Harin kicks off nationwide contest to find Sri Lanka’s Most Secure Coder

Monday, 28 November 2016 00:21 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure Minister Harin Fernando - Pic by Daminda Harsha Perera

Supporting country’s target of earning $ 5 billion through software exports and related services, Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure Minister Harin Fernando on Friday launched a nationwide hunt to find Sri Lanka’s Most Secure Programmer.

Titled ‘CodeCraft’, the hunt is through a nationwide competition for university students, professionals, colleges and corporates engaged in software development. It is organised by CICRA – Sri Lanka’s pioneering cyber security training and consultancy organisation and the Daily FT. The competition is conducted through an internationally renowned testing platform of the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants (EC-Council), USA.

The CodeCraft competition has been endorsed by the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure, Ministry of Higher Education and Highways, University Grants Commission, ICT Agency of Sri Lanka and the IT-BPM and Knowledge Services Industry Chamber (SLASSCOM).

Speaking at the launch, Minister Fernando welcomed the competition as it was in line with the Government’s digital Sri Lanka strategy objectives. He outlined a host of Government and industry initiatives towards realising the national goal of a digitally inclusive Sri Lanka. The Minister said that this competition aims to develop the secure coding skills of Sri Lankan Software Developers/Programmers and quality controllers. The students following a degree in software development are also encouraged to apply.

University Grant Commission Chairman Prof. Mohan De Silva encouraged university students to take part in this competition and improve their knowledge on secure software designing and programming.

Introducing the CodeCraft, CICRA Holdings Director/CEO Boshan Dayaratne said that the winners will be rewarded with Rs. 1 million worth of cash prizes and an all-expenses-paid round trip to attend the ‘Hacker Halted’ conference in the US. There are internship opportunities for winners in top corporates as well.

“The competition will be conducted in three segments - preliminary, semi-finals and finals - leading to identifying the top secure programmers in Sri Lanka. After every round 10% of the participants will move to the next round finally moving to the finale,” Mr. Dayaratne said.

“During the competition, participants are provided with an online questionnaire based on their domain knowledge of Secure Programming and they will be tested on their ability to design secure programs.”

The Strategic Partners of the competition are Microsoft, the London Stock Exchange Group and Dialog Axiata Plc. The Official Banker is the Bank of Ceylon. The competition is supported by Print Media Partners Wijeya Newspapers Ltd, comprising Daily FT, Daily Mirror, The Sunday Times, Lankadeepa, Ada and Tamil Mirror. Electronic Media Partners of the competition are Derana TV, Ada Derena, Derana FM and Derana 24x7. Triad Advertising is the creative partner for the competition. More details can be accessed from the competition’s website www.codecraft.lk.