TECHNOLOGY

ICTA supports IT-BPO firms

The ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) has taken steps to support IT-BPO firms to optimise the existing huge outsourcing market.

A senior ICTA official said, "Growth in the industry has been accelerating which now employs a workforce of nearly 60,000. The industry operates in the domestic and international market with the latter being the more lucrative in terms of revenue.

The IT-BPO industry is the fifth largest export revenue earner in Sri Lanka with an estimated export revenue of approximately US$ 300 million which is aimed at reaching US$ 1 billion by 2016. Emphasising the need to engage in rigorous business development activities to explore the huge IT-BPO market the ICTA official said, "This is only a small fraction of the global outsourcing market. Yet to achieve this target, companies will need to engage in rigorous business development activities. The country will also have to target a large captive clientele and other tier 1 players".

Called the "Consultancy Grant" this grant is offered to export oriented local Information Technology (IT)/IT Enabled Services (ITES)/Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies by offering to improve local industry through exposure to international expertise. So far 23 IT - BPO companies have taken up this grant and aimed at providing export oriented domestic IT/ITES/BPO companies an opportunity to link with international ICT business development expertise. Several of these companies have explored opportunities in UK, US, Canada, Bahrain, India, Malaysia and Japan.

The ICTA official said that several companies had reported having benefited from the grants given in the recent past and were eloquent about improvements the grant had triggered in their companies. Due to this grant John Keells Computer Services the IT Sector had concluded more than projects worth 100,000 pounds and assignments while Eureka Technology Partners had engaged two enterprise level clients and trebled their income from consultancy services. Pyxle's sales had increased 25 percent while the exposure gained through the grant had given Sabre Technologies the confidence to make a firm commitment to start an operation in the UK.

Efutures provides remittance solutions to banks

The e-Remittance Solution is one of the products that is offered by EFutures, the premier web and software development company.

Thousands of people currently work and live in a country that is not their home, and send funds regularly back to their families in their country. With Sri Lanka specialising in providing skilled services in foreign countries, most of the foreign exchange to Sri Lanka is received through remittances to banks. The e-Remittance Solution developed by EFutures facilitates inward remittance, through effective and efficient online services that allows the foreign correspondent banks to remit the funds into the domestic bank.

The e-Remittance Solution is currently used by two premier banks in Sri Lanka. The National Savings Bank (NSB), a premier Licensed Specialised Bank in Sri Lanka owned by the Government of Sri Lanka has deployed the e-Remittance Solution to manage their inward remittances. NSB has won the trust of people and come a long way to lead the country's rupee savings market and is the only local bank to receive AAA Fitch Ratings for eight consecutive years. NSB has got 16.3 million Sri Lankans banking with it.

The e-Remittance Solution has also been implemented in another leading commercial bank in Sri Lanka. EFutures is in the process of discussing with two other leading banks to provide the e-Remittance solution.

The solution developed using the latest in technology includes key features such as tracking remittances, high security, multiple foreign currency support, high user friendliness, periodic accounts statement generation and tracking all user operations.

Director, Prashan Nagendra said that one of the key benefits of using the e-Remittance Solution is that the banks will be saving funds which otherwise will have to be paid as commission to other parties over extensive periods of time.

The company is not only limited in providing the e-Remittance Solution but has extensive expertise in providing online banking solutions and CRM solutions for the finance sector. EFutures has been able to win contracts from several Wall Street firms in the US to provide support services.

EFutures handles offshore software projects and boasts of one of the most impressive portfolios in the local software industry. The company has expanded operations by obtaining outsourced projects from leading local and international companies.

The company places emphasis on customer satisfaction, and as such development is based on customer specifications for a software product. EFutures' product development practices provide clients with a singular advantage - the ability to build scalable and extendable technology solutions faster and with a much higher degree of precision.

Director Rishen Fernando said the highly flexible approach, large and experienced team, faster response time and experience are the reasons for their success. "The company is in the process of obtaining CMMI Level 3 Certification with the objective of acquiring larger development projects" he said. He also said that CMMI is a process improvement approach that provides organisations with the essential elements of effective processes that ultimately improve performance.

