The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) announced that it successfully concluded the inaugural ‘National Digital Consortia’, from 10th to 13th January 2022, in partnership with FITIS, SLASSCOM, BCS, and CSSL. The event featured 6 Global Tech Giants - Microsoft, Zoom, AWS, Google Cloud, Oracle, and Huawei. The event was a platform to present the latest products services and share insights on the latest trends in the global tech industry.

Commenting on the event, Mr. Anura De Alwis, Chief Digital Economy Officer, ICTA, stated,

“ As the apex body driving digital transformation in the nation, the purpose behind organizing an event of this nature is to expose Sri Lanka to the latest developments in the technology industry. It is a first of its kind, bringing six global technology giants onto one platform. In doing so, we wanted to expose the public sector, private sector, tech industry, technology enthusiasts, and the general public to the latest happenings in technology. Thereby encouraging the adoption of digital technology”.

He also went on to say, “Digital Economy is a key pillar in the overall national digital transformation strategy. We are now in a phase of executing the national digital economy strategy, and it’s been a fantastic experience seeing our digital economy grow. The adoption of digital technology is crucial in enhancing the digital economy of Sri Lanka. For the very first time, we can now measure the digital economy, and the digital economy contribution to GDP stands at 4.37% as of today.”

The sessions showcased the latest technology trends in Agriculture, Health, Education, and Fintech. Additionally, fireside chats, case studies on digital government transformation, Cyber Security, Customer Engagement, and Transformation were some of the key topics discussed.

Google hosted the first session on the 10th of January, where they focused on innovation in agriculture, education, and eealthcare with the help of Google Cloud. The Google Cloud team thanked ICTA for the opportunity in letting them represent Google Cloud. The team valued the

engaging discussions, allowing them to understand the local market better, and look forward to more collaborative engagements in the future. Amazon Web Services (AWS) discussed the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in transforming agriculture, education and accelerating digital transformation.

Zoom hosted the second session on the 11th of January.  Digital government transformation was yet another key topic discussed, followed by a panel discussion on ‘Reimagining Customer Engagement’. On the 12th of January, Oracle hosted the sessions with four simultaneous product and industry-related sessions on agriculture, healthcare, fintech, and education. Oracle thanked the organizers for the invitation to participate in the event and congratulated ICTA for taking the lead in organising a successful event.

Microsoft conducted the last session held on the 13th of January. They discussed one of the most talked-about topics during COVID-19; Cyber Security, and drove their orientation towards the digital economy. Microsoft appreciated the enthusiasm and eagerness of the audience to engage with the speakers. While congratulating ICTA for successfully concluding such a large-scale event, they expressed their willingness to work closely with ICTA on future engagements.

Huawei too, expressed their willingness to collaborate with ICTA in future, and appreciated the organizers for a well-organized event. Over 1000 Participantsactivelyengaged with the six multinationals during the four-day event.  The multinational corporations expressed that the event added much value to them and created a platform to build links to establish themselves in Sri Lanka.

Photo Caption - The Participants of the inaugural National Digital Consortia Divya Jain, Corporate Sales Manager, Google Cloud, Sunil PP, Head for Education, Space & NPOs ,Amazon Web Services India and South Asia, Inho Oh, Solutions Engineering Manager, SEA/India, Zoom, Michael MacDonald, Chief Digital Officer, APAC, Huawei, Basudev Banerjee, APAC Financial Services Leader, Microsoft, Shuchim Trehan, Vice President, Solution Engineering ASEAN, Oracle