Sunday Times

Advances in technology as well as higher sophistication in terms of threats are resulting in greater risks for local telecommunications companies, according to Priyankara Perera, Head of IT for the Sri Lankan unit of celco Etisalat.

Local human resource technology conference HCM Connect 2013, organised by Sri Lankan IT company Microimage, will expand its scope to also include Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and even other countries, over the course of this year, according to the company’s Funder and Chief Executive Harsha Purasinghe.

The Institute of Personnel Management of Sri Lanka (IPM) has decided to have a simple theme “In search of Human Resource Excellence” for this year’s National HR Conference 2013 to be held on 18 and 19 June at the Water’s Edge Hotel.This was revealed by Dr. Ajantha Dharmasiri, Chairman, Technical Committee of the conference at a news briefing held last week in Colombo.

Kapila Chandrasena, current CEO of SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, SLT sources said. He will continue to hold the other positions.

Sri Lanka’s first ever degree in applied accounting by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) has received overwhelming response since the institute called for applications from prospective students.

Wirecard AG, provider of a globally accepted payment gateway with a worldwide customer base, is partnering SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier, to take over its payment services for credit card processing and risk management, the airline stated in a media release.

SAP’s Sri Lanka partner of 10 years, The Capital Maharaja Organization (TCMOL), this week announced that it will implement SAP ERP, Business Intelligence (BI), and Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) solutions across its companies.

The Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies (ACCIMT) is the premier institute in Sri Lanka for research and development, advanced technological services and professional development training in the spheres of electronics, space technology, robotics, industrial applications and Information Technology.

By Kumudini Hettiarachchi and Shaveen Jeewandara

Schoolchildren across the country will act as mediators to draw out e-waste lying in homes, in a major move by the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) this month to ensure its proper disposal without polluting the environment and causing illness.
We plan to set up collecting mechanisms in every province, making use of a network of 5,000 schools which are part of an environmental pioneering programme, said CEA’s Waste Management Director Ajith Weerasundara, explaining that care is being taken over the involvement of schoolchildren as they cannot be asked to store e-waste.

Sri Lanka’s importance as a knowledge hub and source of talent for the finance and accounting industries was underlined recently at a meeting between HSBC, the Sri Lankan Association of Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM), the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

Recent cybercrime attacks on government institutions gained access to confidential data, while also threatening the safety of countries, according to a statement by eCyberSec, an IT company specialising in application security.

A 0.3 per cent drop in education expenditure as a proportion of GDP from 2003-2012 had been reported in the Central Bank (CB)’s 2012 annual report.

The inaugural Bachelor of Science Degree in Applied Accounting offered by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) will commence in June this year.

“The Software Engineering Degree at IIT emphasized on teaching it’s students high-quality software systems with an emphasis on professionalism. The knowledge and the skills learnt during my first two years of study were crucial to me and the experiences gained during my 3rd year in the industry enhanced the benefits I gained from my final year. In addition, IIT’s Software Engineering degree specifically provides with the appropriate skills for the majority of technical jobs in the software industry. IIT Graduates have today obtained higher positions in local blue chip and multinational companies and also in government bodies. They are frequently complimented on their professional approach to Software Engineering & Business Management. This is the esteem of the Institute and the confidence it had amongst employers” were the thoughts profiled by Nuwan Bandara, former student of IIT.

Sri Lanka has a massive mismatch in the demand and supply in higher education opportunities available in the country. “A total of 6705 students obtained 3As in the commerce stream but only about 4000 students got opportunity to enter university, thereby creating a massive gap in the higher education opportunities in our country,” noted Minister of Higher Education, S. B. Dissanayake.

New Sri Lankan deals website, dealfinder.lk, launched this month, to aggregate (combine) all the up-to-date promotional deals and offers available locally in one place, according to a statement by website developer Edge.

MTI HRM Solutions has announced the launch of the MTI HR Mangers Survey 2013.

The Central Bank (CB) has suggested encouraging the creation of technopreneurs – those engaged in businesses that involve technology.

The increase in mobile phone connections to 20.3 million in a country of 20.8 million people will have a significant impact on the economy on one hand while on the negative side it could reduce social interaction, an expert in the field of mobile telecommunications said.

Manju Gunawardene, the winner of the prestigious Dassis award at the National Innovations exhibition in 2012, secured a Gold prize and Silver for his two inventions at the 41st “Inventions Geneva” exhibition, held on April 10-14.

With so many students who are eligible to enter university being deprived the chance to do so due to the state university intakes being limited, a majority of students do not have the opportunity to pursue higher education and achieve their cherished dreams.
Taking this fact into consideration, The Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT) has over the past years been instrumental in offering a unique scholarship scheme “inforschol” for students who have obtained good Advanced Level results but who unfortunately have not been able to enter the state universities.

Marking yet another milestone in its history, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) ceremonially launched its first ever degree programme in applied accounting at a gala ceremony held under the patronage of Minister of Higher Education S. B. Dissanayake on Monday, 25th March 2013. Secretary to the Ministry of Cooperatives and Internal Trade, Mr. G K D Amarawardena and Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education Dr. Sunil Jayantha Nawaratne were also present at this occasion.

“Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT-www.iit.ac.lk) is unique among futurists because they understand that getting to the future is never a linear event. They have a wonderful ability to encourage our insight and intuition and give us opportunities to gain experience to take us forward into our desired futures. Today I have reaped immensely from those benefits” were the sentiments voiced by Mahendiran Prashanthan a former student of IIT.

Most emerging businesses fail to maintain ownership of Intellectual Property (IP), according to Dr. Geoff Gregson, Associate Professor of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at University of Edinburgh Business School.