APICTA (Asia Pacific ICT Alliance) Awards, is the premiere regional ICT competition, widely recognized as the Oscars of the ICT industry in Asia. Held this year for the 23rd time, the competition held in Brunei Darussalam from 4th to 7th December 2024 saw over 290 products from 16 member countries in the APAC region competing across 25 categories. It was inaugurated by the Crown Prince of Brunei on 5th December.

Based on the winners of categories, Sri Lanka was placed fifth overall, securing 2 Category Winner Awards, 6 Runners Up positions, and two Merits. The Sri Lankan delegation comprised of 33 Nominations under commercial products and Universities from National ICT Awards (NBQSA) and 4 Junior and Senior Secondary Students nominations from the Young Computer Scientist Competition).

The Sri Lankan Delegation Comprised of over 50 participants, 1 Advisory Judge, 6 Judges, Exco members and other officials.

Today 12.12.2024, the winners of the Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards 2024, held in Brunei last week, met with the Deputy Minister of Digital Economy, Eng. Eranga Weeraratne. The Minister congratulated the winners for their exceptional achievement in representing Sri Lanka. At the awards ceremony, the Sri Lankan team secured a total of 10 awards: 5 in the commercial category (including 2 Gold winners), 2 in the tertiary category (1st runner-up), and 3 in the school category (1st runner-up and 2 merits).

Commercial Categories:

• 2 Winners (Epic Lanka Pvt Ltd, Linear Six Pvt Ltd)
• 3 awards of 1st Runners Up positions (Epic Lanka Pvt Ltd, PayMedia Pvt Ltd, Overleap Pvt Ltd.)

Tertiary Student Categories:

• 2 awards of 1st Runners Up positions (SLIIT, USJ)

Junior/Senior Student Categories:

• 1 award or 1st Runners Up Position (Sivali Central College, Ratnapura)
• 2 Merit Awards (Ananda College, Gateway College)

In his remarks, the Minister emphasized the significant role of their contributions in supporting the government’s efforts to increase targeted revenue to $5 billion and expand the IT industry into a $15 billion Digital Economy in 2030. He also highlighted the potential for growth across various sectors, including services, products, and solutions, while underscoring the country’s goal of creating a unicorn in the near future.

The meeting was also attended by BCS Chairman Mr. Alanzo Doll, along with other BCS Sri Lanka Directors and representatives from the ICTA Director Board, including Mr. Sanjaya Karunasena and Mr. Bandula Rantunga.

All professionals invited to participate in creating a digital economy

• Digital economy expected to generate USD 15 billion in revenue within the next five years
• President highlights these goals upon assuming duties as Minister of Digital Economy
• President Anura Kumara Dissanayake emphasized the need for the support of all professionals to digitize the country and actively participate in the process, at a time when the expectations of the political establishment and digital technologists are aligned.

He further assured that he would firmly stand by this vision at any time.

The President shared these remarks while addressing officials of the Ministry of Digital Economic Affairs after assuming duties as the Minister of Digital Economic Affairs today (05).

Highlighting the benefits of digitalization, the President stated that it has the potential to enhance the efficiency of economic activities and elevate the country's economy to greater heights.

The President highlighted that the government's primary objectives are poverty eradication, transforming social attitudes, and advancing digitalization.

The President emphasized that a country's development cannot be achieved solely by constructing buildings. Reflecting on the past, he recalled the existence of a dedicated construction ministry two decades ago and noted that currently, construction activities are being undertaken by every ministry.

He revealed that during discussions with the Ministry of Education authorities and university chancellors last year, no attention was given to education reforms, with the focus remaining solely on building construction.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake also highlighted that despite the Ministry of Labor possessing two large buildings, there has been no reduction in public queues, stressing that digitalization is essential to address such issues effectively.

The Ministry has outlined a plan to generate an income of USD 15 billion within the next five years through the digital economy. Efforts will also be directed towards increasing the digital workforce to 200,000 and digitizing the entire country within the same timeframe.

Engineer Eranga Weeraratne assumed duties as the Deputy Minister of Digital Economy during this occasion.

