ICT

“ICT - platform for good governance, lasting peace in a country”

The President of the CSSL Mahesh Perera said that ICT can be used as a platform for the good governance, sustainable development and lasting peace, speaking at the launching ceremony of the 30th National Information Technology Conference (NITC) organized by the Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL) held at the Hotel Galadari, Colombo, recently. The conference this year was held under the theme ‘ICT for GAP.’ (GAP stands for Governance, All and Peace).

President, CSSL Mahesh Perera addressing the 30th NITC-2012

Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Chandima Weerakkody addressing the 30th NITC-2012

Delivering the welcome speech at the launching ceremony of the 30th National Information Technology Conference (NITC), CSSL President Mahesh Perera said, “The theme of this year’s conference, ‘ICT for GAP’, is appropriate at a time we are committed for the development of the nation. ‘GAP’ stands for ‘Governance’, ‘All’ and ‘Peace’. Good governance, an inclusive society and lasting peace are key pillars of sustainable development of any nation. ICT is a great enabler that is capable of making this development paradigm a reality.

“To prove this point, I will share some examples with you.

“Good governance and sustainable are closely associated with each other. Good governance has many characteristics including accountability, transparency, responsiveness, and participation, the rule of law, efficiency, leadership, and strategic vision that promote sustainable development. Good governance equally applies to both public and private sector organizations.

“The use of ICT in strengthening good governance, particularly in the public sector is known as e-governance, and it is known as e-commerce in the context of the private sector. Whatever the term used, the bottom line is, an improved value proposition for stakeholders. Therefore, e-governance can be seen as a distinct value adding system representing the good governance characteristics mentioned earlier.”

Saying Sri Lanka has arrived at a historic juncture in development after three decades of war, Perera further elaborated, “Today, we are witnessing significant development in the country in many fronts. For example, we have been successful in ending a three decade long terror conflict on our soil. In terms of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Sri Lanka has already achieved 13 out of 22 targets set for 2015. In terms of the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index, Sri Lanka has been positioned 89th out of 183 global economies.

It is no secret that the government has set a target that is indeed admirable, to raise this position to the 30th by 2016. In terms of e-initiatives, we do have many success stories such as 1919, e-revenue license, e-visa etc and now, e-money too. However, to leapfrog to the next level of development to be the ‘Wonder of Asia’ as correctly set out by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the national vision for development, it is pivotal that an ICT backed governance framework, or rather e-governance, be established countrywide, giving emphasis on outputs, outcomes and impacts.’’

Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Chandima Weerakkody, speaking at the NITC – 2012 launching ceremony said that this government under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is working in the extreme for the promotion of the ICT field. He said that the government’s aim is increasing the ICT literacy of Sri Lanka to 75% by 2016.

ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), CEO, Reshan Dewapura, clarified the important role the ICTA has played in the development of the ICT field of Sri Lanka. He described, at length, the successful projects activated by the ICTA to date such as the Government Information Centre (GIC-1919), the Lanka Government Network (LGN), the Lanka Gate, the Lanka Government Cloud (LGC) and the e-Population Register.

The 30th NITC-2012 emphasized the role of ICT in strengthening good governance, promoting equal opportunities and sustaining peace. A large number of famous intellectuals in the ICT field participated in this conference. Member of Parliament and Economist Dr. Harsha de Silva spoke on “ICT for GAP: an Economic Development Perspective”, Australian Computer Society, President, Dr. Nick Tate spoke on “The Future of the IT Department”,

University of Colombo, School of Computing (UCSC), Former Director, Dr. Ruvan Weerasinghe spoke on “Technology and Democracy”, LIRN Asia, CEO, Prof. Rohan Samarajiva spoke on “Connected Nation,” Sri Lanka Investors Commission, Chairmen, Deepal Sooriyaarachchi spoke on “Emerging technological opportunities in social transformation,” and Univesity of Moratuwa, Department of Computer Science, Nadeeja Abeyasekara, spoke on “Engineering Diaspora contribution to IT entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka.”

The Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL) was founded in 1976 by a group of volunteers for the purpose of promoting information technology and professionalism among those engaged in the field of ICT. During the past 36 years the CSSL has carried out many initiatives in line with the objectives mentioned. Today, the CSSL is the visible front of ICT professionals in the country. This year too the CSSL has a strategy to promote technology, to empower the membership, to strengthen the CSSL and to become an active partner in the country’s development drive.

The National Information Technology Conference is one of the annual events that the CSSL has been committed to since 1982, and carried out with resounding and remarkable success. Over the years, the NITC has become one of the top most ICT conferences held in the region. Today the CSSL marks yet another significant milestone, completing the 30th event in a series of national annual events, in the history of ICT in Sri Lanka.

