IT industry urged to take lead creating local talent pool...
The stakeholders in the IT sector must take the lead in creating a talent pool to face the considerable shift in skills and talent required from the global workforce in the next decades, without waiting for the government to take action, Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Thorbjørn Gaustadsaether said.
Delivering the welcome speech at the ICT Breakfast Forum organised by Sri LANKA-NORDIC Business Council, Norwegian Business Association Sri Lanka and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce as the chief guest, the Ambassador said jobs of the future will require more critical thinking, advanced skills in science, technology, engineering and maths, creativity, interdisciplinary knowledge and people skills among others.
“Building this talent pool for the future has to start now and it is the responsibility of government, policy makers, as well as the private sector and individuals. Since the need is so critical, you in the IT industry must take the lead. If you wait for the government, this will take too long and might not be what you require. Therefore, the IT industry must come together, although competitors with each other, in this question you have only one goal that is creating the right pool of talent for the industry needs,” he said on Friday.
He said the IT sector has been optimistic while discussing the challenges it has and that ‘skills requirements’ is a key theme in many sectors as well as in the IT sector.
“Along with the skills requirement, we also need to think that disruptions in different sectors will happen. How does Sri Lanka be part of these changes? How does the IT industry link with other sectors and create the disruptions in those sectors? Far too often, I find that in Sri Lanka various sectors are not speaking to the IT industry. How can this be changed where innovation is part of every sector, and talking to the IT industry is a must. These are some of the questions I pose to you for your deliberations, and I hope that together we can assist Sri Lanka in meeting these challenges,” he said.
The ICT Breakfast Forum concluded with a penal discussion on ‘21st Century Skills: How do we create a talent pool for the future’, which was moderated by ICT Agency Sri Lanka Chairman Prof. Rohan Samarajiva.
SLASSCOM Chairman Jeevan Gnanam, SLASSCOM Director Chandi Dharmaratne, Noroff School of Tech and Media Deputy Director Beathe Due and School of Emergence Founder Lars Mortensen Laegreid expressed their views and opinions about the education systems, creating talent pools and job satisfaction among many other topics during the panel discussion.