TECHNOLOGY

ICTA's Green IT to make Lanka a sustainable sourcing destination

The ICTA aims at making Sri Lanka one of the most sustainable IT-BPO destinations in the world, said a senior ICTA spokesman when ICTA launched its Green IT initiative in Colombo recently. A large number of personnel from several IT-involved companies participated.

ICTA ICT Investment and Private Sector Development Program Head Fayaz Hudah, Green IT Practice Head Daman Dev Sood, Carbon and Neutral Company Asia Pacific Managing Director, Rani Virdee at the launch

Commenting on the importance of making Sri Lanka an attractive destination for IT-BPO by making it environment friendly, ICTA Chief Executive Officer Reshan Dewapura said, "Under the Mahinda Chintana one of the challenges the country has before it is the challenge to make it the knowledge hub of Asia.

The IT-BPO sector can contribute much towards meeting this national challenge.

According to our national ICT five-year plan creating a two billion US dollar IT-BPO industry and a 100,000 IT -related workforce by 2016 is envisaged. Making the country as environment friendly as possible will go a long way in achieving the goal set before us".

ICTA ICT Investment and Private Sector Development Program Head, Fayaz Hudah said, "ICTA aims at making Sri Lanka branded as one of the most sustainable outsourcing destinations in the world. As a step towards this companies are encouraged to obtain globally recognised accreditations such as 'Carbon Neutralisation' and 'Environmental Sustainability'.

This will go a long way in making their products competitive in the local and international market.

To articulate this encouragement ICTA has introduced 'Company Accreditation Grants' to meet consultancy and certification costs.

The grants could go up to a maximum USD 15,000 per company".

The objective is to make export oriented local companies become ideal companies to be selected by international companies for their IT-BPO work by becoming environment friendly. Companies become environment friendly when they reduce their carbon footprints.

A carbon footprint is the total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an organisation, event or product.

A study has revealed that if every small business owner in the USA conducted a teleconference instead of a domestic business trip there would be a saving of $25.4 billion dollars in travel expenses and 10.5 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Companies are adjudged as valuable not merely on the basis of their financial performance but also their ecological and social performance.

The bottom line of ICTA's Green IT initiative is the 3BL or TBL the acronym for 'Triple Bottom Line', or "people, planet, profit" or "the three pillars.

Agile software methodology guru to share experiences

The Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) has invited Certified Scrum Trainer, Pete Deemer who has over 23 years experience in leading team-build technology at Silicon Valley companies, to address its members on April 4.

Titled 'Management 2.O - challenges in managing software companies', Pete will share latest management practices of Silicon Valley's leading software companies that have helped produce dramatic improvements in productivity, quality and innovation.

As former Vice President of Product Development for Yahoo, Pete led Yahoo's successful large-scale corporate adoption of agile development, one of the biggest current trends in the global software industry.

He was also the founder of GameSpot, now in its 15th year as a leading entertainment technology website, and has served as an advisor and board member for numerous Silicon Valley start-ups.

Pete is an honours graduate of Harvard University and is now in Singapore as the CEO and founder of GoodAgile, the leading Agile development consulting and training company in South Asia.

His customers include services companies - Infosys, Wipro, and TCS and product companies such as Nokia, GE, and Oracle.

He specialises in working with teams doing offshore agile development and is co-author of The Scrum Primer, one of the most widely read introductions to agile development, and the lead author of The Distributed Scrum Primer, a new guide to distributed and multi location Scrum.

Pete will conduct a two-day Certified Scrum Master training program on April 5 and 6, where SLASSCOM members will benefit from special discounted rates.

Pete is scheduled to visit two leading state universities during his stay to share his experience with students.

CCC blog dedicated to enterprise development

Secretary General/CEO Harin Malwatte (centre) with Deputy Secretary General/Financial Controller Alikie Perera (2nd from left)and Senior Assistant Secretary General Ayoni Waniganayake (extreme right) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce with officials of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific.

Foreseeing tremendous potential to position itself as a more involved and proactive business entity to support regional development, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) launched its Regional Enterprise Development Initiative (REDI) - a web-based portal for interaction and information sharing, to mark the CCC's 172 anniversary.

The launch was during the program - SME Access to Finance - conducted by the CCC for the benefit of regional entrepreneurs, along with the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) and the Confederation of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI).

The Chamber (along with its partners in this project) hopes to direct regional enterprises through a doorway of access to recourses on investment and investment opportunities, sector and specific innovative information on products and new product developments, and access to a storage of information on investors, and generate detailed information through a resourceful database.

As the needs of regions vary from one area to another, CCC will be in a position to be a driving force to provide a more coordinated service to the regions. CCC is currently involved in rebuilding and supporting regional development initiatives and institutions.

LG launches green plasma refrigerators

The latest from LG's Silk Road Series, the 490 litre white floral top mount refrigerator with green ion doorcooling and green plasma technology, was launched at Abans, the sole agent for LG electronics and home appliances in Sri Lanka, recently.

The state-of-the-art LG GN-M492CPN refrigerator encompasses advanced and innovative features to preserve food in the most nutritious and wholesome state.

LG's green plasma technology makes the most of the 3-way ventilation system to remove micro-bacteria and malodorous particles, creating an absolutely pure air quality that keeps food fresher than ever.

Working hand in hand with green catechins and ions, green plasma also enhances sterilisation of the interior of the refrigerator. Green plasma, enables a sterilisation function that works in tandem with a cool airflow and extracts from green catechins.

In addition, a three-way ventilation cooling system on the door, sides as well as the back of the cabinet, ensures an even temperature in the refrigerator, which is particularly essential in keeping preserved foods fresh.

The ventilator also circulates extracts of green catechin tea leaves, which help remove bacteria and odours from food, while vapourised vitamins dispensed by vitamin plus function slows down the aging of fruits and vegetables.

LG's green plasma technology can extract up to two million anions (measured from 16cm away) producing the kind of fresh air only found in dense forests or waterfalls, anions prevent the spread of harmful microbes, purify the air and enhance cell activation that keeps food fresh and nutritious for longer periods.

While the refrigerator has every conceivable health and energy saving feature, it also has a novel and attractive design.

It has beautiful signature glass-etched flower patterns on the doors that make it a real work of art and a control panel on the door gives it a sleek and elegant finish.

OUSL introduces mLearning

There is a growing demand for teacher training programs that are designed especially for teachers of English Literature.

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) launched a program to provide English teachers with training in teaching English literature through a course designed to amalgamate practical approaches for teaching the subject along with exercises to enhance teacher competencies.

The course offered by OUSL will incorporate Mobitel's innovative learning platform - mLearning. Currently being used by the Universities of Colombo and Ruhuna for degree and development programs, mLearning has grown since its launch in 2008 to harness learning at a national level.

Vice Chancellor OUSL Prof. Upali Vidanapathirana said, "The English language plays a pivotal role imperative to the growth of our nation."