In addition to the NITC, the CSSL is into many other strategic initiatives. This year, the society will be holding the 23rd National School Software Competition (NSSC), an island-wide event with the aim of promoting problem solving and programming talent among school children. This programme is conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Education; and students who excel in this competition are sponsored for the International School Software Competition (ISSC), a competition that is being held among the countries of the South Asia Region including, Australia. The society is pleased to announce that this year’s ISSC will be held in Sri Lanka hosted by the CSSL. IT Master Mind - a quiz competition among school children; Deyata IT - IT awareness programme for rural community; Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and Chapters – professional development programmes are some of the activities lined up in the society’s annual calendar.

The Platinum Sponsor of the 30th NITC 2012 was CISCO Systems. The Gold Sponsor was Sri Lanka Telecom and Mobitel. The ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) and the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology were strategic alliance partners. ESOFT was the Education Partner while the Print Media sponsorship was extended by Daily News. Derana TV was the Electronic Media sponsor.

ICT industry needs changes to prevent cyber crime

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

The prevention of cyber crimes is necessary in moving forward to derive benefits from the ICT industry in the long run.

“We believe that prevention could be carried out through awareness and education. There are many programmes and initiatives by the government as well as agencies to achieve the end results as billions of dollars are lost due to cyber crimes, Computer Society of Sri Lanka President Mahesh Perera told Daily News Business.

The legal framework should accommodate the changing needs of the ICT industry in preventing cyber crimes which has a growth phenomena over the past few years. There should be a proper monitoring system to improve on tools and technology to combat crimes, he said.

Sri Lanka participates in international conferences related to cyber crimes and broadens the horizon on prevention of cyber crimes where these forums provide a platform to build on ethics and professionalism.

The computer literacy in the country shows a gradual rise in the rate and more ICT penetration could be seen in the urban as well as in rural areas. There is over 35 percent IT literacy rate at present in the country. The “Deyata IT”, the project to bring IT to rural sector has been successful in increasing the IT literacy, he said. The country has an ambitious target to reach 80 percent IT literacy by 2016.

This is achievable and we need to increase the use of technology for the betterment of the society. However, abusive use of ICT is destructive.

It is necessary to control and monitor social media. Sri Lanka is leading in the area of early adaptation and we always believe in leap frog when considering the ICT industry, Perera said. Technology could do more in the path to become Wonder of Asia and there are equal opportunities to adopt technology compared to developed countries.

The leverage on technology for GDP growth and efficient business environment could fuel pace of technological adaptation where complete ICT penetration would result in development, he said.

Blue Flame Technologies distributor of BROAD non-electric chillers

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

Blue Flame Technologies (Pvt) Limited was appointed the exclusive distributor of BROAD non-electric chillers for air conditioning systems in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

The Blue Flame technologies officially launched BROAD’s complete line of non- electric air conditioners for the Sri Lankan and the Maldives markets.

BROAD, is the premier non-electric air conditioner chiller manufacturer in the world, rangng from small residential models to large institutional and district cooling applications in over 70 countries.

Based in Changsha, China, BROAD has gained worldwide recognition both in terms of market acceptance and endorsements from the scientific community for its environmentally friendly and cost effective air conditioning systems that runs on the simple principle of ‘absorption cooling’.

Absorption cooling sounds complicated, but it is really very simple. In the old days, some of us who lived in places that did not have grid electricity used kerosene refrigerators. The fridges used to keep things cool by way of kerosene-fuelled flame and heat. The same principle forms the basic working principle of BROAD chillers, although they provide much more efficient and much larger cooling performances to meet industry needs, Blue Flame Technologies Chairman Sanjeewa Wickramanayake said.

“Absorption chillers, known as non-electric chillers have some distinct advantages over conventional air conditioning and chiller systems. Firstly, they can use low grade thermal energy, secondly there are very few moving parts in the equipment and therefore, reliability is much higher. The third advantage is that they can use multiple energy sources such as, waste heat from generators, steam from hot water boilers, heat from burning biomass or municipal waste or from solar energy captured in a solar hot water collector. The chillers can also be direct-fired with natural gas, diesel or furnace oil. When waste heat is used the impact of using

absorption chiller technology is much more environmental friendly, as very little or no fossil fuel is used to produce the required amount of cooling, he said.

The savings from use of absorption chiller technology can be significant as the cost of air conditioning in a typical hotel runs up to 50 to 60 percent of total electric cost. The pay back period of the equipment is around three years where district cooling concept could be applied in buildings clustered together to enable greater efficiencies and economies of scale.

Orange to shine in leading brands annual list

Despite a subdued presence in public and brand competitions during the past year, Orange Electric put up a bold show gaining entry into the list of honour, celebrating Sri Lanka's leading brands, emerging as the 15th most valuable unlisted brand of 2011.

It is compiled through a Brands Audit carried out by Brand Finance, the internationally recognized brand valuation company founded in the UK and 17 countries worldwide.

This year, multinational brands dominated the list with only five Sri Lankan brands featuring in the first fifteen.

“In light of the fact that 10 out of the first 15 brands in the list were long established multinational brands, our ranking at 15 is a noteworthy achievement that we as a company are truly proud of. Which also means very few – four- Sri Lankan brands were ahead of us.

