Seeing Beyond it degree shops

Prof. Asoka S. Karunananda
Dean of Research – General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University

The term computing has been used by the general public as a synonym for Information Technology (IT). However, in academia, Information Technology is just one of the five areas under the broad field of Computing. The field of computing encompasses science of computing, engineering the computer artifact, applications of computing technology and social aspects of computing. In this context, Information Technology is the branch with application oriented aspects related to design

and development of computer-based solutions for real world problems. General public is largely unaware that IT industry requires not only IT graduates, but also graduates in Computer Science (CS), Computer Engineering (CE) and Software Engineering (SE), who are knowledgeable in Science and Engineering of computing. In fact, CS, CE and SE graduates are better paid than IT graduates in the IT industry.

Birth of Computing Education in Sri Lanka

IT/BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) industry’s plan to reach US$ 1 billion revenue generation for the country by 2015 cannot be achieved only through IT graduates. Thus the expansion to computing education to produce a full spectrum of computing graduates is of paramount importance to the national development. In the late 1960s, teaching of FORTRAN programming marked the dawn of computing education in the state universities in Sri Lanka. Major universities in Sri Lanka started to offer Computer Science (CS) and Computer Engineering (CE) degrees in the mid 1980s. During this period, all over the world, usage of computers dramatically penetrated every corner of society and this marked the birth of a field known as Information Technology (IT). This field won a huge attraction during the 1990s and in the early 2000s in Sri Lanka.

Developments and future trends

As a result, from a layman’s perspective, but not necessarily from a viewpoint of the academia, every person including computer scientists and computer engineers are also considered as IT professionals. The establishment of the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT) of the University of Moratuwa and the University of Colombo School Of Computing (UCSC) were remarkable initiatives in the early 2000s to cater to the increasing demand for professionals in computing. During those days, dozens of private sector IT institutions also emerged to offer IT degrees. This has resulted in the growth of IT industry, which is now one of the largest export revenue generators for Sri Lanka.

In the last decade, the field of Computing has evolved some new degree areas such as Software Engineering (SE) and Information Systems (IS). Before the 2000s SE happened to be a couple of course modules inside the curricula of CS, CE and IT degrees. Nowadays, SE has its own breadth and the depth to stand alone as a distinct computing degree area. Further, IS degrees have emerged as a result of area specific penetration of IT into various domains such as Management, Business, Law and Education. Recent developments in Artificial Intelligence, Networking and Security have also shown potential to emerge as distinct degree areas in computing in the future. Major world-class universities have already started degrees in those areas, which are at present in the core of CS, CE and SE degrees.

A world reputed survey (ACM/IEEE) on the evolution of Computing degrees has identified five major computing degree areas, namely, CS, CE, SE, IT and IS. Comprehensive guidelines for the development of computing curricula for those five degree areas can be readily accessed at http://www.acm.org/education/curricula-recommendations.

These guidelines provide a list of core modules, elective modules and a minimum number of hours to be covered for each module with a detailed outline syllabus for the respective degree area. Once the

core modules are covered, curriculum designers have the freedom to introduce their own modules/projects to maintain the identity of the degree, and to claim as a computing degree under one of those five areas. World recognized degree accreditation bodies such as Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology - ABET (www.abet.org) considers ACM/IEEE guidelines as the benchmarking for accrediting computing degrees. Sri Lankan state universities are now in the process of aligning their Computing degrees with the ACM/IEEE international standards. Let us have a closer look at the scope of these five computing degrees.

IT Degrees

IT degrees are targeted for students from any stream of GCE (A/L). A curriculum of an IT degree does not necessarily expect knowledge of mathematics or science at GCE (A/L). This allows us to produce a larger number of IT graduates, which is an essential requirement for the current and the future software industry.

Therefore, producing of IT graduates at a large scale continues as a national need. At present, both state universities and private sector IT training institutes produce IT graduates.

There are also external degree programmes to produce IT graduates. However, the level of competencies of the IT graduates who enter the IT industry are varied and this justifies the need for benchmarking IT degrees to align with international standards.

IT for Arts/Commerce degrees

Initiatives have already been taken to introduce IT as a subject stream for Arts/Commence degree programmes in our state university system. Undoubtedly, it is a highly commendable initiative. Since Arts/Commerce students are offered ICT (Information and Communication Technology) as a subject at GCE (A/L), introducing IT as a subject for arts/commerce degrees, even as a specialization, cannot be an unrealistic proposal. In fact, both state universities and private sector IT training institutions have already been offering IT degrees for art/commerce students from GCE (A/L). Obviously, Art/Commerce graduates with IT as a subject stream will have a higher employability. It is encouraging to notice that some Management Faculties in the state university system have already started IT Departments in their faculties.

Joint major degrees

Introduction of joint major degrees with computing as one of the main subject streams is an excellent initiative to produce computing graduates with a difference. Initially, IT has been the most popular computing area for joint major degrees in computing. However, this trend has changed and the joint major degrees with CS, CE and SE have also now been introduced. In our state universities, joint major degrees such as Computational Physics, Computational Chemistry, Computing with Statistics and Computational Biology are becoming popular. Industry personnel have also reported that the graduates with joint major degrees in computing are better than some typical IT graduates due to the value addition to computing by another subject area. For instance, joint major computing degrees with mathematics as a subject stream have been able to produce computing graduates with better analytical skills.

