Sri Lanka seeks to promote ICT skills in former war zone

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Thu, 09 September 2010 11:19:58

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Northern Recovery

07 Feb, 2010 08:22:49

Sri Lanka seeks to promote ICT skills in former war zone

Feb 07, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s information communications technology industry wants to promote ICT business and skills in northern Jaffna to generate employment in the former war zone, officials said.

The Federation of IT Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS) said it will hold an exhibition later this month in the Jaffna peninsula to create awareness and also hold training programmes for youth who were former Tamil Tiger combatants.

The exhibition will also feature an ICT career guidance program for northern youth.

Arrangements have also been made to conduct lectures on ICT use in small and medium enterprises which are expected to grow as the region recovers from the 30-year ethnic war which ended last May.

“FITIS aims to develop ICT and entrepreneurial skills among northern youth and promote information technology ventures in Jaffna,” A Jayaseelan, Acting Chairman – FITIS, told a news conference.

The exhibition, called ‘Mini INFOTEL Jaffna’, will be held during February 26 – 28 at the Vembady Girls High School.

“The exhibition will help to integrate northern youth into the mainstream society by equipping them with the necessary IT skills,” said Ruwan Weerasinghe, chairman of INFOTEL Society (Lanka) and director, University of Colombo School of Computing.

The ICT career guidance programme is supported by the government’s Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) and the Ministry of Education.

“Jaffna has been an untouched location in terms of ICT human resources and we have the opportunity to inspire and guide career paths of the Jaffna youth,” said Reshan Devapura, chief executive of ICTA.

Jaffna is reputed for its excellence in education and has potential to be one of the main ICT cities in Sri Lanka, he added.

“The Mini Infotel event in Jaffna will help to increase awareness of ICT amongst the northern youth” said Dumindra Ratnayake, chief executive of mobile operator TiGO, an exhibition sponsor.

FITIS will also help the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation to raise funds from the private sector to build ICT training facilities in the north.

FITIS will conduct entrepreneurship and training programmes in collaboration with Ichiban Consultants of India to enhance entrepreneurial skills of youth undergoing rehabilitation.

“The FITIS programmes will help successful integration of youth undergoing rehabilitation into the society as these programs intend to provide means for reintegration as well as inculcating important life skills,” said the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation Daya Ratnayake.

The Jaffna Infotel will bring together IT companies in Sri Lanka – both local and multinational – as well as organizations in the banking, IT training, professional and higher education sectors.