The Sri Lanka Association of Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM) , a driver of innovation, knowledge and growth for the IT industry, targets US$5 billion in revenue in the coming years for which it foremost needs an enabling environment for innovation and investment —through regulatory reforms, infrastructure development, incentives for investment for existing businesses and attract new investments.
Shehani Seneviratne who took over as the new Chairperson of the Association last week said the industry also needs to offer high value services and have new companies setting up operation in Sri Lanka to achieve the US$ 5 billion target.
She said the Association needs to look at current markets as well as explore new ones. In the past year we’ve had discussions with chambers and delegations of several countries.
“Hopefully we can initiate some partnerships in the upcoming year. Now is the time to actively market Sri Lanka as a destination for quality knowledge services as we have a talent pool available,” Seneviratne said.
SLASSCOM according to its chairperson will focus on industry branding and promoting the IOI brand in collaboration with EDB this year. We’re also working with the Government to get a country assessment and country branding report which is vital for international players assessing Sri Lanka as a destination.
The Association launched the Industry Ambassadors program with the first cohort of six ambassadors from UK, USA, Australia and UAE. The ambassadors will work closely with the country ambassadors to promote Sri Lanka in the respective countries.
On the issue of retaining talent, Seneviratne said that it is encouraging to see a decline in migration rates. However, she stressed that political, economic and social stability is essential to retain people for the industry.
She said a few years back the challenge for SLASSCOM was the insufficient supply of talent to meet demand. Our programs on capacity building span the entire education lifecycle, from schools to universities as well as other institutes. Now that we have sufficient capacity, we should work on up-skilling and re-skilling the talent to make them more employable, future ready and AI ready.
“With the rapid advancement of AI, anyone who doesn’t embrace AI tools for engineering is at the risk of unemployment. On the other hand, there will be new jobs created for those who embrace creative thinking, problem solving and strategic skills. We hope to conduct awareness and hands on programs to keep abreast of the leading advancements in technology. SLASSCOM Academy and skills platform will help in achieving this,” Senevirate said, adding that the Association has commenced the Next Gen leadership development program which is key for talent development and retention.
Elaborating on SLASSCOM’s vision she said the Association’s vision is to position Sri Lanka as a global destination for technology innovation and competitive talent, aligned with the industry’s goal of reaching USD 5 billion in export revenue. This is a long-term journey and we have already built the foundation. We are working on a five-year roadmap to achieve the vision.
