Starter Kit. Idea 311 of 500. Cluster 15
A verified-skills registry for Sri Lankan developers, with tests and employer reviews, that a client abroad can trust
The mechanism, from the book
The proof exists in Malabe. What is missing is a thousand small versions of it.
The first step
Write one practical test for one skill, such as a database query task, and invite 20 developers you know to take it and publish their scores. Then show the scored list to three hiring managers abroad who hire remotely, and ask whether they would pay to search it. A client who hires from the list, or pays for access, is the proof.
- Who pays first
- A hiring manager abroad who has been let down by remote contractors and will pay for a list of developers whose skills are tested.
- What leaves today
- Clients abroad cannot tell strong developers here from weak ones, so they pay less or hire elsewhere, and the trust premium is lost.
Ask first
- Data Protection Authority. Ask what consent you need to publish developers' scores and employer reviews.
- Information and Communication Technology Agency. Ask whether any skills standard for developers already exists that you could test against.
Check before you spend
Written consent from each developer to publish results, how disputes about a score are handled, and how reviews are checked so they cannot be faked.
Find out these three numbers
- What would a hiring manager abroad pay to search the list?
- How many developers would sit a test to be listed?
- How long does one hire through the registry take?
A comparison from the book
Japan's quality machine. Chapter Eleven
"The Sri Lankan version is a Ceylon mark that means something because an inspector will not let a bad batch carry it"
A registry is only worth paying for if a weak developer cannot get onto it.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.