

rs

Supp

ortin

g im

plem

entin

g pa

rtne

rsIn

dica

tive

cost

s (U

SD)

3: Im

prov

e su

pply

of s

kille

d,

high

ly q

ualif

ied

prof

essi

onal

s to

sa

tisfy

gro

win

g IT

-BPM

mar

ket

grow

th.

3.2:

Incr

ease

th

e av

aila

bilit

y of

in

dust

ry-r

elev

ant

tale

nt/w

orkf

orce

.

3.2.

1 Co

nduc

t, pu

blis

h an

d di

ssem

inat

e th

e fin

ding

s an

d ke

y m

essa

ges

of a

n an

nual

sur

vey

of th

e to

p 10

skil

ls d

e-m

ande

d in

the

IT s

ecto

r to

give

gui

danc

e to

you

th a

nd u

ni-

vers

ity g

radu

ates

on

sect

or n

eeds

and

opp

ortu

nitie

s.

201

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

22•

Surv

ey fi

ndin

g of

10

skill

s de

man

ded

in IT

sec

tor

publ

ishe

d ye

arly

• M

edia

IT C

aree

rs

Awar

enes

s Ca

mpa

ign

held

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

ica-

tion

Tech

nolo

gy

Agen

cy (I

CTA)

Min

istry

of E

duca

-tio

n; M

inis

try o

f Hig

her

Educ

atio

n an

d Hi

ghwa

ys;

SLAS

SCOM

; Fed

erat

ion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

In

dust

ry; U

nive

rsity

Gra

nts

Com

mis

sion

20,

000

3.2.

2 In

col

labo

ratio

n wi

th S

LASS

COM

, im

plem

ent a

n IT

ca

reer

s aw

aren

ess

cam

paig

n on

sta

te m

edia

targ

etin

g pa

r-en

ts a

nd te

ache

rs.

201

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

22M

edia

IT C

aree

rs A

ware

ness

Ca

mpa

ign

held

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

ica-

tion

Tech

nolo

gy

Agen

cy (I

CTA)

Min

istry

of E

duca

tion;

M

inis

try o

f Hig

her E

duca

-tio

n an

d Hi

ghwa

ys; E

xpor

t De

velo

pmen

t Boa

rd;

SLAS

SCOM

; Fed

erat

ion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

In

dust

ry

20,

000

3.2.

3 Co

mm

issi

on a

n em

ploy

abili

ty s

urve

y wi

thin

the

SLAS

SCOM

HR

Foru

m to

iden

tify

a m

eans

to g

ive

feed

back

to

uni

vers

ities

and

facu

lties

. Con

duct

an

annu

al s

kill d

e-m

and

roun

d ta

ble

in w

hich

find

ings

of s

urve

y an

d in

dust

ry

trend

s ar

e co

nvey

ed to

uni

vers

ities

and

oth

er e

duca

tiona

l in

stitu

tes

and

step

s fo

rwar

d ar

e id

entif

ied

to m

eet t

hose

ne

eds.

Alig

n th

e ex

istin

g vo

catio

nal t

rain

ing

inst

itute

s an

d th

eir

prog

ram

mes

to IT

indu

stry

nee

ds.

001

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

22•

Year

ly ro

und

tabl

e co

nduc

ted;

• Re

com

men

datio

ns to

m

eet i

ndus

try n

eeds

co

nclu

ded

IT p

rogr

ams

for T

VET

deve

lope

d

SLAS

SCOM

Min

istry

of H

ighe

r Edu

ca-

tion

and

High

ways

; Min

is-

try o

f Skil

ls D

evel

opm

ent

and

Voca

tiona

l Tra

inin

g;

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

i-ca

tion

Tech

nolo

gy A

genc

y (IC

TA)

50,

000

3.2.

4 In

itiat

e a

prog

ram

me

to in

crea

se th

e nu

mbe

r of I

T re

-la

ted

grad

uate

s by

18,

000

over

the

next

four

yea

rs (m

ix of

fre

e an

d fe

e-le

vyin

g). T

his

can

be a

chie

ved

by:

• Ex

pend

ing

capa

city

in u

nive

rsiti

es;

• In

trodu

cing

dis

tanc

e le

arni

ng p

rogr

amm

es; a

nd

• De

velo

ping

Ope

n Un

iver

sity

con

cept

lect

ures

onl

ine.

