[BIZ-TECH]
MS Technologies embark on community projects
Sanjeevi Jayasuriya
Padman de Silva
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Keeping social obligation in the fore , Microsoft gold certified
partner MS Technologies embarked on a series of community projects with
the view to disseminate IT related knowledge and skills across the
country.
"We, as the gold certified partner of Microsoft engage in community
work and educational services, by introducing new technologies and
applications to the country.
The setting up of an exclusive website has enabled us to create a
platform to exchange information and share experiences using a tool 'bullatine'
by forming groups", M S Technologies (Pvt) Limited CEO and Director
Padman de Silva told Daily News Business.
Our programs encourage developers and provide user group support to
become versatile in technology. Microsoft annually conducts an award
scheme to recognize the 'the most valuable people' in the technological
sphere where the use of different technologies and skill levels are
evaluated.
This award is renewable in nature and continuous assessment is
carried out to ascertain and ensure regular involvement in skills
development activities.
The award winners get the opportunity to interact with top technology
persons in the world, deriving many benefits to further their knowledge.
This creates a vital link with outside world where updated knowledge
on technology could be easily gained, he said.
The winners are encouraged to share knowledge and experience with the
local community. They then go on to become an active member of an IT
group and tools such as dream box and idea box are in place to
facilitate innovations in IT filed.
Further, M S Technologies conduct free classes in Colombo and also
covering all the universities where software is distributed by
Microsoft. However, there are no immediate plans to extend these
programs in outstation and with time these benefits could pass on to
other areas too.
Our efforts will lead to the creation of an IT professional pool in
the country as Sri Lanka is faced with capacity gap caused by the rapid
development in the sector and the government recognition IT as a key
driver of the economy. We will support to produce more IT professionals
by providing right skills and maintain quality where the key focus will
be on providing practical knowledge, he said.
Our emphasis is on sharing real world IT knowledge. We are in
partnership with Mobile Development Faculty of Moratuwa University and
will be joining with Paradeniya University shortly. We conduct regular
seminars for working people and have separate programs for students as
well. The outcome of these efforts will supplement the initiatives taken
to become a knowledge hub, de Silva said.
Sri Lanka CERT joins APCERT
The Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team | Coordinating Centre
(Sri Lanka CERT|CC) coordinated with the Asia Pacific Computer Security
Incident Response Team (APCERT) recently for mitigating cyber threats.
This global coordination exercise took place when APCERT successfully
completed its annual drill to test the response capability of leading
Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRT) from Asia Pacific
economies. A noteworthy specialty of this year's annual drill was that
for the first time, APCERT involved the participation of the
Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation - Computer Emergency Response
Team (OIC-CERT). This was in consequence of a Memorandum of
Understanding on collaboration signed in September, 2011.
The theme of the APCERT Drill 2012 was "Advance Persistent Threats
and Global Coordination". The objective was for participating teams to
exercise incident response handling arrangements locally and
internationally to mitigate the impact of advance persistent threats.
The drill targeted such threats that involved large scale malicious
software propagation and attacks capable of impairing the critical
infrastructure and economic activities. In the process this exercise
reflected the strong collaboration among the economies. Furthermore, it
enhanced the communication protocols, technical capabilities and quality
of incident responses for assuring Internet security and safety.
Twenty-two CSIRT teams from 17 economies of APCERT three teams from
OIC-CERT participated in the drill. These economies of APCERT comprised
Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, People's Republic of China,
Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macao,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. of APCERT
and 3 CSIRT teams from 3 economies. The economies of OIC-CERT that
participated in the drill through their CSIRT teams were Tunisia, Egypt
and Pakistan.
Sri Lanka CERT|CC, which was the lead organizer of the annual drill
in 2011, too participated in this much sought after exercise this year
as well.
APCERT was established by leading and national CSIRTs from the
economies of the Asia Pacific region to improve cooperation, response
and information sharing among CSIRTs in the region. APCERT consists of
28 CSIRTs from 19 economies. Further information about APCERT can be
found on www.apcert.org.
OIC-CERT was set up in June 2005. It aims to provide a platform for
member countries to explore and develop collaborative initiatives and
possible partnerships in matters pertaining to cyber security. These
initiatives and partnerships shall be such that they will strengthen the
member countries' self reliance in the cyberspace. OIC-CERT consists of
22 CERTs and cyber security related agencies from 18 economies. Further
information about OIC-CERT can be found on www.oic-cert.net
Formed in 2006, Sri Lanka CERT|CC is a fully owned subsidiary of the
ICT Agency of Sri Lanka. It is a Government entity mandated with the
protection of Information and Information Systems within the state
sector, while extending its services to the private sector and general
public. Its services range from responding to and investigating
information security breaches, to preventing security breaches by way of
awareness creation, security assessments and security capability
building. It is a full member and the national point of contact for both
APCERT and the Forum of Incident Response Security Teams (FIRST). APCERT
and FIRST are regional and global associations, respectively, formed to
coordinate security efforts between nations. Please visit
www.slcert.gov.lk for more information.
(SJ)
Sri Lanka Telecom Services Ltd signs MoU with GRT Associates (Pvt)
Ltd
Exchanging of the MoU GRT Associates (Pvt) Ltd. Managing
Director Ranga Goonawardena and Sri Lanka Telecom (Services)
Ltd, CEO Prasanna Perera .
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An alliance significance was forged between Sri Lanka Telecom
(Services) Ltd., a key subsidiary of Sri Lanka Telecom and GRT
Associates (Pvt) Ltd - the leading name in business facilitation in Sri
Lanka recently by signing a MoU forming a strategic partnership to
expand the opportunities for Business Process Outsourcing in Sri Lanka,
Sri Lanka Telecom (Services) Limited (SLTS) CEO Prasanna Perera said.
"Through this partnership GRT Associates (Pvt) Ltd will source and
introduce investors and clients in order to create joint ventures to
perform Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) businesses in Sri Lanka and
we in turn will introduce and provide the Company's services to
investors and clients of GRT. We believe this affiliation will bring
highly beneficial results to both, he said". Speaking of this new
strategic move, GRT Associates (Pvt) Ltd Managing Director Ranga
Goonawardena said, "in today's fast developing business environment
there is much scope for Business Process Outsourcing opportunities in
Sri Lanka.
As such, this strategic partnership between SLTS and GRT is certainly
timely, and will undoubtedly prove to be one of great potential to
further the profitable growth of the BPO industry in Sri Lanka".
In the post war era of peace and the present surge of overall
development riding across Sri Lanka, the BPO industry - whilst a
relative newcomer, holds much potential for growth in both scope and
profitability. The present surge in Sri Lankan IT exports is expected to
continue. Officials state that Sri Lanka's earnings from ICT services
and products grew strongly this year after rising sharply last year with
ICT and BPO exports rising 47% from the year before and this momentum is
expected to remain strong.
The sector which currently consists of 175 firms employing 16,000
people is predicted to grow as more foreign investment comes in. At this
growth rate, the ICT and ITES (information technology enabled services)
sectors are estimated to reach a billion dollars in export earnings
before 2015.
Sri Lanka Telecom (Services) Limited (SLTS) is a fully owned
subsidiary of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT). With the stability and the
might of the parent company SLT as their strength, SLTS is one of Sri
Lanka's leading providers of advanced ICT (Information Communication
Technology) products and support services as well as total ICT solutions
to the corporate sector. Primarily promoting data networking
infrastructure, SLTS is the best available in the country. They offer a
comprehensive range of services which includes the supply of structured
cabling solutions, wireless net work solutions, networking data/voice
solution based on CISCO and HP products and servers. They also offer IT
managed services which includes network and product support. |