ICT

UCSC, Dialog partner to launch "Sri Lanka Genius 2008"

The University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) together with Dialog Telekom announced the launch of "Sri Lanka Genius 2008".

The aim of "Sri Lanka Genius 2008" is to raise the awareness and knowledge of children throughout the country in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), including those in the extreme periphery, with a view to making the entire nation a force to be reckoned with in the new knowledge economy.

The 'Sri Lanka Genius 2008' quiz program will set itself apart from other similar quiz programm carried out previously by being an island wide competition that is structured to empower the competitors with the required knowledge in ICT prior to facing the tests and challenges which will move them up in the competition.

While the competition progresses, a series of workshops will be conducted to enhance the ICT knowledge of the participants. Furthermore, the student who will be crowned as the SL Genius will also be equipped with value-added soft skills such as social values, team work, motivation, creativity and analytical skills which will enhance his or her ICT talents.

The Sri Lanka Genius 2008 programme has enrolled the participation of nearly 1000 schools island wide in the district round. Currently the District Round examinations of the Sri Lanka Genius 2008 have already taken place in 21 districts, including Jaffna. The District round started from Kandy on recently.

Whilst conducting the examinations, career guidance and open source software workshops also took place in all participating districts. Through the Sri Lanka Genius 2008 program a great effort is put into the Provincial Workshops which would be conducted simultaneously in all the nine provinces in the near future.

The Provincial Round Examinations, the All Island three day workshop and the TV Round of the program will follow the Provincial Workshops.Director of UCSC Dr. Ruwan Weerasinghe said "It is not often that a group of undergraduates risks their studies for the sake of something outside the curriculum.

It is extremely rare for them to forget about their ambitions for a good portion of the academic year to put their efforts into running a massive project of national interest with the sole aim of making the next generation aware of the world of ICT that would empower them to become healthy citizens of the emerging knowledge economy."

Exilesoft to invest in Sri Lanka

A Norwegian software company Exilesoft will investment US $ 400,000 on a project to develop software for foreign clients and provide outsourcing services in Sri Lanka.

The venture will also provide reengineering and consultancy services. Exilesoft will mainly focus on providing software solutions for European clients.

The new project will create 50 employment opportunities. The venture will be located in Colombo. The company is in the process of setting up its infrastructure and is expected to commence commercial operations.

The venture will develop Microsoft based software for Financial Services, Human Resources and Customer Relationship Management sectors.

They will also develop software solutions for mobile devices and hand held devices. Their outsourcing model is based on supporting their clients with a comprehensive development process, years of experience, and sound skills.

The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka BOI signed the agreement with Exilesoft Limited recently. Members of the Board Channa Palansuriya and Upali Samaraweera signed the agreement on behalf of the BOI and formally presented the investor with the BOI Certificate of Registrations.

Virtusa revenue increases in 4Q

Virtusa Corporation (NASDAQ: VRTU), a global information technology (IT) services company reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year ended March 31, 2008.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, Virtusa's revenue increased 28% year-over-year and 6% sequentially, to $45.0 million. Virtusa reported income from operations of $5.6 million, or 12.5% of revenue, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008. This represents an increase of 38% compared to $4.1 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007.

Net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 was $5.3 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, compared to $3.6 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007. Earnings per share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 reflects a 30% year-over-year increase in diluted shares outstanding primarily due to the successful completion of the Company's initial public offering.

For the full year fiscal 2008, Virtusa's revenue increased 33% year-over-year, to $165.2 million. Virtusa reported income from operations of $19.4 million, or 11.7% of revenue, for the fiscal year 2008. This represents an increase of 37% compared to $14.2 million for the fiscal year 2007. Net income for fiscal year 2008 was $17.8 million, or $0.76 per diluted share, compared to $19.0 million, or $1.03 per diluted share, for fiscal year 2007.

The year-over-year decrease in net income of $1.2 million is primarily due to a one-time income tax benefit of $5.0 million in the prior year caused by the release of the Company's deferred tax asset valuation allowance.

Miran Shah new CEO of Duo Software India

Miran Shah - a leading media professional in the Asia Pacific region who has worked for various global media brands, will take over responsibilities as the Chief Executive Officer of Duo Software India. Miran Shah possesses over 14 years of experience in the media industry and has been directly responsible for conceptualisation and implementation of key marketing strategies that have brought global media brands closer to South Asian and Asia Pacific markets.

Duo Software is a global company with offices in all regions of four continents ranging from North America, Europe and Asia to Australia, and is the leading Pay TV Billing, Contact Centre Management and CRM solutions provider in the region.

Duo Software was incorporated in Sri Lanka in 2003 under the leadership of Sri Lankan entrepreneur Muhunthan Canagey. Duo's state-of-the-art enterprise solutions have been deployed at leading organisations throughout the region.

Lanka aims US$ 1b from IT, BPO sector - SLIIT CEO/MD

Anjana Samarasinghe

Sri Lanka targets US$ 1 billion through IT and the BPO industry by 2012. Speaking to Daily News Business Managing Director/ CEO of Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology SLIIT Dr. Lalith B. Gamage said in late 1990 the value of IT exports from Sri Lanka was zero.

