Breakfast Archives

January 4, 2024

The Sri Lanka Association for Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) recently hosted a CEO Breakfast Series, focusing on the imperative theme of Green Digital Economy and the endorsement of E-signatures to propel Sri Lanka towards a sustainable future.

In alignment with Sri Lanka’s vision to be recognized as the world’s first Green IT/BPM destination, SLASSCOM aims to raise awareness of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles among its 350+ member companies and over 100,000-strong workforce. SLASSCOM has established a dedicated ESG forum, an advisory committee of experts, and has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to partner with the UN Resident Coordinator’s office, demonstrating its commitment to sustainable practices.

The CEO Roundtable on Transitioning to a Green Digital Economy held at Jetwing Colombo Seven, brought industry leaders together to explore sustainable business models, the role of digital technologies in achieving sustainability goals, and the potential of innovation within the IT/ BPM sectors.

SLASSCOM’s Operations Director, Feroz Cader, (LSEG) set the stage for the event, emphasizing the need for a concerted effort to lead the charge towards a sustainable future. The spotlight then turned to Channa De Silva, CEO of Lanka Pay, who shed light on the efficiency gains of Digital Signatures, paving the way for paperless workflows and process optimization.

Neranjan Dissanayake, CTO of Just In Time Technologies, presented on “Innovation for a Sustainable Future: The Crucial Role of Technology in Green Business Transformation.”

The event’s highlight was a panel discussion featuring distinguished professionals from various sectors, including Jayantha Fernando, Partner, Heritage Partners & Director, Sri Lanka CERT, Ms. Mahesha Amarasuriya, Director Mastercard, Sri Lanka, Neranjan Dissanayake, and Vinura Jayawardene, Group Sustainability Engineer, Brandix. The discussion, moderated by Prashani Illangasekera, Deputy General Manager Group ESG, Hayleys PLC, covered topics on leveraging technology for sustainability, supporting micro and SME sectors, and navigating ESG regulations.

The panelists discussed issues on the importance of sustainable practices, the potential of digital technologies for innovation, and the role of governance in driving ESG initiatives. They explored avenues for digital transformation, emphasized the significance of sustainability in decision-making, and discussed the role of renewable energy in powering digital infrastructure.

Jayantha Fernando shared best practices and emphasized the integration of sustainability into digital transformation strategies. Mahesha Amarasuriya addressed the potential of digital technologies for sustainable innovation and creating new business opportunities. Vinura Jayawardene tackled challenges and barriers faced by organizations in adopting and scaling sustainable practices, offering viable solutions and outlining future plans. Neranjan Dissanayake provided a vision for embracing a paperless future with document management systems.

A national initiatives for a green digital economy was explored, highlighting specific aspects, including renewable energy, biodiversity, and climate change, the role of renewable energy and clean power in digital infrastructure, cloud migration and achieving zero emissions, innovations within the IT/ BPM sectors for a knowledge-based and technology-driven transformation and strategies for converting micro and small businesses to a digital economy. The vital role of data analytics and AI in driving sustainable decision-making and resource optimization was also examined.

Top of Form

Denver De Zylva, Forum Head of ESG and Senior Vice President at Virtusa, highlighted SLASSCOM’s ongoing initiatives, encouraging member companies to actively engage in the journey towards a knowledge-based and technology-driven transformation.

The event was collaborated by Technology Partner, Just In Time Technologies, Official Payment Network, Lanka Pay, with corporate sponsors, Gold Sponsor Mireka Towers and Platinum sponsors, LSEG, and Dialog Enterprise.

SLASSCOM’s dedication to sustainability and innovation is poised to steer Sri Lanka’s IT industry and contribute to the nation’s broader transition to a greener, more digital era.

January 26, 2023

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.

September 22, 2017

Colombo, Thursday 21^st September 2017: Someone once said that the most important meal of the day is your breakfast, but no one really specified and said breakfast needs to be a “morning thing”. Keeping this in mind, Colombo’s pioneering café to serve anything and everything with a good ol’ warm waffle “The Waffle Café”, recently introduced an “All-Day Breakfast” to its scrumptious menu.

Speaking on the launch of the all-day breakfast option Founders Durga and Marcus Kenny noted, “Breakfast is something I can personally eat at any time of day. When you couple it with a waffle which is like comfort food extraordinaire what more could you ask for. In fact we invite our customers to have breakfast for all three meals of the day!”

The Waffle Café which serves up original Belgian and Liège Waffles with a range of spicy and sweet toppings that have been the talk of the town especially with their unique names like “Boothaya’s Buttons” and “Gini Kukula”.

The latest addition to the menu includes the Sunny Side served with a Brussels Waffle and a choice of coffee or juice, Seeni Sambol with a Fried Egg, and Sautéed Mushrooms with Fried Egg and Sausage with Fried Egg served on top of a delicious waffle.

The Waffle Café also hopes to introduce a Kid’s Combo Meal for the little ones who love their waffles with just about anything and in some cases everything on them.

Open from 10am – 3pm and 5pm – 10pm from Tueasday to Sunday (except Poya Days), the Waffle Café is situated at a hard-to-miss location at 901, Kotte Road, Etul Kotte. For more information please call 0112 871200.

SLASSCOM CEO Breakfast Unveils Green Digital Economy & E-signature Revolution

SLASSCOM hosts CEO Breakfast to discuss business opportunities in SDGs

Breakfast All Day at the Waffle Café