‘Gamata Technology’ to empower entrepreneurs in rural communities

By Divya Thotawatte

Gamata Technology, a nation-wide platform created to empower young entrepreneurs in rural communities of Sri Lanka, is to be launched on 14 October at Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre, said officials recently. 

The event will be a cultivated dialogue on ‘Digital Sri Lanka’ with the participation of erudite speakers of the industry and is targeted to attract over 1,000 individuals from all parts of the country. The Gamata Technology platform is aimed at supporting technology experts and youth entrepreneurs in rural areas who lack opportunities, within an entrepreneurial environment that encourages collaboration, fosters job creation and provides connections to local and international resources, said Gamata Technology Co-Chairperson Ashan Perera at a press briefing last week. 

“The platform is an accelerator which supports young entrepreneurs, and technology experts in rural communities to discover the best of their abilities and also to provide education to make an impact to the grassroots communities. We have developed the platform to bring the best education and expertise to potential young people, the correct entrepreneurs within their own respective communities,” he said. 

Perera noted that the main objective of the nation-wide platform was to identify potential young entrepreneurs, to empower and support them and finally to recognise their efforts to the community. Gamata Technology is aimed at providing people with a comfortable platform to engage with the rapidly growing and changing technology landscape and helping communities to realise the value of what technology builds. 

“We are working towards bringing the concept of digitalisation in Sri Lanka to higher standards and increasing the crowd accepting and engaging in this digitising process. After launching the national initiative we will be carrying out programs where we will be having district level forums in all 25 districts in Sri Lanka. We will find outstanding young individuals and bring them to the national level next year,” he stated.

The platform is projected to provide exposure and advancement to technology to rural areas, so that people can communicate effectively, overcome the limitations of time and space, empower themselves by providing information and knowledge, provide income generating and learning opportunities, increase transparency and efficiency and enable people to express their concerns and to actively participate in decision making processes. Its’ role is important for the development of economy in enhancing the effectiveness of market, productivity, competitiveness as well as creating better quality of life for the public.

Paramount Realty Co-Founder and CEO Nirmal de Silva said, “A platform of this nature can achieve many objectives such as identifying hidden talent at rural level and ensuring rural empowerment programs are created to make Sri Lankans world-class. One of the challenges that we are facing in a competitive market is making Sri Lankan products and ideas world-class.” 

He said that having mere ideas or looking for a gap in the market and finding a solution would not help Sri Lankans make their produces world-class, but technology would do so. Technology is the key; it is the easiest way to move into a market, and to craft a sustainable business model.”

Sky Alliances Group Founder and CEO Siddhartha Nanayakkara stated, “In this field, we’ve been looking forward to a platform like this to promote entrepreneurship and tech entrepreneurship. With these kinds of platforms being in position, I strongly believe that we are opening more doors for people to start more businesses.”

Gamata Technology, initiated by youth-tech entrepreneurs covering every corner of Sri Lanka is a nation-wide initiative which is co-chaired by UN SDG Action Award Winner 2018, Youth Advocate, Social Entrepreneur and Founder of The Road to Rights Youth-led organisation Dr. Ashan Perera. Gamata Tech is an independent national initiative collaborated with The Road to Rights Youth-led organisation and Mithuru Mithuro Movement and is supported by Bannercuts.com and I.C.A.N Advertising a grassroots initiative which has made an impact on lives of people in over 15 districts through tech-based platforms.

Pix by Sameera Wijesinghe