In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s IT/ BPM sector has emerged as a shining beacon of resilience and hope. SLASSCOM aims to collaborate with companies in this sector and help them rise to the occasion and adapt their business and work models to cope with the global disruptions caused by the pandemic as well as the prevailing situation in the country with shortages in energy and rising inflation.
As a result of these recent catastrophes, the sector needs to be geared to operate and effectively combat these threats and to understand and adapt to the latest changes. Companies should be receptive and ready to accept the challenge of transforming, be highly resilient and resourceful, quickly adapt to the changing business landscape and be ready for the next wave of growth and future of the IT industry.
Keeping these aspirations in mind, SLASSCOM held a CEO breakfast meeting at the Jetwing Seven Colombo titled “ESG an enabler of growth and value enhancement for knowledge and innovation industry; Turbo charging IT / BPM growth”.
This program was targeted to support organizations to align their business strategy in line with prevailing changes and trends. SLASSCOM and other leading industry specialists shared perspectives on the importance of a growth mindset, agility, ESG adoption to business modules as well as understanding market pain points. They provided insights for organizations to strengthen and enhance their organizational buy-in to attract investors, gain a deeper engagement with stakeholders and enhance their business sustainability and acquire global partnerships by showcasing their focus to be resilient and resourceful.
Ruwindhu Peiris Managing Director at Stax Inc. delivered the first session on the topic covering key elements of a growth mindset and how companies could accelerate and position their business strategy with the prevailing changes. The 2nd session was on the topic “The Role of ESG: addressed by Dr. Ravi Fernando – Chairman/CEO of Global Strategic Corporate Sustainability. These discussion topics provided guidelines on how companies can identify the appropriate criteria and incorporate latest changes to their overall sustainable strategy. It also highlighted the advantages of proactively tackling ESG issues and building a robust ESG program to open up access to large pools of capital.
The speakers also explored how key leadership elements and ESG considerations can be included at all levels of decision-making, whether by higher management, company boards and committees or on a day-to-day basis by the workforce.
Jehan Perinpanayagam, Vice Chairman of SLASSCOM stated “we are acutely aware of the threats facing our planet and the future of our children. We are very keen as a responsible association that our membership adopts the highest standards of compliance and make a meaningful change. SLASSCOM’s vision for Sri Lanka is to be known as a responsible IT/BPM service provider and to create a positive image globally on Sri Lanka’s commitment towards ESG, because as the investor community slowly but steadily realises the importance of ESG, shareholder activism on ESG issues will continue to grow amidst the prevailing situation and we are keen that our IT/BPM industry is well geared for this situation.”
He added “it is never too early or too late to embed a growth mindset, agility, and ESG into an organizational business model. Embracing the best practices early improves valuation and ultimately long-term success. Further, as organizations build their understanding of the risks and opportunities and link these elements into their overall strategy, they will be more equipped to recognize, measure and report on ESG metrics. A key deliverable for companies will be to learn from industry peers who are leading the game and to imbibe the culture of linking each aspect of their business to these latest changes and trends assisting companies to pave the way in making this happen is what we are hoping to achieve through this forum”.