The event was attended by Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Acting Secretary to the Ministry of Digital Economy Waruna Sri Dhanapala, Senior Advisor to the President on Digital Affairs Hans Wijayasuriya, who is also the Chairman of ICTA, along with a group of officials.

ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථිකයක් ඇති කිරීම සඳහා සහභාගී වන ලෙස සියලු වෘත්තීයවේදීන්ට ආරාධනා කරනවා

ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථිකය මඟින් ඉදිරි වසර පහ ඇතුළත ඇමෙරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 15ක ආදායමක් අපේක්ෂා කෙරේ

ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථික අමාත්‍ය ධුරයේ වැඩ භාර ගනිමින් ජනපති පවසයි

දේශපාලන අධිකාරියේ සහ ඩිජිටල් තාක්ෂණවේදීන්ගේ අපේක්ෂා සමපාත වී ඇති මේ අවස්ථාවේ රට ඩිජිටල්කරණය කිරීම සඳහා සියලුම වෘත්තීයවේදීන්ගේ සහයෝගය අපේක්ෂා කරන අතර ඒ සඳහා සහභාගි වන ලෙස ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

ඕනෑම අවස්ථාවක ඒ වෙනුවෙන් තමන් පෙනී සිටින බවත් ජනාධිපතිවරයා එහිදී සඳහන් කළේය.

ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා මෙම අදහස් පළකළේ , අද (05) පස්වරුවේ ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශයේදී එම අමාත්‍ය ධුරයේ වැඩ භාර ගැනීමෙන් අනතුරුව අමාත්‍යාංශ නිලධාරීන් අමතමනි.

ඩිජිටල්කරණය තුළින් ආර්ථික කටයුතුවල කාර්යක්ෂමතාව වැඩි කර රටේ ආර්ථිකය ඉහළ මට්ටමකට ගෙන ඒමට හැකි බවද ජනාධිපතිවරයා සඳහන් කළේය. දිළිඳුබව තුරන් කිරීම, සමාජීය ආකල්ප වෙනස් කිරීම සහ ඩිජිටල්කරණය රජයේ ප්‍රමුඛ අරමුණු වන බව ජනාධිපතිවරයා පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

ගොඩනැගිලි ඉදිකිරීමෙන් පමණක් රටක් සංවර්ධනය නොවන බව පෙන්වා දුන් ජනාධිපතිවරයා මීට දශක දෙකකට පෙර ඉදිකිරීම් අමාත්‍යංශයක් පැවතුණු බව සිහිපත් කළ අතර මේ වන විට සෑම අමාත්‍යාංශයකින්ම සිදු කරන්නේද ඉදිකිරීම් පමණක් බවද කියා සිටියේය.

පසුගිය වසරේ අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යාංශයේ බලධාරීන් හා විශ්වවිද්‍යාල කුලපතිවරුන් සමඟ පැවති සාකච්ඡාවලදී අධ්‍යාපන ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ පිළිබඳ සාකච්ඡා සිදු කර නොමැති බවත් සිදු කර තිබෙන්නේ ගොඩනැගිලි ඉදිකිරීම් සඳහා සාකච්ඡා පමණක් බවත් ජනාධිපතිවරයා අනාවරණය කළේය.

කම්කරු අමාත්‍යාංශයට විශාල ගොඩනැගිලි දෙකක් තිබෙන නමුත් තවමත් ජනතාවගේ පෝලිම්වල අඩුවක් දක්නට නොලැබෙන බවත් ඒ සඳහා විසඳුම් ලබා දීමට නම් ඩිජිටල්කරණය අත්‍යවශ්‍ය බවත් ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථිකය මඟින් ඉදිරි වසර පහ ඇතුළත ඇමෙරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 15ක ආදායමක් ඉපැයීමට ද අමාත්‍යාංශය සැලසුම් කර තිබේ.

