SLASSCOM’s W-Tech Forum develops female entrepreneurs in rural Sri Lanka together with the Royal Norwegian Embassy

Understanding the lack of vital business and technological education has been a key hurdle that rural Sri Lanka has faced in SME development, the SLASSCOM Women Technopreneurs Forum (W-Tech Forum) in collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Embassy rolled out a program focused on developing female entrepreneurs outside the Colombo district. 

The key focus of this program is to help regional female entrepreneurs and Technopreneurs scale to the next level in their business by equipping them with skills and competencies to develop a sound and viable business plan, improve their capacity to access funding, improve their knowledge and skills in using digital platforms and gain access to one-on one mentoring. The program was facilitated in Sinhala and Tamil respectively and promoted networking within its participants, creating a base for sharing knowledge, information and insights.

Planned out and structured across several key phases, the program commenced by capturing the attention of local female entrepreneurs through SLASSCOM’s collaboration partners. This was followed by a trilingual social media campaign to raise awareness, and to identify additional developmental requirements of the program’s participants. 

The next phase consisted of a series of programs to develop the skills of participants. In parallel, they were provided insights into the digitisation of their business. In its final stage of the program which formally concluded recently at the Jetwing Colombo Seven, participants were given the opportunity to showcase as to how the program impacted their businesses as well as their future plans. 

They were also provided with awareness on connecting and collaborating with investors as well the networking opportunities represented by Lankan Angel Network & ICTA. https://youtu.be/lV1RTPhYwrQ  

The progress of the participants will be assessed to learn and improve the processes within the business, The Program will be replicated in the year 2023 as well with a fresh batch of participants. Registration link: https://bit.ly/3JskpeD 

The Sri Lanka Association of Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM) acts as a catalyst for the growth of the IT&BPM sector focusing on 5 key impact areas - talent development, global trade and investments, entrepreneurship and innovation, ESG, and policy advocacy.   While SLASSCOM looks to improve the industry to bring about increased commercial gains for the local economy, the organisation also lends itself to challenging traditional corporate and cultural practices, to provide individuals with equal opportunities and to promote a working culture void of discrimination and ignorance. 

The Women Technopreneurs Forum (W-Tech Forum) was initiated to create positive change across the tech ecosystem in Sri Lanka, to support, promote and grow women technopreneurs, startups and businesses. They intend to groom and foster the development of women with the potential to generate additional export revenue into the country of Sri Lanka.

Dissemination of pertinent business and technological education has been a key hurdle that rural Sri Lanka has faced. The country’s cultural tendencies have also held women back from pursuing business and embracing technology. The SLASSCOM W-Tech forum is challenging and tackling these issues with increasing success, as Sri Lanka charts its journey through economic development to become a more prosperous and equal nation.