SLASSCOM Women in Tech Conference 3.0 Sri Lanka

Event Details

The SLASSCOM Women in Tech Conference, 3.0, Sri Lanka 2025,is a unique and highly anticipated annual event organized by the SLASSCOM Women Technopreneurs Forum is an exceptional platform dedicated to inspire, empower and celebrate women in the Tech & Innovation sphere across all sectors. The event is scheduled for 20th March 2025 from 8:30 AM to 200 PM in Colombo.

This year's conference, themed " Equality to Equity: Shaping a Gender-inclusive Workforce in Sri Lanka," will bring together female & Male leaders in the corporate sector, innovators, entrepreneurs, and aspiring talent from across the country and beyond. As the only conference of its kind in Sri Lanka, this event has consistently driven impactful conversations, fostered meaningful connections, and championed diversity across multiple sectors. its is an opportunity to exchange knowledge and experiences and engage with industry leaders both locally and globally

Key Themes

Inspiring Inclusivity: Bridging the Gender Gap in Emerging Technologies: Highlight the underrepresentation of women in critical and future driven IT areas locally and globally. Encourage inclusivity by focusing on the importance of diverse perspectives in shaping the future of the IT, BPM and other key industries.

Bridging the Gap: Inspiring Inclusion in Careers in the Tech Sector Address the gender gap within specific roles in tech, focusing on mentorship, career development, and creating inclusive pathways for women in order to retain them in the Industry

Accelerate Action: Proactive measures, advocacy, building supportive eco systems & taking tangible steps to address the gender gap and creating a gender-inclusive workforce in Sri Lanka

Inclusive Design: LEVERAGING Tech That Works for Everyone

Emphasize the importance of inclusive design in technology, with discussions on creating products and services that cater to diverse needs across all industries

Women Who Lead: Inspiring the Next Generation of Tech Innovators - Highlight women leaders and their impact in shaping inclusive practices, inspiring the next generation in tech to follow in their footsteps

From Code to Leadership: Women Building Inclusive Tech Spaces - Showcase the journeys of women in tech (Women in Tech sector within multiples disciplines) from coding to leadership roles, and strategies to build more inclusive work environments.

Agenda

March 20, 2025

Main Schedule

08:30 - 09:00

Registration

09:00 - 09:10

Opening Remarks

SLASSCOM Chairman Nishan Mendis

09:10 - 09:20

Intro to WTech & Initiatives

SLASSCOM Board Member Zahra Cader

09:20 - 10:00

Keynote Speech

Leading the Digital Revolution; Adapt & Thrive

Barbara Wray (Keynote Speaker)

10:00 - 10:20

Speech 02

Bridging the Gender Gap: Inspiring the Next Generation of Tech Leaders

Helena Nimmo (Speaker)

10:20 - 10:30

Remarks By LSEG

Empowering the Future: The Critical Role of STEM in Innovation and Economic Growth

10:30 - 10:45

Break

10:45 - 11:15

Panel Discussion 01

Leading in the Tech Space: Essential Competencies for Success

Vidumini Ranasinghe (Panelist)

Shehani Seneviratne (Panelist)

Shanthi Rajesh (Panelist)

11:15 - 11:30

Group Learning Segment/ Engagement Activity

11:30 - 11:45

Speech 03

Building a Resilient Enterprise: Integrating Risk Management in a Digital World for Long-Term Success

Uma Thomas (Speaker)

11:45 - 12:00

Discussion with Industry Leader

Driving Digital Transformation Through Data: Principles, Challenges, and Lessons Learned

Sashiprabha Dharmadasa (Speaker)

12:00 - 12:30

Panel Discussion 02

Closing the Gender Gap in Tech: Strategies, Policies, and Workplace Innovations for Equality

Chulanga Perera (Panelist)

Dr Subha Fernando (Panelist)

Thanuja Jayawardene (Panelist)

Pradeepa Seneviratna (Panelist)

12:30 - 13:10

Speech 04

The Connected Leader Wins: Why Listening-Led Leadership Is The Future

Mimi Nicklin (Speaker)

13:10 - 13:20

Closing Remarks

13:20 - 14:00

Networking & Lunch

Speakers

Barbara Wray (Keynote Speaker)

CIO/Head of Engineering, LSEG Regulatory Reporting at LSEG

Uma Thomas (Speaker)

Executive Vice President , Head Quality, InfoSec Governance & Mission Control Office , CRO at Hexaware Technologies

Helena Nimmo (Speaker)

Chief Technology Officer at IFS Global

Mimi Nicklin (Speaker)

Bestselling Author & Global Keynote Speaker - Empathetic Leadership & Culture at Empathy Everywhere

Sashiprabha Dharmadasa (Speaker)

Director Client Services and Technical Delivery/ CISO of BoardPAC (Pvt) Ltd

Vidumini Ranasinghe (Panelist)

