INFOTEL–2018 officially launched

The premier ICT exhibition INFOTEL–2018 organized by the Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS) was officially launched at the Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo on recently. The biggest and most prestigious Information and Communication Technology (ICT) exhibition in Sri Lanka and the whole of South Asia, INFOTEL–2018 will be held from November 2nd to 4th, 2018, at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo. The theme of this year’s exhibition will be “Towards a Digital Economy”.

FITIS’S objective is to align with National objective of IT Industry to increase Sri Lanka’s IT and IT Enabled Services (ITES) exports to US$5 billion, while providing employment to 200,000 by 2022. FITIS Chairman Dr. Kithsiri Manchanayake who was speaking at the launch of Infotel 2018, which took place at Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo, said the current workforce employed in the ICT Sector is closer to 80,000. FITIS will launch few programmes directly targeting these national objectives at Infotel 2018 National ICT Exhibition.

The Minister of Telecommunications, Digital Infrastructure and Foreign Employment, Hon. Harin Fernando is the Chief Guest at the Launch Media Conference held at the Kingsbury Colombo has stated ‘‘INFOTEL has been a regular feature on the ICT calendar since 1992 and has played a significant role in the world of IT. The theme this year, “Towards a Digital Economy” is very much in line with the country’s economic goals; enhancing the digital infrastructure while facilitating a digitally empowered economy forms the core of those goals. We believe that while improving the digital infrastructure in Sri Lanka, engaging constructively with the digital world boosts the country’s and the individual’s ability to communicate with the global market place opening up tremendous opportunities in the process. The government recently launched a strategy for digitizing the economy which will usher a new era in the digital landscape of the country.” He further said under the strategy they have identified 13 projects in various sectors and the three key sectors that have been identified were agriculture, tourism and manufacturing with plantations, fisheries also coming into the scene. Hon. Harin Fernando is also chairing the Steering Committee of Infotel 2018.

Wellington Perera, Chairman, Infotel 2018 Main Organizing Committee, point out benefits of join hand with Infotel-2018 as a partner, sponsor or exhibitor. He explained ‘a significant turnout of around 50,000 quality visitors, including executive officers of local and foreign companies in the ICT sphere, eminent professionals, policy makers, entrepreneurs, educationists, educational institutions and universities, teachers, lecturers and decision makers from Public and Privet sector are expected to attract to this premier exhibition. In addition, the plans are in place to reach 40,000 school students through a ‘Career Guidance Programme’ bundled with Infotel 2018. A key highlight of the event will be the showcasing of new and innovative products and services and novel ICT solutions by exhibitors in the field, in addition to a series of special features, which will add colour to this eagerly-awaited annual happening in Colombo. It will also serve as a lucrative platform for new business opportunities.”

Sri Lanka Telecom Group Chief Marketing Officer Ajantha Seneviratne was the key note speaker at the forum and he delivered the key note address on ‘Humanly Digital’. During his address he mentioned that Sri Lanka is only in the kindergarten of the digital economy. “Social and cultural transformation should go hand in hand with digitization, otherwise we will fall back to square one,” he cautioned. The hurdles that digitization must overcome are both socioeconomic and sociopolitical challenges, Seneviratne added.

FITIS Organized the Infotel National ICT Exhibition since 1992 and Infotel–2018 is patronaged by the government and private sector institutions. The Ministry of Telecommunication, Digital Infrastructure and Foreign Employment, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, Ministry of Tourism Development, Export Development Board, ICT Agency of Sri Lanka, Exports Development Board are the government organizations which has already extended their support to this biggest annual event in Sri Lanka’s ICT calendar. SLASSCOM, BCS Sri Lanka Section and CSSL are Industry Partners. Bhasha Lanka is the Digital Payment Partner, Pawara Concepts is the Digital Marketing and Web Partner, Vizuamatix is the Conference Solutions Partner, Omentra is the Official Procurement Partner. For more information on Infotel–2018 log on to website www.infotel.lk or email manager@fitis.lk

In the picture (From Left to Right) The Minister of Telecommunications, Digital Infrastructure and Foreign Employment Hon. Harin Fernando, FITIS Chairman Dr. Kithsiri Manchanayake, Infotel-2018 Main Organizing Committee Chairman Wellington Perera addressing gathering.