ICT

Kandy youth ICT literate Ajith de Alwis

Shirajiv Sirimane

Kandy youth have tremendous ICT skills but sadly no big time software development company has come forward to unearth this talent. More BPO companies should take advantage of this pool of talent in Kandy said, Infortec International Managing Director Ajith De Alwis.

He said that ICT education in Kandy is almost as same as in Colombo and in some instances at examinations, students have obtained better marks in Kandy than in Colombo.

He said ICT research especially in universities is inadequate and the concept, ‘Sri Lanka can’ is not evident in this field. “Lack of funds or English is not the reason for this but it is the lack of initiative,” he said.

Alwis who is qualified in ICT from the Colombo University said that when he started Infortec International in the late 1990's IT education was a luxury in Kandy. “Students either came to Colombo or the middle class families decided to divert their children to other streams of education since IT education was beyond their reach as fees of some of the few institutions that were engaged in IT education in Kandy were beyond their reach. “IT education in Kandy was then confined to the elite,” he said.

“It was to narrow this gap that I started Infortec with a staff of six with around 20 students.”

Today due to novel education tools, qualified staff, high standard of education and most importantly affordable fees, Infortec is one of the leading ICT educational institutions in Kandy with a student base of over 2,000 and 20 teachers with the academic section headed by the IT Head of Peradeniya University, Shaluka Kodituwakku. Infortec International is a pioneer in IT education and Training, it has trained over thousands of IT professionals for more than 10 years.

He further stated that they do not advertise and it is through word of mouth that they enroll students. “We have also invested over Rs. 100 million in recent times to upgrade computer labs and other infrastructure in Infortec, our fees are the lowest in Kandy and the education we provide is ranked as the best. Our main purpose is to ensure good quality IT education to expose students to better career opportunities at national and international level through internet. “We also offer online exams.”

Infortec has also won several accolades and is the only private institution to be in the APL list and their Higher Diploma course is recognised by the British Computer Society thus saving money.

During the war they also introduced a life saving software by creating an online blood bank and has also developed several other software solutions for both state and the private sector institutions.

He said today opportunities both in Sri Lanka and overseas for IT related employment is tremendous and due to this more and more youth are engaging in IT education. “This is a very good trend as an IT student could gain a qualification as well as employment sooner than other fields and the returns too are high.”

Alwis said that they are also involved in several CSR projects with the involvement of students and even go to the extent of counselling students who have problems at home. Sports activities too are being conducted for students.

The vision of the Infortec international is to be one of the leading institutes in Asia, which will prepare internationally competitive graduates and diploma holders in the computer and management sector, promoting human development through synergizing knowledge, education, research and creativity to improve quality of life.

“Looking back I am happy that we have set up bench marks and today IT is no longer a luxury to Colombo,” he added. Due to this success Infortec is looking at opening five more branches this year including a centre in the North East.

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ICC Commission on Digital Economy recognized

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

The ICC Commission on Digital Economy is recognized in expert circles as the global consensus voice for private sector expertise and opinions on policy matters that drive the digital economy.

With the strategic plan of action for 2012 there are specific projects where ICC can have an unparalleled impact and visibility, International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka Chairman, Tissa Jayaweera told Daily News Business.

Among the new strategic projects for the Commission on the Digital Economy are to produce global business priorities for the digital economy, with guidance for governments supported by a compendium of relevant business actions and practice, develop a policy statement on the best practices for modernization of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLAT), with respect to law enforcement assistance interactions and to avert trend of government local infrastructure / storage mandates, he said.

Business leaders and experts develop and promote the continued and stable growth of the Digital Economy and further adoption of its underlying ICT foundation through regulatory advocacy of key business positions and best practices through International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Commission on Digital Economy.

Its’ members are ICT users and providers from developed and developing countries and the commission provides expertise on policy matters that drive the Digital Economy.

It also provides the ideal platform for developing global voluntary rules and best practices for this area of interest to companies worldwide. Dedicated to the expansion of secure ICT-facilitated trade, ICC champions the liberalization and regulatory harmonization that are required to achieve a free flow of information across all borders.

Many groups and governments are examining the concept of accountability to understand whether it can provide assistance in promoting the free flow of information while protecting the privacy of individuals. Organizations are increasingly looking for opportunities to communicate and manage personal data in a responsible manner. This project has been led by the Center for Information Policy Leadership (CIPL) under guidelines of ICC and has focused on providing detail to help understand the Fair Information Policy Principle, Jayaweera said.