That is a significant accomplishment and a truly remarkable feat – considering that the sector isn’t categorised within your average FMCG sector, and the interviewed persons were business executives-again not people who will immediately recall the sector let alone the brand!” said an exuberantly happy Kushan Kodituwakku - Managing Director at Orange Electric.

Orange Electric commands the lion’s share of island nation’s lighting, electrical fittings and switch gear market.

Recently, Orange Electric inaugurated South Asia’s first plant for recycling CFL and Fluorescent Bulbs.

It is best known for producing virtually the entirety of its product range in-house at its state-of-the-art factory at Meegoda and the company is widely recognized for its leadership role in uplifting the country’s engineering and manufacturing sector to bring it on par with the region.

Seven UoM teams pitch their ICT startups debut

Seven innovative ICT startups was born, as the end result of an intensive seven-week start-up incubator run at the University of Moratuwa.

This incubator, known as MIT’s Accelerating Information Technology Initiative (MIT AITI), is run in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and aims to produce innovative companies and increase confidence in Sri Lanka’s blossoming ICT market.

At the event, seven teams of young entrepreneurs from UoM will pitch their ICT startups before an audience of nearly 200 distinguished guests from industry, academia, and Government.

The event, sponsored by three of Sri Lanka’s major mobile operators—Dialog, Mobitel and Etisalat, will take place at the Hilton Colombo Residence this afternoon.

The event is intended to serve as a catalyst for technology entrepreneurship in the Sri Lankan market which is rich in technical talent.

During today’s launch, Industry leaders including Dialog, Mobitel, and Etisalat, and the pioneering entrepreneurs and researchers of MicroImage, Microsoft Research, and Aureos will provide judging and feedback on the companies’ pitches and products.

Judges will present awards for outstanding business, technical and social innovation. For entrepreneurs, however, the ultimate goal will be to attract seed funding and to apply judges’ feedback in building sustainable, profitable enterprises.

Within the MIT AITI programme, which began this year on 18th June, a select group of 34 UoM students have been working tirelessly to build their own software startups.

The teams have undergone rigorous training in business and technology with coaching by four MIT-affiliated instructors and by numerous local entrepreneurs and business leaders.

The startups’ goal has from the start been to create applications providing innovative solutions to important problems affecting Sri Lanka and the world. Within the programme, the teams have been tasked with planning and executing every aspect of creating a startup.

Working tirelessly to get their companies off the ground, these startups have attracted the attention of brilliant mentors and potential investors. With great promise in becoming Sri Lanka’s future ICT industry leaders, these companies today reveal themselves for the first time.

From 2000, companies in nine different nations across the world have launched through the MIT AITI incubator programme, which aims to promote global economic development through cultivating a new generation of technology entrepreneurs. This year marks MIT AITI’s second annual programme in Sri Lanka.

Just in Time Group contributes towards better public service

Just In Time (JIT) Group, contributed much towards better public service by partnering with the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) as its Technology Partner for FutureGov SAARC Summit 2012.

Joining with ICTA in FutureGov events has been a frequent gesture of cooperation in the country’s development effort for JIT, a fully owned Sri Lankan company.

Appreciating the support received for the recent Summit from JIT Group, one of the largest systems integrators if not the largest in Sri Lanka, ICTA CEO Reshan Dewapura said: “I’m very appreciative of JIT’s value addition as technology partner to FutureGov SAARC Summit 2012.

JIT Group has always been in the forefront of Technology in Sri Lanka and also supported many Sri Lanka causes”.

The Summit was held on 18th and 19th July at Cinnamon Grand Hotel Colombo.

Just In Time Group, as a company engaged predominantly in the Government Sector associates itself with large integration projects with an unblemished track record in all projects. As such it works also with the world’s Top Ten ICT vendors bringing cutting edge technology specifically to the Government, Telecommunications and Finance sectors.

Not being limited to the integration undertaken, Just In Time Group also goes on to do Level 1 and Level 2 support for projects which hardly any other company does in Sri Lanka.

This in turn creates an in-depth technology transfer and resource build-up which is world class. Furthermore JIT Group has in its portfolio its own IPs and success stories unmatched by any other.

Although a company little heard or seen but which believes in delivering objectives, it is more than visible in its support of ICTA and the Government in its initiatives.

“You may have seen in the recent past in news items, their many successes in central switching, core banking, IFRS, Security and Network , to name a few.

We are very proud to be a contributing force and to be associated with ICTA to implement His Excellency the President’s vision for Sri Lanka”, says Kavinda Mahawedage - Head of Marketing for the Group.

In the recent past, they have gone into technologies which will benefit all cross sectors of business especially the public sector, GIS, converged infrastructure and mobility solutions.

Both Dewapura and Mahawedage acknowledged the role played by Alphabet Media in recognising Sri Lanka at the forefront of its roadmap.

Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiy graced the inauguration of the Summit as Chief Guest.