Lanka Sites

Sri Lanka has the best IT potential growth prospects in South Asia, says a reputed international organisation. The "Sri Lanka Information Technology Report Q 1 2010" from Business Monitor International recommended by Fast Market Research last Thursday (18) says that the Sri Lankan IT market indicates the best potential growth prospects in South Asia. The report points out that the total IT spending in Sri Lanka keeps rising and that all indications are that it would be nearly doubled in 2013. The amount projected thus in three years from now, namely, US$ 494 million indicates a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15 per cent. This projected CAGR is quite high as compared with the total size of the legal IT market estimated at US$254 in 2008.

Referring to the computer market the report says: "the computer market has comfortably been growing at a double-digit CAGR for the past several years". Giving the reasons for this massive growth the report goes on to say:" The Sri Lankan government’s e-Sri Lanka strategy outlines the country’s vision for information society development, and forms the basis for initiatives related to ICT development. A key measure was the establishment of the ICTA (Sri Lanka’s Information and Communications Technology Association), which has led ICT projects on various fronts. In recent years, plans for large scale deployment of broadband have been announced. Platforms have included not only DSL but also WiFi, and fixed wireless solutions such as WiMax. Meanwhile, to broaden digital access, the ICTA has piloted the construction of community information centres, with internet access, at sites across the country. Despite the government’s financial weakness, a focus on restructuring government through the application of ICT has achieved some results. A key project is the Lanka Government Network (LGN) which is being implemented for the government by Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT). In stage one of the project, a total of 325 government offices are being connected via a VPN, allowing them on-line access to a centralised IT system".

From The Island Newspaper