Top IT professionals network with Northern entrepreneurs at Jaffna IT Week

Monday, 29 December 2014 00:07 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

EDB and ICTA conduct ultimate knowledge sharing session at IT/BPM Export Forum and Entrepreneurship Workshop

Sri Lanka’s entrepreneurial culture is at a thriving stage and the IT/BPM industry is at the forefront of this, with the emergence of a vibrant start-up ecosystem with several angel funding initiatives and a marked increase in new tech ventures starting up. Yet, there is still a lot of red tape to be cut across and untapped resources that budding entrepreneurs need to be directed and educated about. Understanding this, the Jaffna IT Week – an industry initiative for inclusive growth and reconciliation – hosted the IT/BPM Export Forum and Entrepreneurship Workshop at Tilko City Hotel, Jaffna on 5 December 2014, organised by the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka (EDB) and the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), supported by SLASSCOM and Yarl IT Hub. The highly useful and practical one-day session attracted over 60 entrepreneurs from the Jaffna district who were able to acquire beneficial knowledge from the best practices of renowned Sri Lankan entrepreneurs in the IT sector as well as being made aware about the support the Government of Sri Lanka offers for such businesses. The IT/BPM Export Forum was organised by the EDB and the Entrepreneurship Workshop by the ICTA.

Participants were given the opportunity to learn from and network with some of the country’s top professionals representing the IT industry, and from both established and budding entrepreneurs on how they have successfully leveraged the existing ecosystem to build up successful companies and take their products to the global marketplace. The panelists imparted their own life experiences and obstacles faced and interacted with the participants on a one-to-one basis, making it the ultimate knowledge sharing session. The panellists featured industry thought leaders and top professionals including EDB Director – Export Services Saman Maldeni, ICTA CEO Reshan Dewapura, Virtusa Head of Digital, SVP and General Manager Madu Ratnayake, ICTA Program Head of Monitoring and Evaluation Jagath Seneviratna, Stax Inc. Managing Director Ruwindhu Peiris, WSO2 Founder, Chairman and CEO Dr. Sanjiva Weerawarana, Calcey Technologies Founder and CEO Mangala Karunaratne, Code Gen CEO and Chief System Architect Dr. Harsha Subasinghe, Hayleys Industrial Solutions and Hayleys BPO Managing Director Dr. Arul Sivagananathan, Microimage Founder/CEO Harsha Purasinghe and 99X Technology Co-Founder and CEO Mano Sekaram. The ‘Jaffna IT Week’, held from 3 to 6 December 2014, was an IT industry initiative for inclusive growth and reconciliation, driven by SLASSCOM, and supported by the Export Development Board (EDB), Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), Ministry of Education (MOE), University of Jaffna (UOJ) and the Yarl IT Hub, with NDB as Official Bank and Mobitel as Exclusive Mobile Communication Partner. Over four days, the Jaffna IT Week featured key Government stakeholders, Sri Lanka’s top IT industry thought leaders and tech entrepreneurs. It was a significant event to be hosted in the Jaffna Peninsula, not only for the promotion of IT in Jaffna but also in terms of bridging the digital divide and bringing about reconciliation. For more information, please visit www.jaffnaitweek.com and for latest updates, visit www.facebook.com/JaffnaITWeek.