March 20, 2014 at 03:00 AM EDT

Global Expert Hal Raveché Promotes

Innovation Economy in Sri Lanka How tech start-ups and angel investment lead to widespread growth

NEW YORK, NY, March 20, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- On February 4, 2014, Global Innovation

StrategistDr. Hal Raveche conducted two major workshops in Sri Lanka, promoting the economics of

innovation and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Raveche is the Founder and President of Innovation Strategies International, a US-based consulting

firm that assists universities, corporations and government agencies with entrepreneurship and

innovation. He served for more than two decades as the president of Stevens Institute of Technology in

New Jersey.

In the first event of the day, Dr. Raveche led a workshop at the University of Moratuwa for

undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in entrepreneurship. With the motto "Wisdom is All

Wealth," the University of Moratuwa is the country's leading technological higher-education institute.

Raveche discussed the key factors for a start-up to succeed, including the importance of a market-ready

prototype and well-written business plan.

Later that day, Raveche conducted a Thought Leadership Workshop for practicing entrepreneurs that was

co-sponsored by the US Embassy and Microsoft Corporation. Organized by the Sri Lanka Association of

Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM), the event took place at the Dialog Future World Center

in Colombo. The title of Raveche's workshop was "Entrepreneurship and Innovation for the Economic

Growth of Sri Lanka." The discussion focused on what changes are needed in education and

national funding of R&D to spur innovation, as well as incentives to encourage Angel Capital investors.

"It is truly inspiring to see the zeal for education united with knowledge that innovative thinking can yield

benefits to an entire society," said Dr. Raveche, who has advised on innovation in countries as diverse as

the Dominican Republic, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam and India. "The policy-makers in the United States

can take a major lesson from what is happening in countries like Sri Lanka, and their sense of urgency for

transformational actions now. Increasing freedom to take risks is inseparable from economic prosperity."

Dr Raveche's presentation was followed by a panel discussion among an eminent group that included Dr.

Raveche; Harsha Purasinghe, Founder and CEO of Microimage; Thilan Wijesinghe, Chairman at TWCorp

Ltd.; Mafaz Ishaq, Co-Founder of Lankan Angel Network (LAN); Professor Ajith Madurapperuma, Head

of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Open University of Sri Lanka; and Madu

Ratnayake, Senior Vice President, General Manager, Virtusa, Sri Lanka (Panel Moderator).

Dr. Raveche works frequently with universities, businesses and government agencies throughout East

Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia to assist in cultivating technology innovation and entrepreneurship.

He is available to provide expert commentary and to address business associations and other audiences

on developments in India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and other high-growth nations throughout the region that

have embraced the entrepreneurial model.

Tranquility49, the "communications boutique for the 21st century," is a broad-spectrum media-

communications firm located in the heart of New York City. For more information, please

visitwww.tranquility49.com