ඩිජිටල් ශ්‍රම බලකාය ලක්ෂ දෙක දක්වා වැඩි කිරීම, සමස්ත රටම ඩිජිටල්කරණය ඉදිරි වසර පහ තුළ ඉටු කිරීමට අදාළ ක්‍රියාකාරී සැලැස්ම ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට මෙහිදී අවධානය යොමු කෙරිණි.

ඉංජිනේරු එරංග වීරරත්න මහතාද මෙම අවස්ථාවේ ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථික නියෝජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ධුරයේ වැඩ භාර ගත්තේය.

ජනාධිපති ලේකම් ආචාර්ය නන්දික සනත් කුමානායක , ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථික අමාත්‍යාංශයේ වැඩබලන ලේකම් වරුණ ශ්‍රී ධනපාල, ඩිජිටල් කටයුතු පිළිබඳ ජනාධිපති ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ උපදේශක, ICTA ආයතනයේ සභාපති හාන්ස් විජේසූරිය යන මහත්වරු ඇතුළු නිලධාරින් පිරිසක් මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක්ව සිටියහ.

A significant meeting was held at the Ministry of Digital Economy, presided over by the newly appointed Secretary, Mr. Waruna Sri Dhanapala, alongside Mr. Janaka Sampath Geekiyanage Director (Development)). The session aimed to strengthen Sri Lanka’s ICT industry and discuss strategies to elevate its global presence.

Representing BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, were prominent leaders including the current Chairman, Mr. Alanzo Doll, Immediate Past Chairman and APICTA Executive Committee Member, Mr. Vajeendra S Kandegamage, APICTA Treasurer, Mr. Ruwan Amarasekara, BCS Treasurer, Mr. Sanharsha Jayatissa, and Economy Coordinator appointed by BCS, Mr. Rajeeva George.

The discussion cantered on Sri Lanka’s participation in the Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) 2024, where 35 innovative ICT products selected from the National ICT Awards 2024 will compete. These innovations highlight the remarkable talent and ingenuity within Sri Lanka's ICT sector.

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, has been a cornerstone in promoting Sri Lankan ICT excellence, organizing the National ICT Awards for 26 consecutive years. Their commitment to uplifting the industry has positioned Sri Lanka as a strong contender on the international stage.

The Secretary emphasized the Ministry’s dedication to fostering a conducive environment for ICT development and congratulated the BCS team for their pivotal role in taking Sri Lanka’s ICT industry to the next level. This collaboration underscores the collective effort required to bring global recognition to Sri Lanka's technological capabilities.

Today (02), The newly appointed acting Secretary to the Ministry of Digital Economy, Mr. Waruna Sri Dhanapala met the heads of the organizations under preview of the Ministry. SLT-CEO, TRCSL-DG, ICTA-CEO, SLCERT-CEO, DRP-Commissioner General and the executive staff of the Ministry of the Digital Economy were present at the event.

Today (02), Mr. Waruna Sri Dhanapala assumed duties as the acting Secretary to the Ministry of Digital Economy at the Ministry premises.

The Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL) proudly inaugurated the 42nd edition of the National Information Technology Conference (NITC) 2024, under the transformative theme “Catalyzing the Progressive Future Towards Society 5.0”. This year's conference brings together luminaries from the technology, policy, and academic spheres to discuss the pivotal role of technology in building a smarter, inclusive, and sustainable society.

Addressing the gathering, Dr. Ajantha Atukorale, President of CSSL, underscored the importance of leveraging technology not only for economic growth but also to enhance human well-being. The focus of Society 5.0 - a vision that bridges the digital and physical realms - aligns with this year’s NITC theme, emphasizing technology's role in addressing humanity’s most pressing challenges.

To further support this transition, the CSSL President proposed establishing a Chartered ICT Professional Entity, which would foster a resilient and sustainable ICT workforce. He also advocated for recognizing the ICT sector as a distinct industry within the national economy, a step that could catalyze Sri Lanka’s digital transformation.