Director - Delivery of LSEG

Shehani Seneviratne (Panelist)

COO, 99x / Vice Chair, SLASSCOM

Chulanga Perera (Panelist)

Group Chief Technology and Transformation Officer at Hemas Group

Shanthi Rajesh (Panelist)

Director - Cybersecurity, Sysco’s Business Information Security Officer (BISO) for APAC, Lead - Security Operations Center of Sysco Labs

Dr Subha Fernando (Panelist)

Artificial Intelligence Research Scientist, Senior Lecturer at the University of Moratuwa, and Senior Principal Scientist – AI and Data at the Commercial Bank of Ceylon

Pradeepa Seneviratna (Panelist)

Global Head of Software Engineering at Intrepid Travel

Thanuja Jayawardene (Panelist)

General Manager - Women's Empowerment, Advocacy and Code of Conduct at MAS Holdings

Uma Thomas is the Chief Risk Officer at Hexaware, where she leads the company’s Quality, Information Security, and ESG functions. With a strong background in technology and risk management, she plays a pivotal role in driving Hexaware’s commitment to excellence, security, and sustainability.

Uma holds a Bachelor of Technology in Electronics Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Calicut. With a career spanning leading IT organizations, she has previously worked with Infosys Technologies Limited and KPIT Cummins Infosystems Limited, bringing a wealth of experience in governance, compliance, and operational risk.

As a passionate advocate for women in technology, Uma is dedicated to fostering inclusive leadership and shaping the future of risk and security in the digital era.

Helena Nimmo is the Chief Information Officer at IFS.

Helena brings a wealth of expertise to the technology sector, with a career spanning over three decades across international markets. Her approach integrates technology as a catalyst for business enhancement, focusing on transformative strategies that bolster both revenue and profitability.

In her professional journey, Helena has consistently been at the vanguard of innovation, steering technology departments and professionals towards excellence in user experience and customer satisfaction. She is celebrated for her ability to cultivate teams that thrive on creativity, ambition, and a genuine passion for their work, all while maintaining a steadfast commitment to client needs and visionary leadership.

As CIO, Helena will engage CIOs and tech leaders at IFS customers to help them with their strategic transformation journeys, as well as driving the effective application of technology within IFS to deliver better products and services to customers. With IFS leading the adoption of Industrial AI across the world, Nimmo will drive the integration of AI across the IFS community, enabling IFS customers to deliver exceptional moments of service to their clients.

Helena's professional narrative includes pivotal roles where she has crafted technology and data blueprints, pioneered new revenue channels within the tech space, and devised comprehensive compliance strategies. Her leadership has been instrumental in orchestrating company-wide transformations, developing core technology infrastructures, and implementing robust security measures.

Beyond her corporate contributions, Helena is deeply invested in the professional growth of individuals around the globe, offering guidance and sharing her extensive knowledge to assist them in navigating the dynamic terrain of modern business.

Mimi Nicklin is an internationally bestselling author and the multi-award-winning Founder of the world’s widest-reaching empathy training and engagement platform. Her goal is to reconnect 1 million people in empathy, everywhere. She is ranked as the Number 1 Workplace Wellbeing Leader in Malaysia on LinkedIn by Favicon and is a top 5-rated podcast host of her show, ‘MiMi YouYou’. Mimi has appeared live on the BBC to 85 million people and recently shared the stage with Bill Gates. She is an experienced executive coach and a leading global thought leader advocating for more empathy in the world.

Mimi has trained over 18,500 professionals in Fortune 500 organizations globally in Listening-Led Leadership. She has been awarded Malaysian Female Leader 2024 and Top 45 Sri Lankan Leader 2024. Mimi specializes in Listening-Led, Empathetic Leadership, Multi-Generational Engagement, Psychological Safety, and Inclusion & Wellbeing. She is passionate and charismatic, aiming to reconnect the world, one organization at a time.

Sashiprabha Dharmadasa has over 20 years of experience working in Banking and Finance with specific expertise in Banking regulation on governance and risk resilience in formulation of derivatives and financial instruments. She serves as CISO at BoardPAC and is an ISO 270001:2022 lead auditor. In her previous assignment she headed the Financial Services Thought Leadership working committee focusing on new trends and regulation in the industry including cyber risk and risk resilience. She further served on the steering committee in Digital and Innovation, formulating the policy document by Ceylon Chamber of Commerce for accelerating GDP growth in Sri Lanka. Sashi has also headed a World Bank funded initiative undertaken by the Government of Sri Lanka prior to formalizing the Cyber Security Act to assess the Cyber Readiness of the Critical Information Infrastructure in Sri Lanka prior to formulating a strategy. She has been a part of international panels in Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka in Governance and Cyber risk resilience in the ever changing global tech landscape.

