SLASSCOM to help position Sri Lanka as key competency centre for gaming and immersive industry

SLASSCOM Board Director – Tech Forum Boshan Dayaratne

SLASSCOM Executive Director Chaminda De Silva

Technology Forum Member Akhila De Cost

In the last few decades, the gaming and immersive industry has advanced at breakneck speed with videogames and immersive having continued to evolve, thanks to technological breakthroughs like 3D graphics, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence, as does the hardware to play them. 

In fact, these technologies have been perfected to the point where it is increasingly utilised beyond entertainment, but also educating people in a variety of professions. With greater visual stimulus, creativity and technology advances, the excitement and attractiveness of these technologies will only continue to grow. The gaming industry is predicted to increase at a 9.17% annually, whilst metaverse, which brings technologies like virtual reality, a computer-generated simulation of a 3D image or environment and augmented reality, is set to play a significant role in business, with the future of work being redefined by new metaverse experiences. Additionally, with immersive technologies moving from being screen based to voice and gesture based, will also radically transform enterprises and consumer experiences. Therefore, with its substantial revenue potential, and high-quality jobs these industries will create rich opportunities for industry and national governments alike.

SLASSCOM who has been the leading catalyst for the nations IT/BPM industry, recently initiated a proactive move with the aim of positioning Sri Lanka as a key competency centre for the Gaming and immersive industry by collaborating with the Indonesian Gaming Association (AGI). 

A forum was held for companies with a particular focus on technology areas such as gaming, XR/VR, metaverse and NFT, with the primary focus of the event being to explore potential areas of collaboration and joint business development between Sri Lankan and Indonesian Companies. Accordingly, 7 companies from Sri Lanka and 6 companies from Indonesia participated in the discussion.

The event kicked off with the opening address by SLASSCOM Executive Director Chaminda De Silva outlining the association’s goal of educating the country’s future talent to be specialists of emerging technologies. This was followed by a vibrant panel of acclaimed speakers delivering their insights and thoughts on Gaming and immersive industry, it’s future outlook and the benefits and opportunities available. The speakers included SLASSCOM Forum Member Akhila De Costa who spoke on Gaming and Immersive technology industry in Sri Lanka and Universitas Multimedia Nusantara Ken N Violeta who touched on the topic of Gaming and Immersive Technology industry in Indonesia. 

Other key topics covered comprised of the latest trends of these technologies, the changing industry landscape and how these technologies will change the aspects of business and society. The speakers also examined how these technologies can be used to enhance education and learning, human productivity, skills development and training, and more. Overall, the event awakened unique insights into developing a range of gaming and immersive development platforms, whilst immersing participants in the endless possibilities of emerging global trends.

SLASSCOM Director Boshan Dayaratne explained, “The mobile technology boom in recent years has revolutionised the industry along with virtual reality and artificial intelligence, whose advances could signify an amazing new chapter for the gaming and the immersive technology industry. Today, the gaming and immersive industry is seen as an important pillar of the economy, where this upcoming sector could create many jobs in the country and generate much needed revenue. Given this context, partnerships between Sri Lanka and other nations that lead the gaming and immersive industry is an important move that will help to project our nation as a key competency centre in these technologies. As such, our collaborations with the the Indonesian Gaming Association (AGI) creates potential business opportunities and long-term investments benefiting both countries, and at the same time generates foreign currency reserves to mitigate the current US dollar crisis in Sri Lanka.

SLASSCOM Forum member Akhila De Costa added, “We hope to explore further partnerships to enable local companies to leverage technology, experience and resources of global companies while expanding access to the lucrative global gaming and immersive technology markets.

With the goal of helping Sri Lanka gain benefits from this rapidly growing industry, SLASSCOM hopes to play a key role in harnessing the talents of youth by training them to be technologically savvy in gaming and immersive technologies, foster innovation and enable access to secure international collaborations and business opportunities and overall generate substantial economic value for the country through this industry.