Sri Lanka’s journey toward Society 5.0 presents immense potential. The nation’s talent pool, resilience, and strategic positioning offer a significant opportunity to emerge as a regional leader in this transformative era. The President remarked on the critical role of collaboration among policymakers, educators, industry leaders, and innovators in realizing this vision. Highlighting the establishment of the Ministry of Digital Economy by the Sri Lankan government, he noted the significance of cohesive efforts in positioning Sri Lanka as a global digital hub by 2030.

Reflecting on the government’s efforts, Deputy Minister Eng. Eranga Udesh Weeraratne reaffirmed the administration’s dedication to driving the digital transformation: “The establishment of the Ministry of Digital Economy is a testament to our commitment to a digital-first future. By investing in infrastructure, talent, and innovation, we aim to position Sri Lanka as a competitive player in the global digital economy. Collaboration with the private sector, academia, and global partners will be key to achieving our vision.”

The NITC 2024 serves as a platform for thought leaders and changemakers to engage in meaningful discussions about the future of technology and its role in society. Over the course of the conference, participants will explore diverse topics ranging from AI ethics and cybersecurity to digital entrepreneurship and smart city innovations.

The Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL), which was established in 1976, is the apex body representing Computing professionals in Sri Lanka. The CSSL is a member of the South East Asia Regional Computer Confederation (SEARCC) and the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). CSSL is a provisional signatory of the Seoul Accord, the international accreditation agreement for professional computing and information technology academic degrees, between the professional bodies in its signatory countries such as Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States through which CSSL brings international standards on ICT related degrees to Sri Lanka. CSSL is an accredited professional body by the International Practice Partnership (IP3). CSSL became the first ICT professional body in South East Asia to achieve the world-renowned IP3 Accreditation.

Today (07), Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya convened a meeting with senior officials from key government institutions, under the Ministry of Technology, and public sector institutions providing information technology services.

The Prime Minister underscored the importance of advancements in science and technology within the ministry and reviewed the ongoing progress of IT services to foster Sri Lanka’s development. Key discussion topics included digitization efforts, the integration of artificial intelligence, and current challenges to IT development in the public sector.

Pradeep Saputantri Secretary to the Prime Minister, Secretary of the Ministry of Education, science, and Technology Ms.Thilaka Jayasundara, additional secretaries A.K. R. Alawatta, H. W. K. Atawoodage, Sri Lanka Telecom CEO Janaka Abeysinghe, CEO of the Information and Communication Technology Agency, Mahesh Perera, CEO of Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Response Forum Kanishka Karunasena, Director General of Sri Lanka Standards Institute Siddhika G. Senaratne, Director General of Sri Lanka Data Protection Authority Varuna Sri Dhanapala, and other representatives have been participated.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය හරිනි අමරසූරිය සහ විද්‍යා හා තාක්ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නිලධාරීන් අතර හමුවක්.​

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය හරිනි අමරසූරිය, ඊයේ (07) විද්‍යා හා තාක්ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය යටතේ ඇති ප්‍රධාන රාජ්‍ය ආයතනවල සහ තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ සේවා සපයන රාජ්‍ය අංශයේ ආයතනවල ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නිලධාරීන් සමඟ හමුවක් කැඳවා තිබිණි.

අමාත්‍යාංශය තුළ විද්‍යාව හා තාක්‍ෂණය භාවිතයේ වැදගත්කම අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරිය මෙහිදී අවධාරණය කළ අතර ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංවර්ධනය නංවාලීම සඳහා තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ සේවාවන්හි පවතින ප්‍රගතිය පිළිබඳවද සමාලෝචනයක නිරත විය.

