Dialog Ideamart Hosts Techliya Development Programme for Women Entrepreneurs

Ideamart for Women, powered by Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, concluded Techliya, a specially designed programme aimed at enhancing digital skills and empowering women entrepreneurs, on the 20th of March at the Dialog Auditorium. Techliya aimed to foster digital inclusion and support women entrepreneurs, developers, and students by providing essential resources, mentoring, and tools to advance their technological and entrepreneurial endeavors.

As part of Ideamart for Women’s ongoing commitment to supporting women in the Small Medium Enterprise (SME) community, Techliya focused on business digitalisation, enabling entrepreneurs to tap into new customer segments, reduce operational costs, and gain a competitive edge. The programme centered on three key areas; Business Process Digitalisation through Enterprise Marketplace led by Dushantha Ranwala (Senior Tech Evangelist at Ideamart), along with the Enterprise Marketplace team, Digital Payments and SME Financing featuring insights from Dialog Finance and Genie experts, including Shanaka Perera (Head of SME at Dialog Finance), Nuwan Prasad (Assistant Business Development Manager at Merchant Business and Payments) and Tharshana Malwatte (Senior Manager of Merchant Sales at Merchant Business and Payments), and International Expansion led by Mr. Upul Dassanayake in collaboration with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), which also supported the programme by engaging their female SME community.

Sharing their views on the initiative, participants highlighted the programme's significance in providing access to digital skills and information previously unavailable to them. Specifically, lauding the tools created by Dialog, tailored for the SME community, emphasising their effectiveness in enabling business growth. Key benefits noted by participants also included user-friendly platforms, seamless integration, 24-hour support, and low charges offered by Dialog Marketplace and Genie Biz platforms. Moreover, participants expressed gratitude for addressing barriers that previously hindered the adoption of digital tools, citing the Techliya programme as a catalyst for overcoming these challenges. The overwhelming sentiment among attendees is a desire for the continuation of such workshops to further support and enhance their knowledge.

The success of the Techliya programme underscores the importance of ongoing education and support in driving digital transformation within the SME sector. Ideamart for Women and Dialog remain committed to empowering women entrepreneurs and fostering innovation in the digital landscape.