Product innovation can strongly boost Sri Lankan IT industry
Sri Lanka’s IT industry is heading towards developing/maintaining products and providing solutions, whereas the real case should be innovation of brand new products, says Dr. Chathura De Silva, Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) of University of Moratuwa (UoM)
He made this comment to the Business Times on the sidelines of the launch of the Leapset Lounge at the university this week.
Leapset Lounge
He said, “During the last two decades the Sri Lankan IT industry has been developing products and providing solutions for the requirements of the clients (mostly abroad). Companies abroad identify a marketable problem and request Sri Lanka to design a solution to that problem. Sri Lanka has innovation but not to a large extent. Right now we are moving towards the innovation phase. If you look at the Google or Apple store, there are certain applications driven from Sri Lanka. Also everything is becoming smart and we need to look at developing new innovative applications.” Adding to that, Dr. Chathura also said that the Sri Lankan IT sector needs human capital which is not only in large numbers but quality knowledge skills. Looking at the long term this is the key area that the government needs to look into.
Within a year there is a vacuum created for 3000 to 4000 Computer Engineers. Software development is kind of a labour incentive process. “You need people who can think logically and innovative,” he noted.
Leapset, a California based disruptive technology company, are creators and developers of the Leapset Restaurant Operating System and is Sri Lanka’s foremost example of a successful US-based Silicon Valley start-up. The lounge is based on similar spaces used by leading Silicon Valley companies. The space is designed to bring students closer to Silicon Valley. It exposes them to the latest trends, is a site for tech workshops centred on innovation and functions as a brainstorming space, the goal of which is to spark new disruptive ideas and innovative patterns of thinking skills that are vital in shifting mind-sets towards disruptive product engineering and tech entrepreneurship.
Leapset General Manager, Rasika Karunatilake told the Business Times that the lounge was a long felt need since students didn’t have a proper space to brainstorm. The idea behind the lounge is to give students to enhance creativity. In order to come up with a radically new idea, space matters, he added. He also noted that there are 120 CSE students in one batch and four batches of students are expected to use the lounge every year.
Leapset continuously supports Sri Lanka’s top universities. At the UoM, Leapset mentors final year projects, conducts technical sessions for students and offers a unique internship programme based on entrepreneurship. Leapset’s technology platform is developed exclusively in Sri Lanka by a high calibre engineering team comprising of graduates from the UoM and other leading universities.
It has emerged as one of the top employers in the Sri Lankan IT industry and is expanding rapidly to meet growing demands. Having ready access to a high calibre talent pool in Colombo has allowed Leapset to develop a cutting edge technology platform, take it to the market fast and continuously expand its solution base.