“Today the IT and BPO industry brings over US$ 300 million as export earnings to the country. Now the country is targeting US$ 1 billion through IT and BPO industries by 2012.” “In order to achieve this target the country needs qualified people in the industry.

The BPO industry heavily depends on the human resource and a country like Sri Lanka with its sound standard education system could derive immense opportunities through this sector,” he said.

“Over 200,000 students sit for the A/L every year. Out of them only 120,000 qualify and 17000 will have the chance for university entry.

Our objective is to produce more IT professionals to cater to the ever increasing industry demand,” Gamage said

SLIIT conducts various IT degree programmes and now SLIIT launched a new three year Special Honours Degree programme in Business Management in collaboration with the prestigious Sheffield Hallam University of the United Kingdom.

The uniqueness of this degree programme is, it is not evolved as a traditional business management degree programme and IT is built in to it from the core levels of the degree programme.

This new degree programme offered by SLIIT and SHU can be regarded as an extremely valuable, timely and welcome addition to the limited range of higher education opportunities available to students within Sri Lanka he said. We have already recruited new lecturers for conducting this degree programme in Sri Lanka.

SHU staff will regularly visit SLIIT for the monitoring the process, he said. Head of International Development of SHU Robert G. Harris said they selected SLIIT because it has a high reputation in local IT education and it provides graduates according to the needs of IT industry.

“To enter into this affiliation SLIIT had to go through a rigorous validation process. “We are fully satisfied with the high quality lecture panels, remarkable infrastructure and commendable standards adhered to at SLIIT”, he said.

Infosoft to enter European, UK markets

Lanka can be the monarch of IT:

Infosoft Pvt limited a newly formed IT company is looking at entering the European and UK markets providing e-learning and mobile solutions.

Managing Director, Infosoft, Mahendra Dissanayake said they have developed an e-learning system that allows students to sit for demo exams, practice exams as well as for the final exams. In addition the students will be able to keep track of there past performances by using this software.

There is an increasing demand from leading educational institutions in UK to have this particular system installed for them as well.

The company has also developed a high end Theatre Booking system for US that enables users to create the exact layout of the theatre, define the seating arrangements, set the pricing of seats, manage events and special offers as well as manage client accounts. The customers are able to view the seating arrangement and make reservations online. “We are hoping to extend this facility to the UK markets as well,” he said.

In Sri Lanka Infosoft developed a Corporate Loyalty Portal for Dialog and also developed their filing system for Roaming Information management.

Dissanayake who played professional cricket for an Australian league has designed, developed and deployed software, to compare and rank performances of umpires and match referees in Sri Lanka. “There is no system like this anywhere in the world,” he said. The Company also developed a resource management application to allocate and manage the resources of the organisation to Brandix.

Commenting on the local IT sector he said there is enormous potential yet to be unearthed. “Though University students have knowledge they don’t have the confidence. I think one of the first things the authorities should do is try to teach English in a more aggressive manner. Looking at IT development without English is like asking a bird to fly without feathers,” he said.

If this area is addressed Sri Lanka can be the Monarch of IT in the region as the local workforce is very talented.

After just four years today the company client base includes medium to large-scale organizations in both the local and international markets and they are spread across different segments such as the education sector, apparel sector, telecommunications, media and the leading sports body for Cricket in Sri Lanka.

“We specialize in e-learning Solutions, Web based Hotel Booking Applications, Collaborative Suite, recruitment Portals and HRM Solutions and offer other solutions on demand.

The company’s most recent assignment was the re designing of the Lankapuwath website. More details on Infosoft Pvt Limited could be obtained from mahendra@infosoft.lk or from their website www.infosoft.lk (SS)

Divoom launches wireless speakers for mobile phone

Divoom introduces compact, stylish and convenient “Divoom” wireless speakers for mobile phones.

Divoom has been specially designed for the music lovers to share music with friends and family through the mobile phone. This sophisticated speaker has been designed taking into consideration the hazards of connecting sound systems and made it as easy as switching it on.

Although today’s mobile phones are technologically advanced the sound quality is not satisfactory to the listener. Thus mobile users are looking for convenient options to play their digitally stored music with better quality external sound devices said Managing Director of Sala Enterprises Chinthaka Wijewickrama.

The obvious and the most convenient choice is definitely the Divoom Bluetooth speaker. Any mobile phone with Bluetooth facility could be connected to this speaker. This speaker comes with a remote control in order to allow the advantage of selecting the songs you would prefer and controlling the volume remotely.

The speaker also comes with FM radio with 15 memories to store your favourite radio channels, he said.

Another advantage of this speaker is that the operating distance is of a range of 30 feet in open space.

In order to protect unauthorised access to speaker, Divoom comes with security supports in paring, encryption and authentication.

Sala Enterprises is the sole agent for Divoom range of products in Sri Lanka.