201

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

22Pr

ogra

mm

e to

incr

ease

the

num

ber o

f IT

grad

uate

s is

in

trodu

ced

and

appl

ied

Min

istry

of

High

er E

duca

-tio

n an

d Hi

gh-

ways

Min

istry

of S

kills

Dev

el-

opm

ent a

nd V

ocat

iona

l Tr

aini

ng; V

ocat

iona

l Tra

in-

ing

Auth

ority

of S

ri La

nka;

SL

ASSC

OM; F

eder

atio

n of

Info

rmat

ion

Tech

nolo

gy

Indu

stry

200

,000

3.2.

5 Th

roug

h pu

blic

-priv

ate

partn

ersh

ips,

brin

g in

top

for-

eign

uni

vers

ities

to s

et u

p sa

telli

te c

ampu

ses

in S

ri La

nka

to e

nhan

ce a

dvan

ced

skill

leve

ls a

nd lo

cal R

&D

capa

bilit

y (C

arne

gie

Mel

lon

Univ

ersi

ty, M

assa

chus

etts

Inst

itute

of

Tech

nolo

gy, e

tc.).

201

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

21•

2 fo

reig

n un

iver

sitie

s re

ache

d pe

r yea

r•

1 un

iver

sity

attr

acte

d

Boar

d of

Inve

st-

men

t (BO

I)•

EDBT

reas

ury;

SL

ASSC

OM; P

olic

y De

velo

pmen

t Offi

ce o

f th

e Pr

ime

Min

iste

r’s

Offic

e; U

nive

rsity

Gra

nts

Com

mis

sion

50,

000

3.2.

6 In

trodu

ce a

six-

mon

th c

onve

rsio

n pr

ogra

mm

e fo

r gr

adua

tes

in d

iffer

ent d

isci

plin

e to

stu

dy fo

r IT-

BPM

ca-

reer

s (B

ache

lor o

f Arts

deg

ree

to K

PO a

nd m

anag

emen

t, Ba

chel

or o

f Sci

ence

to s

oftw

are

deve

lopm

ent a

nd h

ardw

are

engi

neer

ing)

and

dev

elop

tech

nica

l, an

alyt

ical

and

pro

fes-

sion

al s

kills

spe

cific

to th

e in

dust

ry.

101

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

22Co

nver

sion

pro

gram

is in

tro-

duce

d an

d ap

plie

d M

inis

try o

f Hi

gher

Edu

ca-

tion

and

High

-wa

ys

Min

istry

of S

kills

Dev

el-

opm

ent a

nd V

ocat

iona

l Tr

aini

ng; V

ocat

iona

l Tra

in-

ing

Auth

ority

of S

ri La

nka;

SL

ASSC

OM

100

,000

3.2.

7 Ba

sed

on M

oF re

gula

tions

and

pro

cedu

res,

incr

ease

ac

cess

to IT

trai

ning

and

deg

rees

by

prov

idin

g fin

anci

al

assi

stan

ce th

roug

h ex

istin

g st

uden

t loa

n pr

ogra

mm

e an

d in

trodu

ce a

mor

e ef

fect

ive

IT s

peci

fic s

tude

nt lo

an s

chem

e im

plem

ente

d by

sta

te b

anks

.

101

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

20IT-

spec

ific

stud

ent l

oan

sche

me

intro

duce

dDe

partm

ent o

f De

velo

pmen

t Fi

nanc

e M

oF

Min

istry

of F

inan

ce;

SLAS

SCOM

; Fed

erat

ion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

In

dust

ry; B

ank

of C

eylo

n;

Peop

le's

Bank

100

,000

41


Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ives

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tivity

Prio

rity

Star

t dat

eEn

d da

teTa

rget

sLe

adin

g im

plem

entin

g pa

rtne

rs

Supp

ortin

g im

plem

entin

g pa

rtne

rsIn

dica

tive

cost

s (U

SD)

3: Im

prov

e su

pply

of s

kille

d,

high

ly q

ualif

ied

prof

essi

onal

s to

sa

tisfy

gro

win

g IT

-BPM

mar

ket

grow

th.

3.3:

Ena

ble

acce

ss to

glo

bal

tale

nt.

3.3.

