Technology

Correct decisions made IFS reap dividends

by Surekha GALAGODA

IFS is rolling out a new agile development methodology across the group and Sri Lanka is controlling the technical training from the second half of last year said Thomas Petersson - Senior Vice President - Product and Marketing - IFS in an exclusive interview. The branding exercise in Sri Lanka is significant as training and education are key to the growth in Sri Lanka.

Thomas Petersson

He said that being an offshore development centre Sri Lanka has become one of the most efficient distribution development organizations in the world.

IFS has worked with the University of Peradeniya for a long time and we have now intensified it with the opening of the IFS Kandy office and also IFS has opened a IFS lab to conduct advanced research.

He said that the market has changed a lot and today customers make decisions based on the information they get from the peers, websites and comparing them as opposed to the traditional marketing methods practiced earlier. Therefore, vendors have to live their brand.

No matter what you say you have to deliver and be true to your customers. Most major brands carry out rebranding exercises since they don't deliver what they promise. But we deliver what we promise and the customer is intelligent to understand it.

Explaining the rationale for the change in the graphical identity he said that IFS has been in operation for a long time and we have a lot of international customers.

Over the last five years we have become one of the biggest players in the industry and we are no longer an emerging company challenging others.

Today IFS is recognized as a financial stable player and IFS wants to position itself as the best in electronic communication.

IFS took steps to invest in new markets as well as infrastructure and today the company is reaping the benefits of its investment, said Petersson.

He said that the correct decisions taken at the correct time has helped to reap dividends.

During the recession and upto now IFS has been able to increase the financial figures and since we are in specialized areas our customers were less affected by the recession.

For example the IFS market share in the area of defence is double that of its closest competitor which is proof of our quality.

Therefore, at IFS nothing has changed but yet everything has changed said Petersson explaining the rationale behind the new graphical identity.

Intel and govt collaborate to accelerate access to technology

Intel EM Limited and the Government of Sri Lanka have come to an agreement to accelerate access to technology to improve opportunities for education, commerce and communication for Sri Lanka through a series of initiatives under Intel's World Ahead program.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is handing over the PC to Master Maleesha Aryan Sulthanagoda of D S Senanayake College.

One aspect of this agreement was launched at Asia's premier ICT event -'eAsia 2009' which commenced in Colombo, on December 2. Of three key announcements made at the launch, Intel's commitment to disseminate Classmate PCs to schoolchildren across the island was the first to be announced and Chief Guest at the event President Mahinda Rajapaksa accepted one such PC from Navin Shenoy, General Manager, Intel Asia-Pacific, Indika De Zoysa, Country Business Manager, Intel EM Ltd, Sri Lanka and, then handed it over to Master Maleesha Aryan Sulthanagoda of D S Senanayake College. Also present to witness this were Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the President, Presidential Secretariat, Sri Lanka, (Prof) Tissa Vitharana, Minister of Science and Technology, Sri Lanka, Priyantha Kariyapperuma, Director General Sri Lanka Telecommunications Regulatory Commission N. E. Narayanan, Chairman of Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS) and Reshan Dewapura, COO / Director of Information and Communications Technology Agency of Sri Lanka. At the presentation ceremony President Mahinda Rajapaksa said "My Government and I believe that any developmental activity we embark upon should benefit the people of our country and are dedicated to making the idea of the global village more meaningful to our people.

ICT is the only tool that will cross or break geographical barriers and social barriers". And commended all who had worked tirelessly to ensure the dissemination of ICT in Sri Lanka and went on to say that he is committed to ensuring that Sri Lanka achieves an ICT literacy rate of over 60% by the year 2012. "It is up to all of us to ensure that these are not just dreams, that we achieve each one of these goals."

Speaking on Intel's agreement with the Government of Sri Lanka, Navin Shenoy, General Manager, Intel Asia-Pacific said: "ICT is a positive force for social and economic benefit in Asia. Through our joint efforts with the Government of Sri Lanka under the banner of Intel's World Ahead program, we aim to accelerate growth and innovation for the country, and connect more Sri Lankans to opportunity." Intel and the Government of Sri Lanka will work together to deploy Intel Teach, the 1:1 eLearning program and the Intel skoool Maths and Science learning technologies program, all of which support the effective use of technology in education.

Laptop for every student by 2010

In a further move to fulfilling the Mahinda Chintana policy statement on making the benefits ICT accrue to the people, a project aimed at providing every student with a laptop by 2010 was launched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently.

The launch of the project took place during the inauguration of e-Asia 2009 at the BMICH Colombo on December 2 amidst glowing tributes to the President for his courageous leadership in the development of ICT in Sri Lanka.

Partnered by The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC), the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) and the Intel Corporation, the project aims at providing each student with a laptop by 2010.

The ceremony consisted in the handing over an 'Intel Classmate' PC by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to a student who received it from the President's hand after paying the traditional obeisance embedded in Sri Lankan culture.

The Intel Corporation will be the main source in the provision of the laptops. The Government on its part will exempt Intel from all taxes otherwise applicable to the item.

Laptops go a long way in increasing ICT literacy. Speaking during the inauguration of e-Asia 2009 during which the Intel-sponsored laptop-to-every-student programme was launched, the President said that the Government aimes to increase the country's ICT literacy from the current 30% to 60% by 2012. When a student does not have a laptop for his or her use he or she has to waste much time.

WSO2 Customer Chapdelaine & Co. Wins InfoWorld 100 Award

WSO2, the open source SOA company, Chapdelaine & Co. has been named a winner of the 2009 InfoWorld 100 Award. Chapdelaine, a financial services firm, was recognized for its innovative implementation of service-oriented architecture (SOA) infrastructure for its trading data exchange based on WSO2 middleware.

Every year, InfoWorld's editorial staff names 100 companies that have made the best use of technology to enhance their business.

The InfoWorld 100 Awards celebrate IT projects that use technology in smart, innovative, creative ways to meet business and technical objectives.

'We are excited to see Chapdelaine honored by InfoWorld for its creativity and success in implementing an SOA that advances its business goals,' said Dr. Sanjiva Weerawarana, founder and CEO of WSO2.