IT academia visits the industry
Facilitated by SLASSCOM :
Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies SLASSCOM
organized a successful industry visit for staff members attached to IT
faculties from State and private Universities. This is part of the
SLASSCOM directlink Initiative to provide a platform for collaboration
between the IT industry and the academia. A sound dialogue and strong
relationship between the academia and industry is essential to ensure
that the IT and BPO industry stays relevant and competitive in the
global market.
Virtusa Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Keith Modder addressing the IT professors during an
industrial visit at Virtusa World Advance Technology Centre. |
The IT faculty members visited some of the leading IT companies in
Sri Lanka, namely Millennium Information Technologies (a member of the
London Stock Exchange Group), Virtusa and eCollege (Pearson Lanka). Many
IT faculty members from Moratuwa University, Engineering Faculty
Moratuwa University Faculty of IT, Peradeniya University, Rajarata
University, Ruhuna University, Sabaragamuwa University, Sri
Jayawardenapura University, University of Colombo School of Computing
and Open University were participants of this tour.
This was a collaborative effort between the industry and academic
institutions as both are interdependent in providing knowledge. The main
objective of this tour was to provide faculty members the opportunity to
meet IT industry professionals and engage in a knowledge sharing session
where the industry was able to educate faculty members of the industry
expectations and requirements in terms of technical skills needed by new
recruits, provide feedback on the content covered in the IT syllabi and
other core skills needed in the real world. In addition, the need for
improvement in soft skills such as English language skills and
communication skills, were also highlighted by industry professionals.
"All SLASSCOM's capacity building initiatives are geared towards driving
Sri Lanka to reach the country's national goal of becoming the #1
industry to lead Sri Lanka to the knowledge economy while achieving the
target of US $1 billion in revenue and employment to over 100,000 by
2015.
"There is a significant demand for talent who meet or exceed
international benchmarks" said SLASSCOM Board member and Director of
MillenniumIT Jit Seneviratne, addressing the participating faculty
members.
"We at Virtusa need IT graduates, that not only have the right
technical skills but also have the right attitude towards a continuous
learning environment and this is where the University environment plays
a vital role" said, Vice President of SLASSCOM and VP and General
Manager of Virtusa - Sri Lanka Madu Ratnayake addressing the
participating members. "We need more industry visits for both students
and lecturers, research and development collaboration, competitions,
internships and knowledge sharing workshops to be facilitated by the
industry", said one participating faculty member.
Another senior lecturer said 'It was a valuable industry visit as we
were able to capture more knowledge about industry requirements and were
able to have enough opportunity to interact with industry
professionals". "This visit benefitted me in building new contacts
within the industry which can be utilized when promoting apprenticeships
for our students", said another participating senior lecturer. |