Biz - Tech

Ruwanpura exhibition:

Large crowds visit ICTA stall

High public enthusiasm was witnessed at the stall maintained by the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) as part of the Ruwanpura National College of ICT Education IT and educational exhibition.

The exhibition was held at the Ruwanpura National College of ICT Education premises, Kahawatta in the Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province from September 14 to 17. In particular, schoolchildren were seen taking great interest to see ICTA's e-Society stall that displayed IT creations that go a long way in making life's daily routines more and more comfortable.

In addition to the ICTA stall at the exhibition a number of activities for awareness creation about ICTA?s e-Society initiated projects and products were carried out in the area simultaneously.

Foremost among these were the road shows of the e-Society of ICTA conducted in coincidence with the exhibition.

The content and application which ICTA successfully disseminated information about during this awareness programme covered the following: e-Learning for kids (Interactive self-learning tool), English learning, SME tool kit for small businesses (Accounting, Business English etc), Modern Agricultural information, Vidunena (self-leaning A/L Science ), Happy Life (Reproductive health), www.danuma.lk a site with wealth of information, Content for self employment (Youghurt, cement, paper, milk based products, handicrafts production etc) and Content on hygiene and home gardening. The e-Society Programme of ICTA which organised this awareness effort is one of the six programmes through which ICTA attempts to fulfil its mandate of implementing the e-Sri Lanka initiative. The e-Sri Lanka initiative is the government's endeavour to ensure the optimum accrual of the benefits of ICT to every Sri Lankan.

Under this e-Society Programme so far 143 Community Assistance Programme projects, 36 Partnership Assistance Programme projects and 44 Replication Assistance Programme projects have been implemented. More details of this could be obtained from www.icta.lk.

The other five programmes which ICTA uses for implementing the e-Sri Lanka initiative are the following:-

ICT policy, leadership and institutional development: creating a policy and regulatory environment that is supportive of ICT reform; developing ICT leadership and capacity in government and among other key stakeholders. One of the most useful achievements under this programme is the National ICT policy implemented in all the Government institutions.

Re-engineering government: re-engineering government business processes and improving the focus and delivery of Government services to citizens (G2C), businesses (G2B) and to government agencies (G2Gs); One of the highly popular facilities under this is the GIC or 1919 which is at the root of removing much of the hassle people went through earlier in obtaining government service.

ICT human resources capacity building: Ensuring that Sri Lanka has the necessary human resources to achieve the e-Sri Lanka vision and to use ICT to the maximum extent in teaching at all levels.

The ICT literacy which was less than 5 percent in 2004 is currently about 30 percent.

Located in Kahawatta about 14 miles away from Ratnapura the Ruwanpura NCE, the venue of the exhibition, is the premier NCE specializing in the teaching of IT in Sri Lanka. As a NCE specializing in IT education it was inaugurated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in November 2009.

Eset launches antivirus products

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

Eset Smart Security 5 and Eset Nod32 Antivirus 5 was launched to the local market by Eset, one of the world's leading antivirus companies. It offers several new and improved features, the primary addition being the parental control module.

DCS (Digital Corporate Solutions) International, subsidiary of Digital House (Pvt) Ltd that serves as the information security arm of entire Group was appointed as exclusive representative in Sri Lanka.It has active 50m channel partner businesses along with 50 percent corporate penetration.

The parental control module protect young users from sites that may contain potentially offensive material. Eset's new software also features Eset Live Grid, a cloud based reputation and protection technology, new removable media control which allows greater control of external devices, advanced house-based intrusion prevention system and gamer mode.

"We, DCS and Eset are moving forward in our local information security market at a rapid growth pace within a short span of time. Our commitment in leading the way is by introducing latest technological advancements, innovative solutions with an excellent support service, DCS Managing Director Nabhan Akeel told Daily News Business.

"We have partnered Eset which has a local market growth of 200 percent within a single year and 12 percent antivirus market share in Sri Lanka. The company expects to achieve a steady market growth of 25 percent end of this year," he said.

Eset, represented in Sri Lanka by DCS, has been in the forefront of developing anti-virus software for locally developed viruses such as Mahasona and Reeriyaka. These Lankan specific viruses are made to spread mainly through removable devices such as pen drives, memory cards etc.and are activated through the autorun.inf file in the removable drive, DCS International Director Shihan Annon said. The company also working with the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Response Team, a government body, in developing a special device named Honey Pot, which will be able to detect Sri Lankan malware density, he said.

Digital House (Pvt) Ltd is one of the leading ICT companies in Sri Lanka with a 20 year track record and group turnover of Rs 1.2 billion. It has three subsidiaries and three main showrooms around the country with flagship distribution brands such as Kingston, Mercury, Genius and BenQ.

Among Eset users from finance, enterprise, government and service sectors are Commercial Bank, Credit Information Bureau, Singer Finance, Hayleys, Cargills, Abans, Sri Lanka Air Force, Port Authority, Defense Academy, Lanka Hospitals, Durdans and Nawaloka.