1 En

able

a tw

o-we

ek ra

pid

visa

app

rova

l to

fill t

he c

riti-

cal r

oles

from

glo

bal t

alen

t poo

l for

em

erge

ncy

case

s fo

r ro

les

that

can

not b

e fil

led

loca

lly.

101

/04/

2018

31/1

2/20

192-

week

rapi

d ap

prov

al

intro

duce

dM

inis

try o

f De

velo

pmen

t St

rate

gies

and

In

tern

atio

nal

Trad

e

Expo

rt De

velo

pmen

t Boa

rd;

SLAS

SCOM

; Fed

erat

ion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

In

dust

ry; M

inis

try o

f Int

er-

nal A

ffairs

–

3.3.

2 Fa

cilit

ate

intro

duci

ng a

sch

eme

to fa

st-tr

ack

shor

t-te

rm b

usin

ess

visa

s (w

ithin

24

hour

s) c

ater

ing

to d

isas

ter

reco

very

/bus

ines

s co

ntin

uity

ser

vice

s (in

clud

ing

allo

wing

im

med

iate

vis

as fo

r pre

-app

rove

d lis

ts (n

amed

or q

uota

-ba

sed)

.

201

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

20A

fast

-trac

k sh

ort-t

erm

bu

sine

ss v

isas

sch

eme

in

trodu

ced

Min

istry

of

Deve

lopm

ent

Stra

tegi

es a

nd

Inte

rnat

iona

l Tr

ade

Min

istry

of F

orei

gn A

ffairs

; Ex

port

Deve

lopm

ent B

oard

; De

partm

ent o

f Im

mig

ratio

n an

d Em

igra

tion

–

4: G

row

cha

mpi

on

firm

s ('t

he U

S$2

billio

n pl

an').

4.1:

Bui

ld a

co

hort

of f

irms

with

exp

onen

tial

grow

th p

oten

tial,

curr

ently

in th

e se

cond

tier

.

4.1.

1 La

unch

a 'c

ham

pion

bui

lder

' pro

gram

me

targ

etin

g ex

pone

ntia

l gro

wth

firm

s, w

ith a

pro

gram

me

man

agem

ent

offic

e, c

all f

or a

pplic

atio

ns, a

nd c

redi

ble

and

robu

st s

elec

-tio

n cr

iteria

. Thi

s pr

ogra

mm

e wi

ll ta

rget

two

grou

ps b

ased

on

reve

nue/

grow

th a

chie

vem

ents

:

• 20

com

pani

es w

ith U

S$20

mill

ion

in re

venu

e th

at a

im to

re

ach

US$1

00 m

illio

n ov

er fi

ve y

ears

; and

• 50

com

pani

es w

ith U

S$2

mill

ion

in re

venu

e th

at p

lan

to

reac

h 10

mill

ion

in fi

ve y

ears

.

Follo

wing

ste

ps a

re re

quire

d to

iden

tify

the

com

pani

es a

nd

thei

r nee

ds:

• Cr

eate

a p

rogr

amm

e m

anag

emen

t offi

ce a

nd s

et u

p m

onito

ring

mod

aliti

es a

mon

g im

plem

enta

tion

partn

ers;

• Es

tabl

ish

elig

ibili

ty c

riter

ia fo

r the

sel

ectio

n of

the

com

pani

es;

• La

unch

the

surv

ey to

iden

tify

the

targ

et a

udie

nce;

• As

sess

the

resu

lts a

nd id

entif

y th

e po

ol o

f com

pani

es;

• In

terv

iew

shor

tlist

ed c

ompa

nies

to id

entif

y th

eir n

eeds

an

d pr

iorit

ies;

• De

velo

p in

divi

dual

trad

e su

ppor

t pla

n fo

r com

pani

es.

105

/04/

2018

31/1

2/20

22•

'Cha

mpi

on B

uild

er'

prog

ram

laun

ched

;•

20 c

ompa

nies

with

$20

m

illio

n re

venu

e se

lect

ed;

• 50

com

pani

es w

ith $

2 m

illio

n re

venu

e se

lect

ed;

• Ne

eds

and

prio

ritie

s of

sel

ecte

d co

mpa

nies

id

entif

ied

To b

e fin

alize

d by

Pol

icy

Deve

l-op

men

t Offi

ce o

f th

e Pr

ime

Min

-is

ter’s

Offi

ce

Min

istry

of D

evel

opm

ent

Stra

tegi

es a

nd In

tern

atio

nal

Trad

e; E

xpor

t Dev

elop

men

t Bo

ard;

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

icat

ion

Tech

nolo

gy

Agen

cy (I

CTA)

500

,000

4.1.

