SLASSCOM hosts Sri Lanka’s first-ever RPA Virtual Hackathon and Conference
The Sri Lanka Association of Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) successfully hosted the first-ever Virtual Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Conference and Hackathon Awards recently, at Galle Face Hotel, with over 300 attendees.
Organised by t he SLASSCOM Business Process Management (BPM) Forum, the event also recognized case studies of companies that have adopted RPA or have implemented RPA solutions for their clients.
The IT/BPM industry is recognized as a t hrust i ndustry within t he National Export Strategy as is promoted globally as the ‘Island of Ingenuity’ for world-class knowledge solutions.
WNS Global Services Managing Director, SLASSCOM Board Director and SLASSCOM BPM Forum Head Dinesh Wickremanayake welcomed the gathering. He spoke of t he challenges that RPA will bring to the industry and the opportunity ahead. He also commented on the high level of interest from the industry and corporates on RPA adoption.
Uipath Global Sales Lead Anshuman Rai delivered the keynote address. He spoke on the current demands in businesses that can be mapped with RPA journey and its benefits across various processes and platforms. This was followed by Economic Reforms and Public Distribution Minister Dr. Harsha De Silva addressing the attendees. He spoke on the potential of the knowledge solutions i ndustry t o transform t he economy. He also commended t he i ndustry for its contribution towards export revenues. He reiterated t he government’s support to enable the industry to reach the Vision 2022 goal of US $ 5 billion export revenue and 200,000 highlyskilled jobs.
The j udges of t he Hackathon included Hayleys BPO Managing Director and SLASSCOM Past Chairman Dr. Arul Sivagananathan, Stax Managing Director and SLASSCOM Past Chairman Ruwindhu Peiris and Wickremanayake. They briefed the attendees on the evaluation process, the nature of business problems addressed and commended the quality of case studies received.
Other speakers included RRD Service Delivery Automation Head Raveendra Jepegnanam, WNS Global Services Quality and Process Excellence Head Buddhi Chandrasena and HSBC Driving Transformation and Process Excellence Global Lead Rakesh Rajora.
This was followed by a panel discussion on R PA Adoption moderated by RRD Global Outsourcing Operations Manager and SLASSCOM General Council Member Srikanthan Jayarajah. The panel comprised of Virtusa EVP, CIO and General Manager Madu Ratnayake, RRD AVP Business Process Improvement Michelle Stanley, Uipath IT and Process Automation Evangelist Priyam Mandal and WNS Global Services Senior General Manager and Operations Head and SLASSCOM General Council Member Beadle Navraj.
The winners of the Hackathon were recognized under three categories – Large Corporate, SME and Individual. The winner in the Large Corporate category was Virtusa and the first runner-up was Dialog Axiata. Millennium Information Technologies was the winner in the SME category with Linearsix being recognized the first runner-up. The solution presented by Charith Wickramasinghe was selected as the winning case study in the Individual Category.
Proposing t he vote of t hanks, SAKS CEO and SLASSCOM General Council Member Rohith Pradeep appreciated the commitment of the SLASSCOM BPM Forum in organising the event. He also thanked the competing companies and challenged the audience to be bold and adopt RPA in their organisations.
The sponsors of the event included Platinum sponsor Uipath, Gold sponsors Novigo Solutions, HSBC, RRD and WNS Global Services. The event was also supported by SLASSCOM’S Corporate Sponsors Dialog Axiata, Exclusive Enterprise Communications Partner and Hatch, Startup Sri Lanka Ecosystem Partner.