IS Degrees

Information Systems (IS) degrees also enroll students from any stream at GCE (A/L). An IS degree can be a join faculty programme. For instance, an IS degree can be offered by a computing department in a Science Faculty jointly with a department in a Management Faculty.

However, IS degrees should not be confused with joint major degrees. This is because a joint major degree in Computing gives an equal weight for one of the five Computing areas (CS, CE, SE, IT and IS) and another non-computing subject area. In contrast, in an IS degree, IT component gets a higher weight than the weight given to the other subject area (e.g. Law, Management or Education). If a certain degree gets lesser weight for IT than another subject area such as Management, that degree should be identified as a Management degree with some IT subjects, but not as a computing degree.

CS, CE and SE Degrees

Computing degrees in CS, CE and SE are open only for physical science students with a sound knowledge in mathematics at GCE (A/L). This is because the curricula of those degrees encompass a substantial amount of higher mathematics. These degrees produce the most eligible graduates to join academia and to be employed in the high-end computing industries. Graduates with these degrees are of utmost importance to expand the horizons of the current Sri Lankan software industry. Unfortunately, except in a few instances, the private sector IT training institutes have been confined to offer only IT and IS degrees. At present, the University of Moratwa and the University of Peradeniya produce 160 CE graduates annually. The total number of 4-year CS graduates produced annually by the UCSC and the Science Faculties of the entire state university system is less than 80. The number of designated 4-year SE graduates produced annually by the entire state university system is as low as 20. Benefits of producing more CS, CE and SE graduates are presented below.

Strengthening Academia

Producing more Computing graduates in CS, CE and SE allows absorbing more graduates into academia. Postgraduate qualified persons in those areas can be utilized for teaching and research in all five areas of computing. In addition, more academics in computing also results in producing more computing graduates. This will be a blessing for the development of the IT industry as well.

Expanding the general software industry towards the specialized software industry requires more graduates in CS, CE and SE. At present, with few such graduates, only a handful of Sri Lankan software companies have been able to venture into the development of high-end specialized software. It is evident that a multiplicity of general software industry projects is required to match the revenue generated by a single specialized software project. Therefore, it is undisputed that, before long, Sri Lankan software industry will be stagnating, if more graduates for high-end computing industry are not produced soon.

Graduates in CS, CE and SE are highly employable in any segment of the global software/hardware industry. In particular, those graduates can be employed for high-end software development as high-end software companies are already established regionally and internationally. As such, even if the current Sri Lankan software industry is not up to high-end computing immediately, graduates in CS, CE and SE can be readily employed regionally and internationally. Undoubtedly, foreign employments for computing graduates are yet another lucrative means for strengthening the country’s economy.

Attraction of foreign investors

Another benefit of producing more CS, CE and SE graduates is the ability to attract foreign investors related to high-end software development. At present, global software companies that are interested in high-end software developments are not very much attracted to Sri Lanka. This is because we have not yet shown enough manpower in terms of CS, CE and SE degree holders. As such, if we produce more graduates in CS, CE and SE, we will be able to attract foreign investors related to high-end software developments.

Attraction of foreign investors is a corner stone of the economy of the country.

Finally we discuss the current status of computing education in our state universities and possible expansion to computing education in Sri Lanka.

At present, Computer Engineering has been offered as a specialization to the Engineering degree by the Engineering Faculties in the University of Moratuwa and the University of Peradeniya. Many Science

Faculties of the state university system, except the one at the University of Colombo, offer degrees in Computer Science (CS) and Information Technology (IT). University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) and Faculty of Information Technology (FIT) of the University of Moratuwa are dedicated for the computing education in Sri Lanka.

Therefore, UCSC and FIT have a national obligation to offer the widest possible spectrum of current computing degrees, and to introduce any emerging computing degrees at the correct time. At present, UCSC offers computing degrees in CS, SE, IT, IS and joint major degrees in computing. FIT at University of Moratuwa offers only IT degrees.

Undoubtedly, being a faculty, FIT requires expansions beyond IT degrees.

Some departments, but not necessarily the faculties or schools, have the courage to offer multiple Computing degrees to meet national requirements. For example, in the University of Kelaniya, Department of Industrial Management has planned to offer IT, IS and SE degrees, while the Department of Statistics and Computer Science in the same university already offers a CS degree and has planned to offer a computing specialization aligned with IT for a BA degree in the Faculty of Arts. The Department of Statistics and Computer Science of the University of Sri Jayawardenapura also offers a degree in CS and has a plan to offer an IT degree.

The University of Moratuwa and the University of Peradeniya have a unique opportunity to offer a full spectrum of the current computing degrees. This is because the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Information Technology of the University Moratuwa jointly have the infrastructure to offer all five computing degrees. On the same token, the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Peradeniya also have a set up for offering Computing degrees in all five computing areas. At present, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) offers computing degrees in IT and CS. With these two degree areas, KDU has the basis to expand for offering IS, SE and CE degrees. As a university with multiple faculties, KDU also has distinct opportunities to offer a range of joint major degrees.

It is high time to plan for a joint major degree in Computing with Architecture. This would be yet another significant contribution that can be done by the University of Moratuwa, which has the one and only Architecture Faculty in the system.

Faculties of Science, Faculties of Engineering, UCSC and FIT can make a national contribution by offering a Computing component for joint major degrees with non-Computing subjects coming from another Faculty.