Sri Lanka technology pioneers to speak at “LBR LBO Enterprise Summit 2016”

Mar 31, 2016 (LBO) - Despite being a developing country, Sri Lanka has created a number of technology leaders and innovators of international repute. When we consider that basic infrastructure is lacking in some parts of the island, this is a contradiction. And yet, Sri Lankans are familiar with this contradiction. Pioneers such as Kris Canakeratne, who heads VirtusaPolari, a multi-million dollar IT outsourcing company , and Tony Weeresinghe, whose stock exchange architecture was bought by the London Stock Exchange, are billed to speak at a high-profile conference in Colombo next week. With a theme of building smarter businesses with smart technologies, they are expected to explain how technology positively transforms businesses around the world.. "Technology pioneers are creating smarter businesses by leveraging the exponential power of the smart technologies – Internet of Things, Mobile Apps, Cloud Computing, Data Science and Social – and are creating extraordinary value to modern society," Lakshaman Bandaranayake, the curator of the summit, said. No doubt, this is true. By connecting people, processes and things via smart technologies businesses are improving financial performances, enhancing customer experiences and increasing employee engagement. They are re-imagining business philosophies, models, processes and customer experiences, and in so doing are arguably making businesses more human centric, agile, responsive, competitive and high performing. According to literature supporting the conference, the governing philosophy is respecting the customer's right to make informed decisions and making sincere and honest efforts to make the required information available in a timely and easily accessible manner. Consumers too are rapidly embracing technology-powered lifestyles in all aspects of their lives. This week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, speaking in San Francisco said: “We have these profound questions and issues in front of us.” “Is technology empowering people, or is it displacing us? Is technology helping us preserve our enduring values such as privacy, or is it compromising it?” For enterprises in Sri Lanka too, the challenge remains: How do we ensure businesses embrace technology and thrive, while creating positive value within society. Bandaranayake said more than 25 thought leaders would speak at the conference, together with over 300 technophile participants, providing inspiration for novel ideas. Romesh Ranawana, the managing director of SimCentric Technologies, an R&D company specializing in advanced simulation add-ons and behavior control modules, will be one of the speakers. With an innovation grant from the UK Centre for Defense Enterprise, the company aims to solve a major challenge for intelligence analysts: dealing with large quantities of data and generating insights from data. International speakers from Uber, TNS Bhavik Rathod from Uber India, and Zoe Lawrence from TNS, a global research agency, are also billed to speak. Other speakers represent high-profile companies: WSO2, Microsoft, Hemas, Lanka Clear, LOLC, MAS, Google, KPMG, nCinga, MIT, Stax, Unilever, N*Able, Antyra, Sampath Bank, Cake Labs, wow.lk, Sunshine and Textured Jersey. The many ways in which Sri Lanka has deployed digital technologies are rising rapidly. Local start-up “Pick-Me” and global ride-share company “Uber,” empower citizens to choose the best transportation option for their needs. “Pick-Me” and Uber give consumers access to safe, affordable rides, quickly through an app on their smartphones. Ceylon Electricity Board is deploying Smart Metering Technology, which will provide consumers with near real time electricity usage data giving them power to make decisions on their consumption levels. SMT will also make consumption and billing data transparent to both the consumer and utility provider at the same time. There are several hundred Airbnb “hosts” in the city of Colombo and suburbs. These “hosts,” front-runners in the shared-economy, are generating new revenue streams for themselves from existing properties while offering travellers cheaper alternatives and alternative experiences. CEB (by deploying SMT), Pick-Me, Uber and AirBnb all examples of institutions or companies extracting new value out of existing infrastructure by deploying digital technology. The LBR LBO Enterprise Summit 2016, "Build Smarter Businesses with Smart Technologies or be Outsmarted" will be held on Thursday the 7th April at the Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand. For more details about the conference click here