Sri Lanka's technology landscape:

Start-ups play vital role - SLASSCOM chairman

Building a vibrant knowledge economy fuelled by the IT sector, will lay the foundation for Sri Lanka to become a middle income country, Chairman, SLASSCOM, Mano Sekaram told the SLASSCOM AGM recently.

"Sri Lanka should create an asset-owning workforce for the ICT industry, which would help eradicate the brain drain within the industry. If we can create the same environment that they go looking for in other countries, we can certainly stop this brain drain. We should work with regulators and provide IT/BPM sector employees with access to housing and other permanent assets," he said.

Sekaram emphasized the need to take the Sri Lankan IT/BPM sector to the regions outside the Western Province to bring about inclusive growth and reaffirmed the vital role start-ups will play in building Sri Lanka's technology landscape and called for the strengthening of the thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem that will serve as the foundation for the 1,000 Start-Up Initiative by 2022.

Sekaram who counts over 25 years of global experience in IT/Software Management is an industry thought leader, and a regular representative of Sri Lanka's IT/BPM industry nationally and globally.

SLASSCOM is the national chamber for the IT/BPM industry in Sri Lanka and acts as the catalyst of growth for the Sri Lankan IT and BPM industry by facilitating trade and business, propagation of education and employment, encouragement of research and innovation, and by supporting the creation of a progressive national policy framework.

It has an ambitious 2022 Vision to become a $5 billion industry, creating 200,000 direct jobs and launching 1,000 start-ups.