State sector looking to use more Oracle technology: Harin

Digital Infrastructure, Telecommunications and Foreign Employment Minister Harin Fernando (fourth from right) and Sri Lanka Telecom Group Chairman P.G. Kumarasinghe (fourth from left) in San Francisco with Oracle officials. Others from left are SLT Group CIO and Senior GM IT Saman Perera, Oracle – Director Applications, Sri Lanka and Indochina Chandita Samaranayake, Oracle VP Applications, ASEAN Amit Suxena, ICTA Sri Lanka COO/Senior Consultant Indika De Zoysa, Oracle VP, Oracle Consultancy Services, Asia Pacific and Japan Uwe Nonnenmann and Senior Manager – Technology Dhamithra Jayasuriya

By Nisthar Cassim in San Francisco

The Government is looking at using more leading edge technological solutions from global giant Oracle including for e-procurement and enterprise resource planning.

Digital Infrastructure, Telecommunications and Foreign Employment Minister Harin Fernando, who is attending the four-day Oracle Openworld 2018 in San Francisco, told Daily FT that his officials were studying the benefits of Oracle solutions for e-procurement, for which the Government has made a commitment to roll out to boost efficiency and transparency.

He said e-procurement was part of the Government’s broader and inclusive digitalisation and connected nation strategy that includes connected government, connected schools, etc.

e-procurement is being championed by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with Fernando’s Ministry under which the ICT Agency (ICTA) plays an advisory role.

Fernando said that during the meetings with Oracle experts on the sidelines of OOW 2018 the Lankan delegation would learn more about the options for e-procurement solutions which would be useful when ICTA makes its own observations.

Additionally Oracle’s ERP solutions are being studied for use at the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau, which comes under Ferando’s purview as well. “A sound ERP solution will make the bureau more efficient to better serve migrant workers and their families as well as enable use of big data for better decision-making and programs,” Fernando pointed out.

ERP is the integrated management of core business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology.

The bureau is planning to change the standard Family Background Report (FBR) to a more comprehensive Family Background Support Service (FBSS) to better serve migrant workers and their families and will connect with other partners or support organisations.

Though it is his first time at Oracle OpenWorld, Fernando is making his fourth visit to San Francisco since being appointed as Digital Infrastructure and Telecom Minister. During his stay he will be updated with a slew of new innovations by Oracle incorporating Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Blockchain as well as smart city solutions.

The Minister and the delegation will also meet World Economic Forum officials based in San Francisco to discuss insights into the digital economy and future support.

Described as the world’s most innovative cloud technology conference, Oracle OpenWorld 2018 will see participation by over 60,000 customers and partners from 175 countries including Sri Lanka and 19 million virtual attendees. 

The event features thousands of sessions and speakers, as well as hundreds of demos and case studies to showcase unique ways that Oracle Cloud and emerging technologies like AI, Machine Learning, Blockchain, IoT, Human Interfaces and Oracle Autonomous Database are driving new business models and creating new business value.