SLASSCOM, Sri Lanka’s national chamber for the IT/BPM industry, recently hosted a CEO Breakfast in collaboration with the United Nations in Sri Lanka and the UN Global Compact Network Sri Lanka, under the theme of ‘The Business Opportunity in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’.
The event featured heads and representatives of foreign missions, representatives of UN agencies, heads of international development agencies and CEOs of the IT/BPM sector.
The focus of the CEO Breakfast event was to highlight the business opportunities provided by SDGs and understand how IT/BPM businesses, both globally and locally, are collaborating to find solutions to shared societal and environmental challenges. Another goal was to understand the relevance and linkage between SDGs and the UN Global Compact’s ‘Ten Principles’ and how business can establish a culture of integrity.
Speaking on the inspiration behind the event’s theme, Jehan Perinpanayagam, Vice Chairman of SLASSCOM, said that the benefits to businesses come in multitudes from how stakeholders view businesses that support and actively work towards achieving SDGs positively, to numerous opportunities SDGs provide that businesses can leverage.
United Nations Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer-Hamdy stated that the UN in Sri Lanka is delighted to partner with SLASSCOM on its journey towards sustainable positioning. She pointed out that development success and business success go hand in hand, and that “most companies benefit from operating in healthy, thriving societies, with effective infrastructure, good governance, and predictable policy environments”.
The IT/BPM sector’s involvement is particularly vital in championing the SDGs as technological innovation and sustainability can mutually reinforce one another. When used effectively, technology was shown that it can provide efficient solutions for development challenges from the local to the global level.
The report of the groundbreaking SLASSCOM-PwC Industry Study on ESG Practices was presented by Chairman of SLASSCOM Ashique Ali to the UN Resident Coordinator.
Marking a significant milestone, the SLASSCOM’s Baseline ESG Standards for the Industry developed in partnership with KPMG, PwC and the United Nations in Sri Lanka was unveiled. Unveiling the standards, UN Sri Lanka’s Azam Bakeer Markar emphasized that the ESG Baseline standards helps the industry share a common global understanding on ESG, enhance clarity and credibility through benchmarks, differentiate the industry as a whole to achieve its intended global positioning.
As the industry body, SLASSCOM has pledged the adoption of the standards and it engage its members to move forward in the sustainability journey.
The keynote speech was made by Omar Bawa, co-founder of Goodwall, the leading professional community for youth globally that inspires and supports young people to develop their skills and kickstart their careers. He emphasized how driving impacts linked to SDGs drives its business model.
The gathering also featured a presentation by Priyanka Abbi, Accenture’s Business Strategy Senior Manager, on the Business Case for SDG Integration in the IT/BPM sector, highlighting that sustainable technology has a two-fold imperative, “to use technology more sustainably, and to use technology as vehicle for being more sustainable”.
A fruitful panel discussion followed, moderated by UN Sri Lanka’s Azam Bakeer Markar. The panelists comprised of Virtusa’s Head for Asia-Pacific Naresha Supramaniam and Dialog Axiata Group CEO Supun Weerasinghe, who made a clarion call to businesses to focus on SDG impact in their business models. This would in turn support SLASSCOM’s stated aim to position Sri Lanka as the world’s leading sustainable destination for IT/BPM.
Chairman of UN Global Compact Network Sri Lanka and CEO of Dilmah Tea Dilhan Fernando highlighted the benefits of purpose-oriented businesses delivering economic, social and environmental impact, in line with the Ten Principles of the Global Compact.
