Engineering solutions must

Match social management systems - IESL President

Ramani KANGARAARACHCHI

The engineering solutions must be looked at holistically through the eyes of social management systems for the benefit of the country, Institute of Engineers President Sri Lanka (IESL) Prof Ananda Jayawardena said.

Speaking on Social Management Systems (SMS) at the IESL SSMS 2011 International Conference at Galadari Colombo on Wednesday he said SMS is becoming even more important today and will be increasingly important in the future with challenges to be faced due to increasing natural disasters global climate changes, sustainability issues, depletion of natural resources and energy issues.

Therefore, enhancing awareness of the people on this subject is vital to share best practices and it is useful to have a good understanding to gain productivity benefits in the development process of the country, he said.

He said most people are not sufficiently aware about SMS, and, any system that is improved to enhance the standard of living of people, safety, security and wellbeing could be considered as social management systems in a broader sense. It is a new discipline and a more systematic way of addressing social management issues with special reference to engineering and technological aspects.

Most people believe that it is the responsibility of the government to look after the wellbeing of people which is true to a greater extent and it is done through laws, regulations, guidelines, standards and investments. "However, now there is a common understanding evolving among engineering communities that it is unfair to leave this responsibility to the government alone, especially when challenging engineering solutions are needed to address social issues," he said.

The SMS was formed in the Kochi University of Technology (KUT) in Japan with the Japanese government. The two-day symposium attracted a large number of international delegates and local participants - engineers, six eminent keynote speakers.

The symposium consisted of a panel discussion and an array of over 70 research papers in six parallel sessions in key areas.