ICT empowers Sri Lanka’s transformation: Reshan Dewapura

ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) Chief Operating Officer Reshan Dewapura says that the information and communication technology sector has been and will be a huge contributor in transforming Sri Lanka into a knowledge hub.

The ICTA COO made the comment while participating at the National Best Quality Software Awards (NBQSA) 2010 presentation ceremony held at Hotel Galadari, Colombo on 1 October.

The NBQSA is organised by the British Computer Society (BCS) Sri Lanka Section. As part of its endeavour to recognise quality in ICT and promote ICT, ICTA collaborates with BCS Sri Lanka Section as the National partner.

In a further move in this direction ICTA also continues this collaboration with BCS Sri Lanka Section in another ICT award – Lifetime Achievement Award in ICT industry. The Lifetime Achievement Award in ICT industry 2010 was sponsored by ICTA and the winner was Millennium IT CEO Tony Weerasinghe.

Delivering his address at the NBQSA 2010 twofold event of award presentation and NBQSA 2010 Night, Dewapura underlined the importance of the recognition of quality software for reaching targets like the global hub.

“We feel that NBQSA is an important and significant event. Every year it recognises the cream, the best of the local software industry, and the greatest of the local software products. It is important to have this recognition, as this is what spurs and motivates the industry to achieve even greater heights in the future, which we so strongly aspire for,” he said.

Referring to the transformation of Sri Lanka to a knowledge hub as envisaged in the ‘Mahinda Chinthana – Vision for the Future,’ the ICTA COO said: “It is no secret that ICT has been and will be a huge contributor to this effort. The Government itself is fully committed to the ICT sector, and with focus and great emphasis on making Sri Lanka a knowledge hub, it has placed ICT in the forefront of this development effort.”

Emphasising the synergistic value of the collaborative effort in this national programme of transforming Sri Lanka into the fivefold hub of the world as perceived in the ‘Mahinda Chintana Vision for the Future’ ICTA COO concluded: “Applications, software products and services, play a fundamental part in supporting this endeavour, and out of this, quality software is key in helping to realise this vision and achieving its objectives. Hence processes and events such as NBQSA are integral parts of this national e-Development agenda, and it has great synergies in contributing to the goals and objectives of e-Sri Lanka.”