Thursday Nov 28, 2024
Thursday Nov 28, 2024
Saturday, 3 June 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Over the past year, the up and coming technology makerspace for young innovators KidsIgnite has made incredible strides towards inspiring children to become technology thought leaders, and now in reflection of its expanding operations, is rebranding itself to ‘IgniterSpace’. 
This is a move fuelled by the rising interest not only from kids but from older segments of children as well, which called for a name that better represented its growing reach across multiple age groups.
The brainchild of a pair of techies from the Lankan IT industry, IgniterSpace was created with the intention of encouraging the current generation of youth to move away from merely using today’s software and motivate them instead to become the creators of their own technology – the technology of the future.
The founders realised that Sri Lanka lacked proper spaces for fostering technological innovations so while many great ideas are thought of, their execution simply was not possible as there were no means of making it happen. Further, given the sheer amount of technology available, the youth of today have become vast consumers of it and can use existing products incredibly well, but as a result of this are unfortunately not encouraged to innovate themselves. It was this line of thinking that persuaded this pair of techies to create a space with the right people, tools and technology to inspire innovation in kids.
A solution to a problem encountered by one of the founders – the lack of technology programmes to enrol his own kids in – has now grown into a thriving operation with makerspaces in Narahenpita and Gampaha, with further plans of expanding to Moratuwa and a couple of other locations within the year. Since its inception in March 2016, IgniterSpace has produced over 600 young innovators through their engineering programmes, each of whom have been carefully honed to bring out the innovativeness in them.
Having successfully reached out to children in Colombo and its suburbs, IgniterSpace is now focusing its energies on extending their influence across the island and are actively working on introducing this concept into the education system as well. In line with this, IgniterSpace collaborates with ICT industry bodies such as the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM), the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) and the Coordinating Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation (COSTI), and through them have reached out to audiences in Jaffna, Kandy and other parts of the country
IgniterSpace isn’t stopping there! In parallel to this expansion, its founders are currently working on launching their newest venture ‘IgniterBee’, a home makerspace concept that aims to dispense this creative education in the form of an innovation kit that can be delivered right to the doorstep every month, a novel way of reaching out to audiences who are unable to attend their courses due to logistical and other difficulties. The innovation kit will include the necessary components and academic material, supported by an online portal where videos and other information can be accessed.
For more information on IgniterSpace and its innovative courses, please visit www.igniterspace.com or drop a mail to [email protected]. Want to get your hands on an innovation kit? Check out www.igniterbee.com for further details.
