IDB signs Memorandum of Understanding with FITIS

Exchanging of MoU (from left) FITIS CEO Jayasiri Amarasena, Software Chapter President Sanjaya Dayananda, FITIS Chairman Indika De Zoysa, Chairman Dr. Saranga Alahapperuma, Director General H.M.S. Samarakoon, IT Unit Assistant Director G.N. Morawakage, Legal Assistant Director S.T. Weraniyagoda, and IT Unit Enterprise Promotion Officer V. Iresh Piyatilleke

Industrial Development Board of Ceylon (IDB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federation of Information Technology (Guarantee) Ltd. (FITIS) on 18 January 2024, on expanding IDB activities into the ICT industry.

IDB currently assists micro, small, medium and large scale enterprises under twenty five industry sectors and 162 subsectors.

IDB Chairman Dr. Saranga Alahapperuma said: “This MoU will enable IDB to digitally transform these industries enabling them to contribute to the government’s digital economy initiative.”

He further emphasised the need to bring the SMEs to the digital domain to strengthen their approach towards an export-oriented economy assisted by new technology.

FITIS is the apex industry body in the ICT sector with close to 200 member companies covering different areas of ICT such as hardware and infrastructure, software, digital services, education and training, etc. FITIS conducts major annual events such as INFOTEL, Young Computer Scientist Competition, APIASIA Conference etc., to bring new technologies to Sri Lanka.

FITIS Chairman Indika De Zoysa explained the activities now being carried out by FITIS to assist the SMEs to expand and develop their business operations by adopting digital technology. One such initiative is DigiGo.lk where the digital services chapter conducts programs at district level to educate and assist SMEs to utilise digital technology. He stated that FITIS is working very closely with the Ministry of Technology in supporting the Government’s effort to expand the digital economy through the DigiEcon 2030 program.

This MoU will provide an opportunity for both IDB and FITIS to work together to digitally enable the SMEs and thereby improve and expand their businesses, thus increasing their revenue. The collaboration between IDB and FITIS will pave the way to reach the overseas market for SMEs and FITIS members under ICT as an industry section, as it is seen as a priority objective for IDB.

Chairman Dr. Saranga Alahapperuma, Director General H.M.S. Samarakoon, IT Unit Assistant Director G.N. Morawakage, Legal Assistant Director S.T. Weraniyagoda, and IT Unit Enterprise Promotion Officer V. Iresh Piyatilleke, participated from IDB at the signing of the MoU. FITIS Chairman Indika De Zoysa, Software Chapter President Sanjaya Dayananda, and CEO Jayasiri Amarasena also participated.

The purpose of this MoU is to jointly carry out activities in the areas identified for improvement, for the benefit of FITIS members and SMEs in the industry. The areas identified for collaboration include;

•  ICT as an enabler: Awareness and education, access to technology, digital skills development, and technology adoption support, etc.
•  ICT as an industry: Identify and advise on the potential skill areas, enhance human capital, promote entrepreneurship and startups, foster innovation and research, etc.

The officials of IDB and FITIS will coordinate and conduct joint workshops and industry events, to achieve the goals of this MoU.