Chulanga Perera is the Group Chief Technology and Transformation Officer at Hemas Group, where he leads the organization’s overall transformation initiatives while heading IT, Digital, and Shared Services for the group as well. Chulanga’s career began in investment banking, before he transitioned into the field of technology, data analytics and innovation, where he has since
made significant contributions. A graduate from New York with a dual degree in Finance and Mathematics, he also holds a PhD in Information Technology.

Throughout his career spaning across various countries, Chulanga has built and led high-performing global teams as Chief Information Officer and Chief Transformation Officer for leading multinational corporations in the manufacturing and automotive industries. His focus has been on end-to-end business transformation powered by technology, process optimisation, cost optimization, data analytics, ESG, and digitalization. He has also served on the Board of a luxury automotive firm and holds the distinction of being promoted as the youngest Vice President globally for the company.

Shanthi Rajesh is the Director - Cybersecurity at Sysco LABS and Sysco’s Business Information Security Officer (BISO) for APAC, and she leads the Security Operations Center at Sysco LABS Sri Lanka. Shanthi has over 21 years of experience successfully spearheading IT security program initiatives for organizations like Fidelity, IBM, Wells Fargo, and Barclays in the banking sector. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in E & C Engineering, a Master’s from Symbiosis and is currently pursuing a PhD from the University Grants Commission of India; her research focuses on innovative approaches to safeguarding sensitive information, aiming to address emerging challenges in the field.

Dr. Subha Fernando is an Artificial Intelligence Research Scientist, Senior Lecturer at the University of Moratuwa, and Senior Principal Scientist – AI and Data at the Commercial Bank of Ceylon.
She holds a Doctor of Engineering from Nagaoka University of Technology, Japan, where she also earned her Master of Engineering. She completed her B.Sc. (Special) Hons in Statistics and Computer Science at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.

Dr. Fernando has previously served as the Head of the Department of Computational Mathematics, Director of Postgraduate Studies at the Faculty of Information Technology. She also served as the President of the Sri Lankan Association for Artificial Intelligence.

In addition to her academic and research roles, she has served as an AI consultant for several renowned companies in Sri Lanka. Her research publications and industry consultancies cover diverse areas of artificial intelligence, including learning algorithms and multi-agent technology.

Having practiced corporate law for 12 years, Thanuja’s career trajectory took a turn in 2018, when she joined MAS’ flagship women’s empowerment and advocacy programme “Women Go Beyond” to drive its women in management agenda. Having worked with the MAS Legal team for six years, Thanuja was no stranger to the programme, but welcomed the opportunity to immerse herself in the active intervention to increase women in management across MAS.

In 2020, she took over as Head of the Women Go Beyond team, and now oversees all initiatives in the areas of women’s empowerment and gender equality, including women’s health, safety and wellbeing, skill development, career advancement and the space of support for sexual orientation and gender identity minorities. She is also passionate about driving the focused interventions to increase representation of women in management at MAS. Thanuja wears another hat for MAS, heading the MAS DNA – its Code of Conduct, which includes embedding the MAS values in day to day behaviour, policy deployment and grievance handling. The MAS DNA is a comprehensive framework looking at ethics and behaviour related governance for the MAS Group.

Having completed her Bachelor of Arts, with a specialization in English literature at the University of Colombo, Thanuja went on to study law at the Sri Lanka Law College. Her early career was as a corporate lawyer with Nithya Partners, a top tier law firm in Sri Lanka specializing in company and commercial law. Thanuja is also an actor and works with English theatre companies in Sri Lanka whenever her work allows her the time to collaborate on theatre projects.

Sponsors and Partners

SLASSCOM Member | Individual (LKR15,000+Taxes)

This ticket can be purchased only by SLASSCOM Members

*T&C applied

*VAT 18% applicable at check-out

Net Ticket Price - LKR 17,700

Standard PriceRs15,000

Bundle Offer (20% off) SLASSCOM Members

SLASSCOM Members can purchase 8 tickets and get a 20% discount!

*VAT 18% applicable at check-out

Net Ticket Price - LKR 113,280.00

Standard PriceRs96,000

SLASSCOM Non Member | Individual (LKR18,500+Taxes)

This ticket can be purchased by Individuals from Non-Member Companies or General Public

*VAT 18% applicable at check-out

Net Ticket Price: LKR 21,830

Standard PriceRs18,500

Bundle Offer (15% Off) SLASSCOM Non Members

SLASSCOM Non Members or General Public can purchase 8 tickets and get a 15% discount!

*VAT 18% applicable at check-out

Net Ticket Price - LKR 135,700.00

Standard PriceRs115,000

Undergraduate Category

This ticket can be purchased by Individuals from Universities

*VAT 18% applicable at check-out

Net Ticket Price: LKR 11,210

Standard PriceRs9,500

Women Technopreneurs Category

This ticket can be purchased by Individual Women Technopreneurs

*VAT 18% applicable at check-out

Net Ticket Price: LKR 11,210

Standard PriceRs9,500

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