Mobile usage growing at over 100 % rate

Indunil HEWAGE

Sri Lankan IT/BPO firms should go towards higher value segments of the industry in a bid to boost the profile of the country as well as the industry.

The level of ICT familiarity across the country is still low and lack of investments in human resources has restrained the IT/BPO industry potential to a great extent.

However, mobile usage across the country is growing at a rate of over 100 percent and smartphones sales continue to grow in Sri Lanka with a annual growth rate of 400%. People can now access the internet with a device which is much more familiar than a computer,said Sujiva Dewaraja, head of Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka top official said the need for IT parks in the country has been felt more than 25 years ago and the government has already initiated a project to set up a IT Park in Hambantota district.

“ IT/BPO sector is the fifth largest exports revenue generator in the country and industry accounts for 5 percent of total exports in Sri Lanka. IT/BPO industry is planning to achieve export earnings of US$ 1 billion by 2015. This target cannot be achieved by the IT/BPO industry alone, as it requires computing manpower input produced by the academia,” said Sujiva Dewaraja.