ICT
From The Report: Sri Lanka 2018
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Sri Lanka was the first country in South Asia to roll out a nationwide 4G network, its mobile market is highly competitive and it is home to a number of major tech companies. Connectivity is improving quickly, the environment for innovation is undergoing a positive transformation and the government is starting to make significant investments in e-governance. While Sri Lanka may not have the critical mass of places like India and China, it has – as with manufacturing – been able to establish a strong regional position and lay the groundwork for future development.

This chapter contains an interview with Jeevan Gnanam, CEO, Orion City.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Positive outlook: Improved connectivity and collaboration with international partners driving ICT development
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Sri Lanka was the first country in South Asia to roll out a nationwide 4G network, its mobile market is highly competitive and it is home to a number of major tech companies. Connectivity is improving quickly, the environment for innovation is undergoing a positive transformation and the government is starting to make significant investments in e-governance (see analysis). While Sri Lanka may not have the critical mass of places like India and China, it has – as with manufacturing – been…

Interview

A fertile environment: Jeevan Gnanam, CEO, Orion City, on the support structures needed to help the digital start-up scene flourish
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Jeevan Gnanam : Interview What steps can be taken to create a better environment for innovative and digital start-ups beyond the provision of funding? JEEVAN GNANAM: The government needs to look at regulatory changes that affect the cost of failure for a start-up and its investors. Simply put, it should be easy for a start-up to commence and shut down operations, and investors should not have to take on more liability as investing in a start-up is already considered risky. For start-ups this means…

Analysis

Getting started: As it works to overcome initial funding problems, the island is emerging as an important location for high-value start-ups
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While efforts are under way to transform the environment, the start-up ecosystem in Sri Lanka remains underdeveloped. At both a government level and in the private sector, resources are being committed to encourage and support entrepreneurship. These initiatives appear to be paying off, with a significant uptick in activity occurring in recent quarters and a critical mass having been achieved. “There are more start-ups than three years ago and a lot of exciting stuff is going on. Corporates…

Analysis

Strong demand: Despite lagging network speed, the sale and use of smartphones is growing steadily
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The Sri Lanka mobile internet market is experiencing fast, healthy growth. As technology improves and consumer habits change, the online world is quickly moving from desktop to handheld devices. In some ways Sri Lanka is already ahead of the curve; it was the first country in South Asia to adopt 4G and is making progress towards the rollout of 5G. However, execution has so far been less than perfect, and performance needs to be improved in some areas. Increased Usage The number of…