50% of SL’s IT/BPM companies to move outside Colombo
View(s):While 95 per cent of Sri Lankan IT/BPM companies are based out of the country’s business capital, Colombo, over 80 per cent of the workforce are from other regions, according to top IT industry leader Mano Sekaram, who is also the Vice Chairman of private sector IT/BPM body SLASSCOM.
As such, one goal of SLASSCOM is to have 50 per cent of IT/BPM companies operating outside of Colombo, in other regions of Sri Lanka, in a few years, with Jaffna, Kandy and Hambantota already being identified as second tier regional hubs for IT and related fields, based on their historical significance in terms of talent pool, social conditions and other business parameters.
Also added, there are already 20 companies working out of the Northern district, from a total of over 220 IT/BPM companies island-wide. Making these comments as the launch of the Jaffna IT Week 2014, for which he is also the convener, Mr. Sekaram also signalled that, to build growth in regions outside Colombo, entrepreneurship too was necessary as the next wave of growth.
According to the launch announcement for Jaffna IT Week 2014; “The four-day event will firstly consist of a two-day ‘Future Careers’ exhibition organised by ICTA, SLASSCOM and Ministry of Education which will be held on December 3 and 4, targeting schoolchildren to educate them about the IT/BPM industry, both globally and locally, and open their eyes to the wide range of possibilities and job opportunities available within the sector.
This will be followed by a one-day workshop on ICT exports/entrepreneurship on December 5, sponsored by the EDB, targeting would-be entrepreneurs and businesses. The week will wrap up with the Jaffna IT Conference on December 6, hosted by the University of Jaffna, for IT undergraduates of State universities all across the island. It will feature a line-up of some of Sri Lanka’s leading personalities in the IT/BPM sector and aims to expose the undergraduates to the core of Sri Lanka’s IT industry, and to open up avenues and opportunities that were previously hard for them to access”. (JH)