e-Sri Lanka initiative successful:

ICT rally to continue

Charumini de Silva

The country’s estimated Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of the IT market is 16 percent. This would make Sri Lanka one of the fastest-growing markets in the region, particularly at a time when growth has deteriorated in more established markets.

Sri Lanka’s computer hardware market is estimated at US$ 214 million last year and is projected to reach around US$ 317 million in 2014.

Despite the economic slowdown in 2009 around 350,000 computers were sold and this annual total could increase over 650,000 by the end of BMI’s forecast period with growing demand for affordable notebooks, the Business Monitor International (BMI) report said.

The country’s IT market will stay hardware dominated with spending on hardware accounting for an expected 71 percent of Sri Lanka’s IT spending last year.

The spending on software remains low comparatively where the addressable market is around US$ 37 million in 2010.

The 11 percent share of the total IT spending on software reflects the immaturity of this segment.

However, the domestic software market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 18 percent by 2014.

The IT services market is dominated by demand from Government finance and telecommunication sectors, which accounts for around half of total spending.

The provisions of IT services is still typically built around hardware sales with growing base of installed hardware and software systems the foundation for an expansion of service provision, the report said. The Government have provided over 3,500 computer labs in both rural and urban areas.

Apart from that another 1,500 computer labs for schools were provided in 2010 with around 6,000 planned in total.

The Government’s e-Sri Lanka strategy outlines the country’s vision for information society development and forms the basis for initiatives related to ICT development.

A key measure was the establishment of the Sri Lanka’s Information and Communication Technology Association (ICTA), which has led ICT projects on various fronts.