[wsfii-discuss] Fwd: First Rural Village BPO in Sri Lanka

Sat Oct 27 17:11:09 UTC 2007

More from Sri Lanka... what rural networking can bring.

Vickram
http://communicall.wordpress.com
http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com

----- Forwarded Message ----

Thanks Shipra,

Good to see these developments. 

This is another article on the same subject which appeared in
IPS website. Source: http://www.ipsnews. net/news. asp?idnews= 39814

TECHNOLOGY-SRI LANKA: Leapfrogging Out of Poverty on IT

By Feizal Samath

MAHAVILACHCHIYA, Oct 26 (IPS) - In a north-central
village, deep inside Sri Lanka’s backwoods, a young man is glued to a
computer screen, pushing a mouse and filling in figures. 

Isuru Senevirathna is entering data at Sri Lanka’s
first Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) company set up in a village, and
probably among the first in the world that is surrounded by tall trees, bird
calls, paddy fields and streams. 

"It’s nice to be able to do a job like
this," the 20-year-old youth, operations director of OnTime Pvt. Ltd, told
IPS.. 

BPO is a growing IT business which Sri Lanka has taken to
quite capably. Dozens of companies are now springing up in Colombo as the
world’s best corporations look for cost-effective ways of handling their
back-office operations in countries where labour and communications are cheaper
than in the West. 

But OnTime’s setting, next to a wildlife park, and
subject to the occasional threat by Tamil Tiger guerrillas, makes it unique.
Mahavilachchiya lies 250 km north of Colombo and the fact that it is close to
the ancient town of Anuradhapura is an added feature. 

OnTime owes its existence to the vision of Nandasiri
Wanninayaka (better known as ‘Wanni’), an English teacher-turned
village entrepreneur. Except for its sylvan location it is no different from
the rest of the BPO industry. It boasts of such clients as John Keells, Sri
Lanka’ biggest conglomerate, and once the blinds are drawn and with
air-conditioners running, it could well be an office in downtown Colombo. 

OnTime operators log into an accounting system through a
secured link and enter data like prices and inventories. Some 150 documents are
handled by one operator per day. New client negotiating with OnTime include
Dialog Telekom, Sri Lanka’s biggest mobile phone operator, and Singer, a
multinational known for its sewing machines. 

"The BPO entry came as we needed to create job
opportunities for our youngsters to remain in the village after their initial
training in English and IT," said Wanni. 

OnTime is a part of the ‘Horizon Lanka’
initiative launched by Wanni, while still a schoolteacher, in 1998. Starting
off as an English teaching exercise for the children of rice farmers, its scope
widened dramatically following the gift of a personal computer by the United
States embassy. 

From there the village quickly progressed into a centre of
IT learning where one in every eight families now has a computer (a ratio of
100 computers for 800 families). Impoverished farmers are now reading online
newspapers in their ramshackle homes with the help of seven wifi nodes set up
using ‘MESH’ technology. The villages have wireless Internet access
at all times. 

Wanni and his Horizon Lanka exploits are legendary and have
been profiled in newspapers and other media across the world. The IT
village’s big moment came when Wanni and his best students shared the
stage with Intel chairman Craig Barrett in December 2005, during the
latter’s visit to Sri Lanka. 

Wanni said the idea of setting up a BPO emerged as he
pondered over the next stage of development. "Having taught English and
then IT, the next issue was where do they get jobs? How can we retain them in
the village?" 

Enter the Foundation for Advancing Rural Opportunities in
Sri Lanka (FAROLanka) to help Horizon set up its BPO and find its first client.
FARO’s help however comes with conditions -- Wanni’s support and
guidance to help other villages develop on similar lines. 

Sponsored by John Keells, OnTime staff received BPO training
in Laos and India. For other Mahavilachchiya youngsters, the choice of careers
is limited to joining the armed forces (in the case of girls it’s garment
factories) or remain in the village as a farmer. 

OnTime’s CEO Nirosh Manjula Ranathunga, a 30-year-old
university graduate who studied IT while doing his commerce degree, lives in
Anuradhapura and visits Horizon only twice a week as he says he can handle
operations from his hometown easily over Internet. 

Ranathunga is interested in transferring his skills and
learning to other villages. "I joined Horizon Lanka two years ago as a
project manager and am very happy with this BPO initiative," he said. Some
50 youths are now being trained to take up BPO jobs in Mahavilachchiya. 

In a reversal of sorts, boys and girls from the cities are
now visiting Horizon Lanka. "They come here to learn from us," said
Wanni. 

Because of their English speaking and writing skills,
youngsters here are beginning to write software programmes for overseas
companies and individuals earning foreign exchange. They have a far better
future -- compared to youths from other villages -- as computer programmers,
software programmers and in related jobs. 

"This (OnTime) has helped us to take on the world from
this small hamlet," says 24-year-old Chamila Priyadharshini. Currently in
a state-sponsored teachers training course for English, Tamil (language of the
biggest minority group) and Japanese, Priyadharshini says she wants to be a
trained teacher in three years and spends her spare time teaching IT and
English at the Horizon centre. 

Replete with a modern gym, video and audio equipment and
other electronic modern gadgetry the centre prepares youth for a life in the
city, should they choose move out. 

Wanni’s current target? ‘’I want to send
at least one youngster from here to the prestigious MIT (Massachusetts
Institute of Technology) in the United States.’’

On Behalf Of Shipra Sharma

Dear All,

Another interesting news about Sri Lanka in the same
Rural BPO context from me.