2 Pr

ovid

e te

chni

cal a

nd fi

nanc

ial s

uppo

rt fo

r bus

ines

s de

velo

pmen

t to

'cham

pion

bui

lder

' firm

s th

roug

h a

trans

-pa

rent

pro

cess

, nam

ely

with

:

• Ac

cess

to c

onsu

lting

ser

vice

s: m

arke

t orie

ntat

ion,

pr

oduc

t pos

ition

ing,

and

IP m

anag

emen

t; •

Skill

s an

d ca

paci

ty d

evel

opm

ent:

spec

ializ

ed tr

aini

ng

prog

ram

mes

on

disr

uptiv

e/em

ergi

ng te

chno

logi

es,

gran

ts a

nd s

ubsi

dies

for p

roce

ss c

ertif

icat

ion

and

fast

-tra

ck p

roce

ss fo

r wor

k vi

sas;

•

Mar

ketin

g an

d sa

les:

pro

mot

ion

and

adve

rtisi

ng

cam

paig

n, s

ubsi

dies

to fa

cilit

ate

trade

vis

its a

nd

mar

ketin

g m

ater

ials

; and

• As

sist

ance

with

sca

ling

for g

rowt

h: c

onsu

lting

on

mer

ger/a

cqui

sitio

n st

rate

gies

, set

ting

up jo

int v

entu

res

and

partn

ersh

ip in

targ

et m

arke

rs, i

ntro

duct

ion

to

inve

stor

s an

d co

st-e

ffect

ive

acce

ss to

offi

ce s

pace

.

101

/04/

2018

31/1

2/20

22•

Tech

nica

l and

fina

ncia

l su

ppor

t for

sel

ecte

d co

mpa

nies

to re

ach

$2

billi

on p

lan

prov

ided

To b

e fin

alize

d by

Pol

icy

Deve

l-op

men

t Offi

ce o

f th

e Pr

ime

Min

-is

ter’s

Offi

ce

Min

istry

of D

evel

opm

ent

Stra

tegi

es a

nd In

tern

atio

nal

Trad

e; E

xpor

t Dev

elop

men

t Bo

ard;

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

icat

ion

Tech

nolo

gy

Agen

cy (I

CTA)

200

,000

42


Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ives

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tivity

Prio

rity

Star

t dat

eEn

d da

teTa

rget

sLe

adin

g im

plem

entin

g pa

rtne

rs

Supp

ortin

g im

plem

entin

g pa

rtne

rsIn

dica

tive

cost

s (U

SD)

4: G

row

cha

mpi

on

firm

s ('t

he U

S$2

billio

n pl

an').

4.2:

Impl

emen

t a

coun

try b

rand

ing

prog

ram

me

focu

sed

on

grow

ing

cham

pion

fir

ms

and

the

over

all i

ndus

try

4.2.

1 De

velo

p a

bran

d fo

r the

IT-B

PM in

dust

ry a

nd p

rodu

ce

mar

ketin

g m

ater

ials

with

in th

e fra

mew

ork

of th

e IT-

BPM

Br

andi

ng Im

plem

enta

tion

Plan

(ADB

-PwC

), na

mel

y:

• De

velo

p br

and

guid

elin

es (v

isua

l ide

ntity

and

form

ats

for

visu

als

aids

);•

Rese

arch

and

dev

elop

a s

et o

f con

tent

(cas

e st

udie

s) to

be

use

d fo

r mar

ketin

g m

ater

ials

;•

Desi

gn a

nd p

rint m

arke

ting

mat

eria

ls;

• Pr

oduc

e su

ppor

ting

vide

os; a

nd•

Laun

ch a

dig

ital m

arke

ting

cam

paig

n (s

ocia

l med

ia,

sear

ch e

ngin

e op

timiza

tion

and

man

agem

ent).