EFutures' success with the projects it has engaged in, have garnered it respect from clients. This respect has led the company to build an impressive client list and maintain rigorous standards of quality control and maintenance of products.

Venora International awarded ISO 9001:2008

Electrical and Telecommunication solutions providers, Venora International Projects Ltd., recently received the ISO 9001:2008 certification from SGS, one of the world's leading inspection, verification, testing and certification companies.

The certification received by Venora covers a wide range of services including design and installation of electrical systems (low/high and extra low voltage), switchboards and power factor correction systems, installation of telecommunication equipment, earthing, lightning and surge protection.

The Chairman/Managing Director of Venora International Projects Sagara Gunawardana said that this was a great achievement for the Venora Group to standardise its electrical engineering installations which will better gear them to cater to a growing demand for electrical engineering services. Venora is going for a new venture this month, Venora Telecom, to ensure that we are total solution providers for the telecom sector for tower foundations, tower erections, BTS microwave installations and total data network coverage. Our achieving this certificate is proof that we can complete any project with the quality and standards expected by our valued customers, he said.

Venora has made several noteworthy achievements during the past year including receiving the Swarna Lanka award for services to the nation, achieved ICTAD EM1 Grading and won an award for best electrical installation for Luminaire Residencies South Asia.

Internet runs out of numerical addresses - Reuters

The spread of Internet use in Asia and the proliferation of Internet-connected phones worldwide are causing the Internet to run out of numerical addresses, which act as "phone numbers" to ensure that surfers reach websites and e-mails find their destination.

The top-level authority that governs such addresses will distribute the last batches soon, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement wasn't planned until then.

That doesn't mean consumers will suddenly find websites unreachable, though. And if everything goes according to plan, Internet users won't even notice.

"It will just be 'business as usual' if everyone gets their job done," said CEO of the American Registry for Internet Numbers, or ARIN John Curran, one of five regional groups that dole out such addresses. ARIN covers the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, the top-level administrator of the system, has called a press conference in Miami on Thursday.

One person said its last five "blocks" of Internet Protocol, or IP, addresses will be distributed then. These blocks, each with 16.8 million addresses, will be distributed to the regional registries.

That means the regional groups will have IP addresses to distribute further to Internet service providers, websites and others before running out. Curran expects to deplete his allotment in six to nine months.

The current Internet address system, Internet Protocol version 4, has been in place since the 1980s. It allows for a theoretical maximum of 4.3 billion addresses in use, far beyond what was thought necessary for what was then mainly a network for academic use.

SLASSCOM launches IT/BPO career documentary at EDEX

At the EDEX expo SLASSCOM launched a short documentary on the careers in the IT-BPO industry to showcase the exciting opportunities in the IT/BPO field to guide new entrants who are looking to enter the industry. The documentary is produced by YATV with the endorsement of Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and ICTA.

Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa launching the SLASSCOM IT/BPO career documentary at the EDEX Colombo Exhibition. Also in the picture are SLASSCOM Chairman Dinesh B. Saparamadu and EDEX Chairman, Virtusa Kamal Abeysinghe.

The FutureCareers documentary highlights the work opportunities and experience from young people employed within the IT/ BPO industry across a wide spectrum of jobs to give potential new entrants to the industry an overview of the opportunities.

The FutureCareers documentary features some of big names in the IT and BPO industry namely Virtusa, IFS, Aegis, Eurocentre, eCollege, R R Donnelley, Orion City, Amba Research, HSBC, Zone 24/7 and Eureka Technologies.

The documentary features many success stories in this most advanced and fast growing industry in Sri Lanka which is setting professional standards recognised internationally.

One of the company executives interviewed from IFS in the documentary states the following.

"When I was 10yrs-old I got my first computer and I was really interested in the subject so I represented my school and then my country in various programming competitions. After my AL's IFS gave me a fully paid scholarship so I joined them as a full time employee."