S. Srikanthan, a Rural Knowledge Centre ( Nanasala) Manager
from Koslanda, Sri Lanka informed during his India visit that their
telecentre is getting BPO jobs from New Delhi, India. These relate to
transcription and translation of voice recordings from Tamil and Sinhala to
English and vice versa. He was selected as an international NVA fellow and
was in New Delhi from 29th July to 4th August 2007 to take part in the 5th
Convocation of NVA fellows (to know more about this event, visit http://community. telecentre. org/en-tc/ node/40176).

This was quite interesting for all other telecentre managers
and the telecentre.org+ Drishtee Foundation BPO project was also discussed in
this context.

BPO jobs are certainly going to be a welcome opportunity to
make the rural telecentres sustainable in the long run and making the youth
receiving IT training through the telecentres gainfully employed within the
village.

Cheers,

Shipra

Nandasiri Wanninayaka <wanni at horizonlanka. org> wrote:

Dear All,

Hope you would find the following news articles which appeared in Sunday

newspapers interesting.

Regards,

Wanni

1. http://www.sundayti mes.lk/071021/ FinancialTimes/ ft301.html

Financial Times 

_____ 

BPO in the Anuradhapura backwoods 

http://www.sundayti mes.lk/071021/ images/ft1- 1.jpg

OnTime operators

MAHAVILACHCHIYA, Anuradhapura - Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) is a

growing business globally which Sri Lanka has now cottoned onto quite

capably.

Dozens of BPO’s are springing up here as global companies look for cost

effective ways of handling their back-office operations in countries where

labour and communications are cheaper than the west. 

Yet ever heard of a BPO company in a jungle setting, next to a wild life

park and subject to the occasional threat by the LTTE? OnTime Pvt Ltd is

part of rural Sri Lanka’s first IT village, Horizon Lanka in the
backwoods

of Mahavilachchiya (adjoining Wilpattu) off Anuradhapura, where a group of

youth processes data for a fee.

There is nothing different in the BPO industry in processing information

inside the office of the client or the service provider located elsewhere.

For example, staff at Mahavilachchiya’s proud company, OnTime, processing

marketing data for a John Keells Group subsidiary daily could – if we
close

the curtains in this nice office surrounded by shady trees and occasional

bird calls – very well be inside a JKH office in Colombo. There’s
nothing

different.

OnTime operators log into a JKH SAP accounting system through a secured link

and enter data like prices and quality of suppliers. Some 150 documents are

handled by one operator per day. Dialog Telekom and Singer are expected to

join OnTime as its next clients with negotiations going on with the two

parties. 

“The BPO entry came as we needed to create job opportunities for our

youngsters to remain in the village after their initial learning in English

and IT,” said Nandasiri Wanninayaka (better known as
‘Wanni”), the village

boy-English teacher-turned village entrepreneur.

Horizon Lanka, Sri Lanka’s first IT village, is a revelation itself.

Launched by Wanni, as a Mahavilachchiya school teacher, in 1998, the

initiative began as an English teaching exercise for the children whose

parents were mostly rice farmers. From there with one computer donated by

the US embassy, impressed by an English journal that the students did, the

village has progressed to a centre of IT learning where one in every eight

families has a computer (a ratio of 100 computers for 800 families).

Unheard of before but in these backwoods poor farmers are reading online

newspapers in the comfort of their makeshift homes with uptodate computers

with the help – unbelievable again – of seven wifi zones under a
new

technology called MESH. Here a section of the village amidst paddy fields

and streams has wireless Internet access at all times.

Wanni and his Horizon Lanka exploits are legendary and profiled in

newspapers and TV stations across the world. The IT village’s biggest

opportunity probably came when Wanni and his best students shared the stage

with Intel Chairman Dr. Craig Barrett in December 2005, during the
latter’s

visit to Sri Lanka and presence at a major IT conference. 

The idea of setting up a BPO emerged as Wanni pondered on the next level of

development. “Having taught English and then IT, the next issue was where
do

they get jobs? How can we retain them in the village?” he asked.

Enter the Foundation for Advancing Rural Opportunities in Sri Lanka

(FAROLanka) to help Horizon set up its BPO and find its first client.
FARO’s

help however comes with some conditions – Wanni’s support and
guidance to

help other villages to develop on similar lines which the latter and his

team are more than willing to do.

Isuru Senevirathna is OnTime’s Operations Director. He has received BPO

training – along with another OnTime employee – in Laos and India
sponsored

by John Keells.

The 20-year old youth like any other Mahavilachchiya youngster would have

had to either join the armed forces (in the case of girls it’s garment

factories) or remain in the village as a farmer, until Wanni and his vision

came along. Now Isuru is the proud owner of a motor cycle, happy and

contended.

OnTime CEO is Nirosh Manjula Ranathunga, a 30 year-old graduate from

Kelaniya University who studied IT while doing his B.Com degree. Ranathunga,

who lives in Anuradhapura and visits Horizon twice a week saying he can

handle operations from his home town easily through email/Internet, is also

interested in transferring his skills and learning to other villages. He has

his own company, Real Business Solutions, and runs a formerly-owned Horizon

Lanka cyber café in Anuradhapura.

“I joined Horizon Lanka two years ago as a project manager and I’am
very

happy with this BPO initiative,” he said. Some 50 youths are being
trained

to take up BPO jobs in Mahavilachchiya which has a modern computer lab with

512 KBPS Internet connection. The Horizon Lanka website is

www.horizonlanka. org <http://www.horizonl anka.org/>

2. http://www.sundayti mes.lk/071021/ FinancialTimes/ ft306.html

Financial Times 

.

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