101

/04/

2018

31/1

2/20

22•

IT-BM

P br

and

crea

ted;

• Co

nten

t by

sub-

sect

or

deve

lope

d an

d ed

ited;

• M

arke

ting

mat

eria

ls

desi

gned

;•

Supp

ortin

g vi

deos

pr

oduc

ed;

• Di

gita

l mar

ketin

g ca

mpa

ign

laun

ched

Expo

rt De

velo

p-m

ent B

oard

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

i-ca

tion

Tech

nolo

gy A

genc

y (IC

TA);

SLAS

SCOM

; Fe

dera

tion

of In

form

atio

n Te

chno

logy

Indu

stry

100

,000

4.2.

2 Ho

ld g

loba

l pub

lic re

latio

ns d

esig

n an

d m

anag

emen

t ca

mpa

ign

with

in th

e fra

mew

ork

of IT

-BPM

Bra

ndin

g Im

ple-

men

tatio

n Pl

an (A

DB-P

wC),

nam

ely:

• Po

sitio

n Sr

i Lan

ka in

ana

lyst

pub

licat

ions

suc

h as

Ga

rtner

and

AT

Kear

ney

by in

vitin

g an

alys

ts o

r by

fund

ing

coun

try s

uppl

emen

ts;

• Pl

ace

IT-BP

M in

dust

ry in

glo

bal b

usin

ess

and

trade

m

edia

;•

Orga

nize

ana

lyst

and

jour

nalis

t fam

iliar

izatio

n to

urs;

and

• Le

vera

ge th

e gl

obal

dia

spor

a to

pro

mot

e th

e in

dust

ry

abro

ad.

101

/04/

2018

31/1

2/20

22•

Indu

stry

pos

ition

ed a

t le

ast a

t 1 a

naly

tical

pu

blic

atio

n pe

r yea

r;•

Indu

stry

is p

lace

d in

gl

obal

bus

ines

s an

d tra

de

med

ia a

t lea

st 4

tim

es

per y

ear;

• 2

tour

s fo

r jou

rnal

ist

fam

iliar

isat

ion

held

per

ye

ar

Info

rmat

ion

and

Com

mun

ica-

tion

Tech

nolo

gy

Agen

cy (I

CTA)

Boar

d of

Inve

stm

ent (

BOI);

Ex

port

Deve

lopm

ent B

oard

; In

form

atio

n an

d Co

mm

uni-

catio

n Te

chno

logy

Age

ncy

(ICTA

); SL

ASSC

OM

200

,000

4.2.

3 Or

gani

ze in

boun

d to

urs

for c

hief

info

rmat

ion

offic

ers

from

iden

tifie

d to

p te

ch fi

rms

to s

howc

ase

tale

nts

and

skill

s an

d ex

perie

nce

the

pote

ntia

l in

Sri L

anka

thro

ugh

the

loca

l an

d re

gion

al ro

adsh

ows

and

mis

sion

s.

Targ

et th

ree

well-

prep

ared

road

show

s pe

r yea

r, e.

g.:

• 1s

t yea

r: Ja

pan,

the

Unite

d Ki

ngdo

m, A

ustra

lia a

nd N

ew

Zeal

and;

• 2n

d ye

ar: I

ndia

, Uni

ted

Stat

es, N

ordi

c co

untri

es;

• 3r

d ye

ar: G

ulf/M

iddl

e Ea

st, c

ount

ries

in th

e As

soci

atio

n of

Sou

thea

st A

sian

Nat

ions

, Ger

man

y.

201

/01/

2019

31/1

2/20

22-3

road

show

s or

gani

zed

year

ly

Expo

rt De

velo

p-m

ent B

oard

Min

istry

of F

orei

gn A

ffairs

; Bo

ard

of In

vest

men

t (BO

I);

SLAS

SCOM

450

,000

43


APPENDIX 1 : LIST OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE PUBLIC-PRIVATE CONSULTATIONS

No. Name Designation Name of the institution

1 Mr. S. Kariharakanapathy Head Of the Department/iT Advanced Technical institute

2 Mr. Thiriyambaga Sharma iT Executive Agoysoft (Pvt) Ltd

3 Mr. ishan Kannangara Director- Marketing Apps Technologies (Pvt) Ltd

4 Ms. Angela Croslin Project Analyst Asian Development Bank (ADB)

5 Mr. Udaya De Silva DGM -Business Development Bartleet Electronics (Pvt) Limited

6 Ms. Renuka Dasanayake Deputy Director(investment Appraisal)

Board of investment (BOi)