"I started off with a degree program in information systems and graduated about 10 years ago. Since then I worked in several places but finally settled at Virtusa seven years ago.

I've had a phenomenal ride. Starting off as a business analyst, and holding a posts like project manager, program manager, account manager, client services manager and segment manager. Now I'm an associate director for the company", says an employee of Virtusa.

'I joined Aegis in year 2009 as a customer service representative, And with the high quality of training, exposure and guidance provided I am now a senior executive', says an employee from Aegis.

Students can also go online at www.FutureCareers.lk to learn about the industry and to meet professionals re in the industry for advice. SLASSCOM invites industry professionals to also join www.FutureCareers.lk to encourage and offer support and guidance to new entrants to the industry.

The FutureCareers initiative is aimed at expanding the talent pool available to the industry as part of its Capacity Building program. The FutureCareers initiative will focus on connecting Sri Lankan youth to the exciting job opportunities in the knowledge service industry for them to become truly global citizens.

The IT/BPO industry offers exciting work, fun atmosphere, global exposure, fast paced career progression and even an opportunity for one to become an entrepreneur.

Automated birth certificates in Moneragala

The automation of all birth certificates of the Moneragala district has been completed.

Accordingly residents of the Moneragala district could obtain certified copies of birth, marriage and death certificates within a few minutes, said a spokesman for the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). ICTA Chief Executive Officer said that this facility has been provided to mark the Deyata Kirula 2011 national exhibition.

The project was launched under the guidance of Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya in the Moneragala District last December.

The ICTA CEO said that 570,000 birth certificates of people in the Moneragala District have already been automated.

The first certified copy of the birth certificate under this project was issued at the ICTA exhibition stall of the Buttala 'Deyata Kirula 2011' Exhibition premises yesterday.

Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya and Uva Province Chief Minister Shashendra Rajapaksa participated in the occasion.

A spokesman for the ICTA said that the public could visit the ICTA exhibition stall of the 'Deyata Kirula 2011' held at Buttala till February 11.

Asia's global ICT export share to rise record high

New UNCTAD data released reveal that Asian economies in 2009 accounted for 66.3 percent of global exports of information and communication technology (ICT) goods, up from 63.8 percent in 2008. That supports recent findings that the global financial crisis has led to significant shifts in world trade of ICT goods towards Asia. More than one third of world ICT goods exports now originate in China and Hong Kong (China).

Global ICT exports, which represented 12 percent of world merchandise trade in 2009, are increasingly dominated by Asia. Seven of the top ten exporters are Asian economies.

China is by far the largest, with ICT goods exports amounting to $356 billion in 2009, followed by Hong Kong (China) ($142 billion), and the United States ($113 billion).

ICT goods are of great significance for many developing economies, especially in Asia. Reliance on ICT products is most pronounced in the case of Hong Kong (China), where such items represent more than 43 percent of all merchandise exports. Other economies in which ICT goods make up 30 percent or more of exports include China, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan Province of China, and the Philippines.

While ICT exports from most major exporters fell in 2009 as a result of the financial crisis, the decline was particularly pronounced among several European countries.

ICT exports dropped by more than half in Portugal and Finland, by 36 percent in Ireland, and by more than 20 per cent in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, and Sweden. Japan and the United States also saw sharp declines. At the other end of the spectrum, a few economies saw increases.

India's exports increased by a whopping 244 percent, and those of Malaysia by 18 percent. Moreover, declines in exports experienced by China, Hong Kong (China), the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand were relatively modest.

In terms of ICT goods imports, the United States tops the list, followed by China and Hong Kong (China). Among major importers, declines of more than 35 percent were registered in 2009 by Finland, Ireland, Portugal, the Russian Federation and Spain. India, on the other hand, experienced a rapid increase in ICT goods imports, moving from 28th to 17th in the global ranking of importers.

Economies for which ICT goods represent large shares of their imports are mainly found in East and South-East Asia, which are part of global value chains related to ICT products. A few Latin American countries also report a high reliance on ICT goods imports, including Costa Rica (17 percent), Mexico (20 percent) and Paraguay (26 percent).