No existing industry can provide jobs for today's youth - ICTA CEO

While start- ups are taking the lead among today's young generation, none of the existing industries can provide jobs for aspiring talented individuals, according to Muhunthan Canagey, Managing Director/ CEO of Information and Communication Technology Agency in Sri Lanka (ICTA).

"Start- ups are the only way forward among upcoming youth in the country to become successful business men and women," he said, making comments at the Disrupt Asia 2017 conference launch and media briefing at the Trace Expert City in Colombo on Tuesday.

He pointed out that one of the key repercussions of start- ups is the fear of taking risks. "Unless you take risks and fail you will never learn from them," he noted. The need for start-up funding exists in the country while there is also lack of knowledge and expertise on pitching to the clients, he stated.

At the media briefing, ICTA Chairperson, Chitranganie Mubarak noted that start-up entrepreneurship is crucial for the economy of any country and it will bring lots of job opportunities.

This year's Disrupt Asia 2017 conference will be held on July 12 at the Hilton Colombo featuring more than 40 speakers, nine sessions and two keynote speeches, said ICTA Project Manager Ahamed Nishadh. "It is a gathering of a start-up ecosystem with knowledge sharing, learning, showcasing, innovation and networking," he added. Workshops on becoming investor ready, legal aspects and the wonders of digital marketing will be held during the conference while 35 technology based product companies will also be exhibited, he stated.

According to an ICTA media release, as high growth technology start-ups look to be the primary growth engine of the new information economy, the recent development of start- up ecosystems blooming all over the world including Asia has tremendous consequences for the future of the global economy.

In Sri Lanka too, start-ups (may be small compa- nies) can play a significant role, contributing economic dynamism, spurring innovation and injecting competition, at times on a global scale.

With successful start-ups emerging as engines of growth and employment, Sri Lanka's budding start-up ecosystem has taken firm root. A recent successful ICTA initiative saw Sri Lanka being featured for the first time in 'The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2017' with a positive outlook of the country's ecosystem. Published by Startup Genome, the report is the largest worldwide research project on start-up, providing a comprehensive look at how regions foster and sustain vibrant startup ecosystems.

Though the report heralds Sri Lanka's inclusion as among the younger start-up ecosystems in the world, ICTA has been carrying out several activities to fast-track this ascendency. ICTA's 'spiralation' tech start-up support programme has been supporting start-ups since 2010 with seed funding, market access, mentoring, training and creating awareness among secondary and tertiary students on entrepreneurship, the media release stated.