ICTA sets up fully–fledged Nenasala lab at Deyata Kirula

Parallel to Deyata Kirula 2013 (23-29 March), ICT facilities in areas close to where the event is to be held are being improved, stated the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). Beginning this endeavour, an ICTA initiated Nenasala laboratory will be set up on 25 March at the Hardy Advanced Technology Institute, Ampara, the venue of Deyata Kirula this year.  

The Hardy Advanced Technology Institute, Ampara is to be upgraded to be the Ampara Hardy Technology University. The Nenasala laboratory, set up at the centre of learning in southeast Sri Lanka, will be equipped with modern ICT facilities including Wi-Fi. The Nenasala laboratory with 20 computers is scheduled to be inaugurated by Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya and Youth Affairs and Skills Development Minister Dullas Alahapperuma and will cater specially to professionals.

The ICTA-initiated Nenasala laboratories of this nature are scheduled to be set up in the Ampara, Trincomalee, Polonnaruwa and Batticaloa districts. Singer Sri Lanka, together with Intel supports this ICTA initiative.

Multiple events are on the cards as further components of the series of development activities parallel to the Deayata Kirula. It is in this backdrop that the Nenasala laboratory at the Hardy Advanced Technology Institute in Ampara is being launched. The Nenasala laboratory at the Hardy Advanced Technology Institute will be a permanent facility; the ICTA facilities at the stall at Deyata Kirula on the premises of the institute will be temporary, i.e., from 23 to 29 March. While the Nenasala laboratory will cater to professionals, the ICTA stall will be public-oriented, with items like video games to attract school children and basic training in using ICT facilities.

To date, more than 100 Nenasalas have been set up in the Ampara, Trincomalee, Polonnaruwa and Batticaloa districts, according to the ICTA. In addition to the Nenasalas in the North, the ICTA is currently engaged in preparatory work for setting up 40 more Nenasalas in the North. Currently, there are 694 Nenasalas (Arivahams) spread island-wide under the Nenasala project.

In reference to the setting up of Nenasala laboratories, ICTA CEO Reshan Dewapura stated: “Setting up Nenasala laboratories further accentuates the Government’s endeavour to take the dividends of ICT to the village. It is hoped that the first such Nenasala laboratory set up at the Hardy Advanced Technology Institute in Ampara will be a forerunner of island-wide transformation of rural Sri Lanka.  

“We are grateful to the support provided by those concerned in setting up the first Nenasala laboratory complete with the most advanced facilities including Wi-Fi. The Nenasala laboratory concept goes a long way in taking the dividends of ICT to the village, articulated by the Nenasala project, the brainchild of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The upsurge of the Nenasala laboratory concept coincides with the current focus on version 2.0 of the development agenda ‘Smart Sri Lanka’.

He added: “Under this new phase, we are now moving above and beyond pure technology and focusing more on innovation, transformation, entrepreneurship and inclusion. Benefitting from the latest advances in technology, more intelligence and smartness can be induced to the country, in all activities in all sectors. The setting up of the first Nenasala laboratory in the precincts of the Hardy Advanced Technology Institute in Ampara augurs well for a perfect mix of this advanced technology and intelligence that ‘Smart Sri Lanka’ calls for.”