ICTA Sri Lanka making a token presentation as APICTA 2015 National partner (from left) FITIS Chairman Chinthaka Wijewickrama, APICTA 2015 Co- Chairman Abbas Kamrudeen, University of Colombo School of Computing Director Prof. Gihan Wickramanayake, APICTA 2015 Co-Chairman Ruwan Amarasekera, ICTA Chairperson Chitranganie Mubarak and ICTA CEO Muhunthan Canagey


The Federation of Information and Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS) and BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, Sri Lanka Section announce that the APICTA 2015 international awards ceremony, considered the ‘Oscars’ of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in the Asia Pacific region, will be held in Sri Lanka this time. 

APICTA, the largest ICT awards ceremony in the Asia Pacific region, will be held in Colombo from November 18-21 this year, with the participation of over 650 ICT innovators, experts, investors, traders and entrepreneurs from 16 member countries.

The National partner of APICTA 2015 is the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), the apex ICT institution of the government. 

ICTA CEO Muhunthan Canagey said, “This is a great opportunity for Sri Lanka to position the country among the international community. We can promote our products and services and this enables us to showcase our talents to the world. APICTA also brings leading ICT firms and professionals under one roof and we can certainly look forward to new business opportunities, investments, joint ventures and technology transfers with APICTA 2015.”

APICTA Chairman Dr. Dileepa De Silva said, “This is a great opportunity for Sri Lanka to position the country among the international communities. We can promote our products and services and this enables us to showcase our talents to the world. APICTA also brings leading ICT firms and professionals to a single place and we can certainly look forward for new business opportunities, investments, joint ventures and technology transfers with APICTA 2015” 
The Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) is an international awards programme organised by APICTA, which aims to increase ICT awareness in the community and assist in bridging the digital divide. Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) is an alliance of national ICT organisations representing their respective countries to build and enhance a mutually cooperative network to promote ICT, enhance technology innovations, capability and adoption and encourage the development of indigenous ICT solutions for the global market. Sixteen countries in the Asia Pacific region have been members of this regional alliance, including countries with developed and established economies like Australia, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand, etc. 

By providing networking and product benchmarking opportunities to ICT innovators and entrepreneurs in the region, this awards programme is designed to stimulate ICT innovation and creativity, promote economic and trade relations, facilitate technology transfer and offer business matching opportunities via exposure to venture capitalists and investors. 

Apart from the APICTA Awards, the other main parallel event is the APICTA 2015 Business Forum, which will create a common platform for investors, traders and the business community to benchmark their innovations, explore possible business partnerships and investments, explore import and export market entry points and share innovative ICT solutions for business etc. A business lounge will be operated during this event and would consist of a breakfast meeting with the Japanese delegation, a panel discussion and one-to-one business match-making lounge.

Parallel to the Business Forum, a Student Knowledge Sharing Forum will also be conducted. This is expected to contribute towards the skills and knowledge upgrading of youth in tertiary and secondary education for both Sri Lankan as well as foreign students visiting Sri Lanka to attend the APICTA 2015 competition.

The events calendar for the Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) 2015 competition are as follows, November 18-20 - APICTA 2015 Awards ceremony, November 21 - APICTA 2015 Business Forum, November 20 - APICTA 2015 Students Forum and November 20-22 - Infotel - 2015 Exhibition.