Information technology in Sri Lanka

Information Technology in Sri Lanka refers to business process outsourcing, knowledge process outsourcing, software development, IT Services, and IT education in Sri Lanka.^[1] Sri Lanka is always ranked among the top 50 outsourcing destinations by AT Kearney, and Colombo and ranked among "Top 20 Emerging Cities" by Global Services Magazine.^[2] The export revenue of this industry grew from USD 213 million in 2007 to USD 1.2 billion in 2021.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

History

For the purpose of developing IT in Sri Lanka, Computer Society of Sri Lanka was started in 1976.^[7] Sri Lanka's IT, KPO/BPO industry has a short span of history starting around 2000.^[1] IT/BPO sector has been identified as a priority sector for economic development in the country.^[3]

Business process outsourcing

Sri Lanka is an offshore development center and Joint venture hub for several Fortune 500 companies from North America, UK, Australia, Sweden, Norway and Japan. Well known customers of Sri Lankan BPO industry include Google, J.P. Morgan & Co, Microsoft, Emirates, Infor and Qatar Airways.^[3]^[4]

Rankings

Publication^[3]	Publisher	Rank
Location Trends Reports	IBM	12
Global Services Location Index	AT Kearney	within top 25
Leading Locations For Offshore Services	Gartner	within top 30
Global Centers of Excellence for Finance & Accounting Outsourcing	Global Services	within top 19
Emerging Global Cities For Finance & Accounting Outsourcing	Tholons	7
Outsourcing Destination of the Year	National Outsourcing Association	1

Government Bodies

The prominent government body related to IT in Sri Lanka is the Ministry of Technology.^[8] Other than that Ministries of Education, Skills development are working on developing the education while Ministry of Industry and Commerce is on industrial level activities.^[9]

Revenue Statistics

Year	Total Export Revenue of ICT/ BPM ^[5]^[10] (in million. US$)
2018	$1,035.00
2019	$1,089.00
2020	$1,011.00
2021	$1,217.00

Legislation

IT in Sri Lanka is governed under the Information and Communication Technology Act No. 27 of 2003.^[11]^[12]

Other Related Acts

Electronic Transactions Act, No. 19 OF 2006
National Digital Policy for Sri Lanka
Data Protection Bill
Telecommunication Levy Act, No. 21 OF 2011
Telecommunication Levy Act(Amendment) Act, No. 8 OF 2013

Agencies

The Information and Communication Technology Agency (Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SLCERT)
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka Archived 2021-10-29 at the Wayback Machine (TRCSL)

Organisations

Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) similar to India's NASSCOM is another agency working on the development of business, education and employment.^[13]

Recent development

There are many global IT services companies established in Sri Lanka such as HSBC, IFS, Intel, Motorola, WNS, RR Donnelley, Virtusa, Pearsons and Accenture.^[3]

IT parks

Sri Lanka has few government owned and privately managed IT Parks.^[14]

Orion City IT Park established in 2009 is a privately owned IT park situated in Dematagoda area in Colombo. The Park is spread over 16 acres and currently has 800,000 sq feet of developed space.^[15] Currently this park houses, Virtusa, IFS AB, WNS Global Services and several other IT and non-IT companies.^[16]

In 2011 a full featured IT park was proposed to be built at Hambantota as a government project.^[17] In 2012 this project was approved by the Cabinet.^[18]

TRACE Expert City is a similar project, developed by the Urban Development Authority, working with the Ministry of Defense. It is situated in Maradana.^[19]

In February 2016 India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj announced that they are offering an IT park for Sri Lanka considering the IT industry's importance in the country.^[20]

Employment

According to the National ICT workforce Survey 2013, the positive domestic developments and gradual recovery of the global economic situation have created a conducive environment for growth of the industry’s workforce and the projection figure shows that this trend is likely to continue. The overall workforce has grown to 75,107 in 2013 with a projection. In 2013, 63% of the workforce held graduate or post-graduate level qualifications.^[3]

The IT industry has become one of the largest sectors in producing employment opportunities in Sri Lanka by creating thousands of IT job openings.^[21] Notably, many foreign IT companies start production officers in Sri Lanka due to the wide availability high quality skilled resources and relatively low operational costs.

IT education

Secondary Education

In the national level curriculum, first computer related subject taught at public schools is Information and Communication Technology. This is an elective subject for GCE Ordinary Level in Sri Lanka. For GCE Advanced Level in Sri Lanka a compulsory subject and an exam called General Information Technology was introduced considering the need of IT literacy for every student. Under the technology stream introduced for GCE Advanced Level in past years a new main subject for IT, Information and Communication Technology is added.^[22]^[23]

Higher Education

With the rapid development of IT industry and increasing job demand in the 1990s, steps were taken by both government and private sector to improve the IT education across the country.