7 Mr. A.S. Subasinghe Assistant Director Board of investment (BOi)

8 Mr. S. Shanthakumar Additional Director College of Technology Jaffna

9 Mr. Asela Jayarathna Business Development Consultant EPiC Lanka (Pvt) LTD

10 Mr. Sharanyan Sharma Managing Director Extreme SEO internet Solutions

11 Dr. Kithsiri Manchanayakke Chairman Federation of iT industry Sri Lanka (FiTiS)

12 Mr. indika de Zoysa Director (Projects) information and Communication Technology Agency (iCTA)

13 Mr. Sachindra Samararatne Project Manager information and Communication Technology Agency (iCTA)

14 Mr. Nilan Thimbiripola Project Manager information and Communication Technology Agency (iCTA)

15 Ms. Lakmini Wijesundera Chief Executive Officer ironOne Technologies Pvt Ltd

16 Mr. T. Loganathan Director Jaffna College institute of Technology

17 Mr. Jeewana Waidyarathne General Manager Metatechno Lanka Company (Pvt) Ltd

18 Mr. Pubudu Basnayake OEM Director - New Market for South East Asia

Microsoft Sri Lanka

19 Mr. U G Ratnasiri Additional Secretary - Economic Affairs Ministry of National Policies & Economic Affairs

20 Mr. Waruna Dhanapala Senior Assistant Secretary (iCT for Dev) Ministry of Telecommunication & Digital infrastructure

21 Mr. R. Thirumurugan Inspection Officer National Apprentice and industrial Training Authority (NAiTA)

22 Mr. T. Thavaruban Chairman Northern Chamber of information Technology

23 Mr. y. Sharmmhik Vice Chairman Northern Chamber of information Technology

24 Mr. Upendra Pieris Vice President OreliT (Pvt) Limited

25 Mr. Jeevan Gnanam Director / CEO Orion City iT Park

26 Mr.Siddharthan Udhayakumaran Executive Assistant to CEO Orion City iT Park

27 Mr. Nishan Mendis Director - Consulting PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC)

28 Ms. Pubudini Abeyesekera-Anthonypillai

Executive Coordinator S.A. Knowledge Services (Pvt) Ltd (SAKS)Website DirectionsOrion City

29 Mr. M. Nilashan Director Satron

30 Mr. Haridhu Abeygoonaratne General Manager Sim Centric Technologies (Pvt) Ltd.

31 Mr. Ruwindu Peiris Chairman Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM)

32 Mr. Chrishan De Mel Executive Director Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM)

44


No. Name Designation Name of the institution

33 Ms. Menushika Fernandopulle Programme Manager - Tentative Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM)

34 Mr. Channa Manoharan Director Operations Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM)

35 Dr. Pradeepa Samarasinghe Head OF DepartmentDepartment of iT

Sri Lanka institute of information Technology (SLiiT)

36 Dr. Pradeep Abeyguunawardane Senior LecturerHead - Department of information Systems Engineering

Sri Lanka institute of information Technology (SLiiT)

37 Mr. Ashique Mohamed Ali Director Talliance (Pvt) Ltd

38 Mr. M.C.M. Farook Deputy Director Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

39 Mr. T.G. Premaratne Development Officer Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

40 Dr. Ruvan Weerasinghe DGM Business Development University of Colombo School of Computing

41 Dr. A. Ramanan Head Of the Department(iT) University of Jaffna

42 Dr. Janaka Wijayanayake Senior Lecturer - Department of industrial ManagementFaculty of Science

University of Kelaniya

43 Mr. Bhanu Watawana University of Kelaniya - Faculty of Science

44 Dr. Lochandaka Ranathunga Senior Lecturer - Department of information Technology

University of Moratuwa

45 Mr. Madu Ratnayake Executive Vice President Virtusa Polaris

46 Mr. E. Vijithan Assistant Director Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka

47 Mr. Vidura Gamini Abhaya Director of engineering WSO2

48 Mr. Tharmarajah Suresh Chairman/ Group CEO Zillione Holdings (Pvt) Ltd.

49 Mr. M.K.S.K. Maldeni Director – Export Services Export Development Board

50 Ms. Vajira Kularathna Assistant Director Export Development Board

51 Mr. Dinesh Aththanayaka Export Promotion Officer Export Development Board

52 Ms. Dhanushka Ruwanpathirana Export Promotion Officer Export Development Board

http://www.mrt.ac.lk/web/staff/dr-l-ranathunga

45


APPENDIX 2 : ICT SERVICES COMPLEMENTARY GROUPING ( EXTENDED BALANCE OF PAYMENTS SERVICES CLASSIFICATION ( EBOPS 2010 )

