The quality of work and the mindset of doing business particularly in the Information Technology (IT) sector in Sri Lanka is good, Mitra Innovations Founder and CEO Ashok Suppiah told a group of journalist in Colombo last week.
However, the tech experts of Mitra Innovation who were in the country last week noted that the reluctance to change and get on to the next phase of growth was a stumbling bloc for the country to spearhead development and keep pace with innovations in the IT world. “What we notice is a fear to change. The biggest challenge for us is to pick talented professionals who would stick around with the company and develop their capabilities,” Suppiah said.
The delegation said there is a quality workforce in the country but they need to be groomed to be more dynamic and take up challenges. They said the brain drain is a reason for the dearth of smart workers and that’s why Mitra is unable to attract smart and innovative workers to its cadre. “We will strengthen our operations in Sri Lanka with around 50-70 professionals to whom we will provide training and help them to be sought after innovators in the world,” Suppiah said.
Mitra Innovations, a technology innovation company based in Sri Lanka, Australia, the US and the UK was founded by three co-founders – Ashok Suppiah (CEO), Derek Bell (COO) and Dammika Ganegama (MD) in 2012.
The company from humble beginnings with a skeleton staff, one office and two clients, and has now grown to a global organisation with an employee headcount of 130 and six offices – three in Sri Lanka and abroad.
The company collaborates with the University of Moratuwa and plans to work with other universities , corporates and public sector institutions to drive innovation and boost businesses.
Mitra Innovation MD Dammika Ganegama said the company has a strong presence in Europe and Asia. Currently it has two clients in Sri Lanka.
“We have a plan for the rest of the year for Sri Lanka and our global operations which will focus on driving capabilities of companies through technological innovation,” Ganegama said.