Being young: Start-up solutions for Sri Lanka’s ageing population
To cover-up haphazard and unplanned economic policies, policymakers appear to have made the universities in Sri Lanka the ‘scapegoat’ blaming them for producing a glut of arts graduates after following courses that are not employment oriented. Further these halls of knowledge have been gradually politicised and have lost their autonomy. However some universities have penetrated these barriers and providing focused education to undergraduates aimed at job orientation, particularly towards market orientation employing the available technologies in collaboration with the private sector. In this sphere, the Department of Commerce and Financial Management (DCFM), Faculty of Commerce and Management, Kelaniya University is no exception.
Five years ago, Dr. Nalaka Wickramasinghe of DCFM – on sabbatical leave in a Malaysian university to complete his PhD – returned to Sri Lanka and with the experience gained, geared the undergraduates of DCFM to do research with the private sector companies towards innovations and start-ups, etc in search of start-up opportunities. A new programme was created called “Young Business Technology and Entrepreneurial Researchers (YBTER)”. While from the beginning Dr. Wickramasinghe coordinated the programme, it is now handled by Dr. (Ms) Kaushalya Yatigammana. According to Dr. Wickramasinghe, the initiative is gathering momentum, undergraduates are very enthusiastic and focused and they have formed the Association of ‘Business Technology Degree Programme”.
He said that already several undergraduates have forged ahead and begun start-ups and among them is the pet plastic bottles recycling which is at the stage of obtaining patents and getting a private sector sponsor to launch the business. Since the beginning, YBTER conducts annual conferences with a theme and a competition on it. The aim of these events is, Dr Yatigammana said, to showcase the innovative and ‘technopreneurial’ skills of undergraduates reading for the BCom Special Degree in Business Technology and Entrepreneurship. The recently concluded YBTER Congress this year was based on ‘In search of Start-up opportunities in Problems of Aging.” Dr. Yatigammana said that they conducted this event for five consecutive years and found there is something missing in transforming these innovations to commercial products.
Therefore they thought of providing further training on developing their skills on start-up businesses by introducing a programme called CIE (Certified Innovative Entrepreneur) which is a professional qualification that the innovators/entrepreneurs can obtain. At the end of the CIE the undergraduate could come up with their own innovative product with a start-up business or the CIE professionals can apply for the post emerging positions such as Chief Innovation Officer, innovation executives, etc. “The CIE Programme will offer collaboration with the private sector,” Dr. Yatigammana said. She commented that YBTER is not another traditional event which produces inventions, but a programme which produces businesses that the country needs most. CIE is the newest addition to this as it gives professional qualifications for the inventors that they possess innovative and ‘technoprenurial’ skills.
The crux of the YBTER Congress is to reintroduce the available technologies which have not been successfully adopted in Sri Lanka. She pointed out that the technologies discussed in these Congresses are not unknown innovations in the world and some of them are already known and well established technologies in the market. She said that these events expect to introduce new avenues of applying available state-of-the-art technologies in Sri Lanka and discusses success stories of adoption and application of innovative technologies in different industries in other countries, where Sri Lanka has shown serious limitations in finding innovative solutions.
Earlier Congresses, she indicated have discussed transportation, business models and environmental ecology. Hence, these congress proceedings stimulate the reader’s awareness of missing technologies in Sri Lanka and allow them to rethink of best adoptive strategies to implement these technologies here, she asserted. These Congresses have also analysed vegetable and fruit supply chains. Further, aspect of discussion in YBTER Congress is to re-engineer technological development in Sri Lanka.
| University undergrads, living with and helping elders | |
| At the YBTER Congress 2016 held recently at the Kelaniya University undergraduates reading for B.Com Business Technology groups, five start-up projects were presented and among them the project ‘Easy Apartment’ won the first place. Easy Apartment – is a website which helps university students to link with elders living in large houses alone where there is a lot of empty space available. After negotiations the students would move in and instead of a rental, these students would assist and support the elders. Final year undergraduate Achala Kodippili, Team Leader of the winning team, ‘Easy Apartment’ start-up project received the trophy from Dr. Mahesh Edirisinghe, Commissioner, Inventors’ Commission who was the keynote speaker at the last event. |