EBOPS2010

EBOPS 2010 descriptionCPCVer.2.1

CPC Ver.2.1 descriptioniSiCRev.4

iSiC Rev.4 description

9.1 Telecommunications services

841 Telephony and other telecommunications services

61 Telecommunications

842 internet telecommunications services

84631 Broadcasting services 60* Programming and broadcasting activities

9.2.1 Computer services-computer software

83143 Software originals 5820* Software publishing

8434 Software downloads

84391 On-line games

84392 On-line software

9.2.2 Computer services-Othercomputer software

8313 iT consulting and support services 6202* Computer consultancy and computer facilities management activities

83141 iT design and development services for applications

6201* Computer programming activities

83142 iT design and development services for networks and systems

6202* Computer consultancy and computer facilities management activities

8315 Hosting and information technology (iT) infrastructure provisioning services

6311* Data processing hosting and related activities

8316 iT infrastructure and network management services

6202* Computer consultancy and computer facilities management activities

8713 Maintenance and repair services of computers and peripheral equipment

9511* Repair of computers and peripheral equipment

92919* Other education and training services, n.e.c.

8549* Other education

8.3 Licenses to reproduce and/or distribute computer software

73311 Licensing services for the right to use computer software

5820* Software publishing

Note: *Partial allocation.

46


REFERENCES

A.T. Kearney ( 2012 ). Competitive Benchmarking : Sri Lanka Knowledge Services. Washington, D.C. Available from https:// www.atkearney.com/documents/10192/430128/Country_Competitiveness_Study-Sri_Lanka.pdf/7d3033a4 -5935-41d8-bf99-a1462bf7d553.

Almorsy, M., J. Grundy and I. Miller ( 2016 ). An Analysis of the Cloud Computing Security Problem. Available from htt-ps:// arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1609/1609.01107.pdf.

Heller, Peter and others ( 2016 ). An Enterprise Architect’s Guide to Big Data. Oracle Enterprise Architecture White Paper. Redwood Shores : Oracle Corporation. Available from http : // www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/entarch/articles/oea-big-data-guide-1522052.pdf

International Trade Centre ( 2017 ). SME Competitiveness Outlook 2017 : Regional Export Strategies. Geneva.

Janiesch, Christian and others ( 2017 ). The Internet-of-Things Meets Business Process Management : Mutual Benefits and Challenges. Available from https:// arxiv.org/abs/1709.03628.

MarketsandMarkets ( 2016 ). Business Process Management Market by Solution, by Service, by Deployment Type ( Cloud, On-Premises ), by Organization Size ( SMES, Enterprises ), by Business Function, by Industry Vertical, by Region ( NA, Europe, APAC, MEA, LA ) Global Forecast to 2021. Hadapsar.

Oberlaender, Anna Maria and others ( 2017 ). Conceptualising business-to-thing interactions – a sociomaterial perspective on the Internet of Things. European Journal of Information Systems. ( In press ).

OECD ( 2015 ). Data-Driven Innovation : Big Data for Growth and Well-Being. Paris : OECD Publishing. Available from http : // dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264229358-en.

OECD ( 2011 ). OECD Guide to Measuring the Information Society 2011. Paris : OECD Publishing. Available from http : // dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264113541-en

PricewaterhouseCoopers ( 2017 ). ICT/BPM in Sri Lanka – Branding GAP Analysis Report. Colombo.

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https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.03628

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264229358-en

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264113541-en

https://slasscom.lk/content/startup-sri-lanka-report

https://slasscom.lk/content/startup-sri-lanka-report

https://slasscom.lk/content/finance-and-accounting-outsourcing-sector-sri-lanka-2013

https://slasscom.lk/content/finance-and-accounting-outsourcing-sector-sri-lanka-2013

https://slasscom.lk/content/sri-lankan-it-bpm-industry-review-2014

https://slasscom.lk/content/sri-lankan-it-bpm-industry-review-2014



https://ssrn.com/abstract=2913400

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22813





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