Criticism

CEPA Controversy

In 2016 January, the Sri Lankan government announced that Indo-Sri Lankan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and Sri Lanka will be finalized. It is assumed that Sri Lankan IT industry's job market will be opened to Indians by this agreement causing unemployment among Sri Lankans.^[24]^[25]^[26]

Future

Sri Lanka's IT industry's goal is to achieve USD 5 billion in exports by 2022 while creating 200,000 jobs and uplifting 1,000 tech start-ups.^[27]

References

^ ^a ^b "Key Sectors For Investment - Knowledge Services". Retrieved 29 December 2015.
^ "CT/BPO Services". Retrieved 28 December 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Sri Lankan IT/BPM Industry - 2014 Review" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
^ ^a ^b "ICT/BPO Industry In Sri Lanka" (PDF). Sri Lanka Business. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
^ ^a ^b "SRI LANKA'S EXPORT PERFORMANCE 2019" (PDF). Export Development Board. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
^ "ICT-BPM EXPORT PERFORMANCE". Export Development Board. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
^ "CSSL concludes NITC 2020 in new normal". Daily News. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
^ Government elevates Jayantha De Silva as Secretary to the newly established Ministry of Technology and Prof. Lalith Gamage as new chairman of ICTA
^ "THE CONSTITUTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
^ "Export Performance - ICT Services - Industry Information - EDB".
^ "ICTA". Retrieved 28 January 2016.
^ "INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ACT, No. 27 OF 2003". The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
^ "About". Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
^ "BOI Administered Zones". Retrieved 29 December 2015.
^ "What we do". Retrieved 29 December 2015.
^ "Orion City fulfills need for top-notch IT Park in Colombo". Info Lanka. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
^ "Hambantota IT Park : prospects, opportunities and challenges". Digit.lk. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
^ "Hambantota IT Park receives cabinet approval". Business Times.
^ "TRACE Expert City". TimeOut Sri Lanka. 27 November 2015.
^ "India offers to open up IT park in Sri Lanka". Ada Derana. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
^ "It Information Technology Job Vacancies in Sri Lanka - Jobup.lk". www.jobup.lk. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
^ "Information & Communication Technology" (PDF). National Institute of Education. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
^ "G.C.E. (A/L) ICT Syllabus (Revised)". Ministry of Education. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
^ "CEPA: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly". The Sunday Leader. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
^ Kirindagoda, Thilina. "CEPA With India: Opportunity Or Threat To Sri Lankan Professionals?". Colombo Telegraph. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
^ ජයමාල් චන්ද්‍රසිරි, කෞෂල්‍ය සමින්ද. "ලංකාව ඉඟුරු දී මිරිස් ගන්නයි හදන්නේ". Lankadeepa (in Sinhala). Retrieved 26 January 2016.
^ "SLASSCOM: Driving the IT/BPO Industry of Sri Lanka". Business Today. Retrieved 28 December 2015.

[BOI1-1] "Key Sectors For Investment - Knowledge Services". Retrieved 29 December 2015.

[SLEDB-2] "CT/BPO Services". Retrieved 28 December 2015.

[PDF-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Sri Lankan IT/BPM Industry - 2014 Review" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2015.

[ITBPO_Presentation-4] "ICT/BPO Industry In Sri Lanka" (PDF). Sri Lanka Business. Retrieved 30 December 2015.

[KCS-5] "SRI LANKA'S EXPORT PERFORMANCE 2019" (PDF). Export Development Board. Retrieved 5 May 2021.

[6] "ICT-BPM EXPORT PERFORMANCE". Export Development Board. Retrieved 7 June 2023.

[7] "CSSL concludes NITC 2020 in new normal". Daily News. Retrieved 21 April 2021.

[8] Government elevates Jayantha De Silva as Secretary to the newly established Ministry of Technology and Prof. Lalith Gamage as new chairman of ICTA

[gazz-9] "THE CONSTITUTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2016.

[10] "Export Performance - ICT Services - Industry Information - EDB".

[ictapage-11] "ICTA". Retrieved 28 January 2016.

[ictAct-12] "INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ACT, No. 27 OF 2003". The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

[slasscom-13] "About". Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016.

[BOI2_Zones-14] "BOI Administered Zones". Retrieved 29 December 2015.

[OrionCity_Official-15] "What we do". Retrieved 29 December 2015.

[InfoLanka_OrionCity-16] "Orion City fulfills need for top-notch IT Park in Colombo". Info Lanka. Retrieved 29 December 2015.

[17] "Hambantota IT Park : prospects, opportunities and challenges". Digit.lk. Retrieved 29 December 2015.

[BusinessTimes_MoreDetails-18] "Hambantota IT Park receives cabinet approval". Business Times.

[TEC-19] "TRACE Expert City". TimeOut Sri Lanka. 27 November 2015.

[AdaDerana_1-20] "India offers to open up IT park in Sri Lanka". Ada Derana. Retrieved 7 February 2016.

[21] "It Information Technology Job Vacancies in Sri Lanka - Jobup.lk". www.jobup.lk. Retrieved 2021-04-17.

[22] "Information & Communication Technology" (PDF). National Institute of Education. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2016.

[23] "G.C.E. (A/L) ICT Syllabus (Revised)". Ministry of Education. Retrieved 22 January 2016.

[cepa_1-24] "CEPA: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly". The Sunday Leader. Retrieved 24 January 2016.

[cepa_2-25] Kirindagoda, Thilina. "CEPA With India: Opportunity Or Threat To Sri Lankan Professionals?". Colombo Telegraph. Retrieved 24 January 2016.

[lankadeepa_cepa-26] ජයමාල් චන්ද්‍රසිරි, කෞෂල්‍ය සමින්ද. "ලංකාව ඉඟුරු දී මිරිස් ගන්නයි හදන්නේ". Lankadeepa (in Sinhala). Retrieved 26 January 2016.

[BT1-27] "SLASSCOM: Driving the IT/BPO Industry of Sri Lanka". Business Today. Retrieved 28 December 2015.

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