Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) has formulated an ICT Capacity Building Programme (ICBP) to catalyze the development of ICT capacity of the country. The ICBP has three (3) broad sub-components
These programmers will be implemented through 30 strategies identified in consultation with the private sector.
The overall goal of the Policy and Capacity Building Program, ICBP, is to strengthen, predominantly through private sector-led initiatives, the existing ICT industry in Sri Lanka; to encourage emerging sectors of the industry and entrepreneurship, to stimulate broad-based industry growth, and to promote international competitiveness. The ICBP is intended to provide benefit to stakeholders across the broad spectrum of the Sri Lankan ICT industry, including, but not limited to; the software industry, IT enabled service industry (ITES), manufacturing, IT training providers and the expected growth of IT consulting services.
Additionally, investments funded under the ICBP are expected to contribute to social harmony, expanded employment opportunities and geographical and regional equity. Expanded employment opportunities may be (a) directly in the ICT industry; (b) indirectly in organizations that will arise to support the ICT industry, or (c) additional employment opportunities in traditional industries and government, as institutions in these sectors adopt more advanced computer systems.
1. ICT Industry Human Resource Development
Strengthening Management and Professional Skills:
The lack of ICT professionals has been a recurrent theme in recent reports on the industry in Sri Lanka. This issue has several dimensions. A depressed national labour market, affected by two decades of civil unrest, and higher salaries abroad influence many ICT professionals to seek a career outside Sri Lanka. While the available pool of ICT professionals is thus a concern, of particular concern for Strengthening Management and Professional Skills is the depth of the human resources pool for experienced middle and upper level managers, those with more than five years relevant experience. This shortage is felt strongly in software design, project management and software business consulting. In this cluster of activities particular emphasis will be placed on initiatives to strengthen management and professional skills where the benefits to industry are expected to be realized in the near- to mid- term.
Strengthening Workforce Skills in the ICT Industry:
This program has as its broad goal to strengthen human capital across the ICT industry workforce, enhancing the skills and competencies of those entering and those already employed in the ICT industry. Initiatives will foster innovation and growth and enhance the capacity of companies and individuals to compete on a level playing field with foreign competition within Sri Lanka, and in markets abroad; by promoting activities aimed at ensuring that a national workforce with the appropriate skill mix is available. A critical challenge for Training and Workforce Initiatives will be to establish a balance between short-term solutions for issues of immediate importance, and long term goals, which may require five to ten years before the impact is felt.
A guiding principle of the ICBP design is to promote activities and investments which will benefit the ICT industry as a whole. The ICBP is not intended to develop specific companies. Although individual companies will certainly gain benefits from strategies under this program the objective is to invest in those activities which can demonstrate greatest benefits to the industry. Similarly the ICBP is geared to encourage diversity and provide assistance as broadly as possible. To this end assistance to individual companies will be limited at different levels.
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2. Industry Promotion and Development
Industry promotion has as its broad goal to provide funding and technical assistance support which will enable Sri Lanka to identify and take advantage of domestic and global business opportunities in the ICT field. The E-Sri Lanka Roadmap for ICT Development envisions a focus on emerging opportunities in three key segments; development of software products for new applications and markets, capturing of a significant share in the global software services market and, securing a dominant position in the global market for Information Technology Enabled Services, ITES, including Business Process Out-sourcing, BPO. In pursuit of this vision industry promotion will need to focus both on export and domestic markets, and develop specialized niche markets, including both software services and products and both lower and higher end BPO. The importance of the domestic market is recognized as while it small and not offering profit margins comparable to that of the export market it is likely to continue to be important as a seed bed for local firms’ capacity building. Strategies supported under this program will encourage innovation and excellence, quality assurance, market specialization and market diversification. Specific strategies will build capacity and expand the utilization of ICT in SMEs and Micro-enterprises.
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3. Creating an Enabling Environment for ICT Industry Growth
The strategies in this program of activities recognize that development of ICT human capacity and promotion of the ICT industry will require an enabling environment in which to be effective. Strategies will support quality assurance through incentives for ICT companies to seek international accreditation, and the accreditation and capacity building of national ICT training providers. Additionally strategies will seek to “repatriate” international ICT expertise through fostering links in a Global Network for ICT Expatriates and improving the profile of the ICT industry and the skill base of entrants into the ICT workforce by familiarizing career counselors with the skills, attitude and knowledge expected by private sector ICT employers.
The program will also fund technical assistance to undertake an industry training needs analysis the results of which will be used to rank training needs in order of industry demand to create the national priority training list to be supported under the program.
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Investment and Private Sector Development