නව රජයේ ඩිජිටල්කරණ ප්‍රයත්නය සහ රාජ්‍ය අංශයට නවීන තාක්ෂණය මුසු කිරීමේදී කෘත්‍රිම බුද්ධිය භාවිතා කිරීමේ ඇති හැකියාව සහ තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ අංශයේ සංවර්ධනය සඳහා වන වත්මන් අභියෝග පිළිබඳවද මෙම හමුවේදී සාකච්ඡා කෙරිණ.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් ප්‍රදීප් සපුතන්ත්‍රි, අධ්‍යාපන, විද්‍යා හා තාක්ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් තිලකා ජයසුන්දර, අතිරේක ලේකම්වරුන් වන ඒ.කේ. ආර් අලවත්ත, එච් ඩබ්ලිව් කේ අතාවුදගේ, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ටෙලිකොම් ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී ජානක අබේසිංහ, තොරතුරු හා සන්නිවේදන තාක්ෂණ නියෝජිතායතනයේ ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී මහේෂ් පෙරේරා, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පරිගණක හදිසි ප්‍රතිචාර සංසදයේ ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී කණිෂ්ක කරුණාසේන, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රමිති ආයතනයේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් සිද්ධිකා ජී සේනාරත්න, ශ්‍රී ලංකා දත්ත ආරක්ෂණ අධිකාරියේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජෙනරාල් වරුණ ශ්‍රී ධනපාල යන මහත්ම මහත්මීන් ඇතුළු නියෝජිතයින් සහභාගී විය.

Digiecon Global Investment Summit 2024 is scheduled happen on the 25th of June in Colombo & The Media Conference about this event was held at the President’s Media Center.

DigiEcon Global Investment Summit 2024 will focus on connecting domestic and foreign investors with Sri Lanka’s leading tech startups, allowing them to showcase their innovative products and services.

It will also facilitate knowledge sharing between the government and industry, thereby supporting the vision of Sri Lanka becoming a digital-first nation.

The summit will include a host of activities, such as keynote address by subject matter experts, panel discussions involving government and industry representatives, and one-to-one interactions between investors and startups. The event will delve into subjects, such as emerging technologies, fintech, and the potential of the digital economy.

his summit is a must-attend for investors, innovators, and policymakers interested in Sri Lanka's thriving tech scene. Ministry of Technology of Sri Lanka is organizing the event in association with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka Ministry of Investment Promotions & also Finance Ministry.

The event will be powered by Mastercard and the industry partners for the event will be Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL), BCS The Chartered Institute for IT (Sri Lanka Section), SLASSCOM and FITIS.

The Ministry of Technology proudly announced the successful launch of AI Clubs in Schools, marking a significant step towards enhancing AI literacy among young students. The initiative, part of the National AI Strategy 2024-2028, aims to promote AI knowledge and skills, preparing students for a future where AI competencies will be crucial for success.

The initiative is a collaborative effort involving the Ministry of Technology, the Ministry of Education, AIClub, SLASSCOM, and IronOne. Dr. Nisha Talagala, a world-renowned pioneer in AI literacy and the CEO of AIClub, leads the programme. Her extensive experience and leadership are pivotal to the success of this initiative. Hon Kanaka Herath addressing the gathering said “Our National AI Strategy is a five-year roadmap designed to address the challenges of AI adoption and take AI to the grassroots level. The Ministry of Technology is launching AI clubs in schools nationwide along with the Ministry of Education to promote AI literacy and innovation, with the aim of creating a thriving AI ecosystem in Sri Lanka that benefits all sectors of society.”

The combination of this world-class platform, the expertise of AIClub, the involvement of the private sector and development agencies, and the strong leadership and commitment from policymakers and administrators positions Sri Lanka to be on par with advanced countries in AI literacy at the school level if the pilot program is successfully scaled up. The vision is for all schools in Sri Lanka, across all parts of the country, and covering all demographics, to have access to AI education.

The event was graced by the Minister of Education Hon. (Dr.) Susil Premajayantha, the State Minister of Technology Hon. Kanaka Herath, Chairman of the National AI Committee Dr. Romesh Ranawana, CEO of AI Club Dr. Nisha Talagala, Secretary of Ministry of Education Ms. Thilaka Jayasundara and Secretary Ministry of Technology Dr. Dharmasri Kumaratunge. Further, many dignitaries from both government and private sectors attended the event & it was witnessed by over 300 school students.

Meeting was held to discuss regarding the implementation plans of IT park concept in the country with the officials of Ministry of Industry Promotion, SLASSCOM and Ministry of Technology. Meeting was co chaired by State ministers of Ministry of Industry Promotion and Ministry of Technology.