SRI LANKA - NOMINATION OF VIRTUSA FOR CORPORATE EXCELLENCE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000851 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EEB/EPPD NSMITH-NISSLEY AND SCA/INS DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER MCC FOR S. GROFF, D. TETER, D. NASSIRY AND E. BURKE TREASURY FOR LESLIE HULL GENEVA PASS USTR FOR EEB ASSISTANT SECRETARY SULLIVAN FROM AMBASSADOR BLAKE E.O 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON BEXP ETRD ELAB KSEP SENV AMGT CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA - NOMINATION OF VIRTUSA FOR CORPORATE EXCELLENCE AWARD REF: STATE 47222 ¶1. I am pleased to nominate Virtusa for the Secretary's Award for Corporate Excellence in the small and medium enterprise category. While meeting all eligibility requirements for this award, Virtusa has demonstrated outstanding corporate citizenship by assisting disaster-ridden countries with an open source disaster recovery management system it developed following the 2004 tsunami which struck Sri Lanka and other Indian Ocean countries. Virtusa also contributed to the advancement of Sri Lanka's scientific and technology policies by enhancing information and communications technology (IT) capacity in local universities. Finally, by creating an intensive training program which converts unemployed but motivated graduates without sufficient IT training into IT managers, Virtusa is directly contributing to Sri Lanka's overall growth and development. OUSTANDING CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP: VIRTUSA-SPONSORED SYSTEM SPEEDS RECOVERY FOLLOWING DISASTERS ¶2. When the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami seriously damaged the coastline of Sri Lanka, Virtusa funded salaries and benefits for its employees as they developed open-source software for disaster relief management. It continues to fund its employees as they travel to disaster-affected countries and assist in implementing the software program. ¶3. The system, called Sahana, was initially designed for Sri Lanka to have a good disaster recovery system following the tsunami. It has been widely used in recent disasters, including Pakistan following its 2005 earthquake, the Philippines following its 2006 mudslide in Southern Leyte, and Indonesia following the Yogjakarta earthquake of 2006. The software has received several awards, including the Free Software Foundation's 2006 Award for Social Benefit, the 2006 Good Samaritan Award from Software 2006. Sahana is now managed by the non-profit Lanka Software Foundation. In addition to Virtusa's continued support through its personnel, Sahana receives funding from IBM and the U.S. National Science Foundation. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SRI LANKA'S SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL POLICIES: ENHANCING UNIVERSITIES; ENLIGHTENING STUDENTS WITH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ¶4. Sri Lanka has identified IT as a potential growth sector, and is actively encouraging its development. Hundreds of "Virtusans" have volunteered their time and skills over the past few years to create IT awareness within communities and share best practices with academia. In 2006, the company introduced information technology to over 700 students in a southern district of Sri Lanka, donated a computer lab to a Colombo-based school, provided career guidance and leadership skills to thousands of undergraduate and advanced level students, and contributed to fostering free and open software education in Sri Lanka. ¶5. Virtusa supplies staff to universities to serve as lecturers/trainers. It shares industry best practices with university staff and invites them to Virtusa for special seminars. Through Virtusa's Project Enhancement Initiative, university undergraduates receive software engineering and management guidance. All of these activities promote the importance of IT to Sri Lankans, furthering Sri Lanka's prospects for growth in the IT sector. CONTRIBUTING TO OVERALL ECONOMIC GROWTH: TRANSITIONING PROFESSIONALS FROM OVERSUBSCRIBED PROFESSIONS INTO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY THROUGH TRAINING ¶6. As Sri Lanka's IT industry continues to grow, the country's shortage of IT workers becomes increasingly critical. Universities still have not adapted sufficiently to meet the demands of the IT sector. In 2006, Virtusa implemented a dynamic IT Leadership COLOMBO 00000851 002 OF 002 Conversion Program to help resolve this shortage. The company identifies self-driven, high-aptitude graduates who do not have sufficient IT skills. It then provides these individuals with a fast-track career conversion opportunity enabling them to make the transition into an IT services career. ¶7. The company has hired 30 successful Virtusa IT Conversion Program graduates from the 40 it trained. It plans to double the number of Conversion Program candidates this year, enabling Sri Lanka to meet a greater demand in the growing IT sector. BLAKE