IT industry academia workshop to focus on future skills

The Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service companies (SLASSCOM) will be facilitating a one-day workshop for IT faculty members at all State regional universities on ICT curriculum development. This would be held on 26 August 2011

The Chief Guest at the opening ceremony would be the Dr. Sunil J. Nawaratne, Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education. The aim of the workshop is to discuss how to develop curricula to enhance student learning that also meets the needs of the workforce. The workshop would be collaborative effort between the industry and the academia with participation from IT professionals.

Vice chancellors and heads of IT departments of all State universities together with leading members from the IT industry will be invited to take part in the workshop. This is a collaborative effort between the industry and academic institutions as both are interdependent for providing knowledge.

SLASSCOM has been working in the last few years to create awareness in IT related new trends and, employment opportunities to the next generation. All its endeavours are geared towards driving Sri Lanka to reaching the national goal of becoming the number one industry to lead Sri Lanka to the knowledge economy while achieving the target of US$ 1 billion in revenue and employment to over 100,000 by 2015.

One of the key prerequisites for this growth to be realised is the acceleration of human resource capacity development in the industry. The workshop is sponsored by John Keells Computer Services (JKCS), a member of SLASSCOM. The aim of the directlink initiative is to communicate this vision and opportunities that the IT/BPO industry represents to all stakeholders including students, teachers and parents. This is an ongoing effort.

Engaging with members of academia in State and private universities is an initiative under this awareness program launched under SLASSCOM directlink: industry academia network. A sound dialog and strong relationship between the academia and industry is essential to ensure that the IT/BPO industry stays relevant and competitive in the global market. SLASSCOM directlink vision is to bring together the industry and academia leaders in to a symbiotic relationship to accelerate the building of the Sri Lankan knowledge economy. The objective of this program is to collaborate in enhancing the talent pool available to the IT-BPO industry through knowledge sharing, curriculum development support and various other activities.

SLASSCOM directlink will provide a platform for the industry and academia to engage in a sustained manner.

In addition to creating awareness about our industry, it is vital that all IT degrees are aligned to be of the same standard by updating the curricula taught at all State regional universities. This has been highlighted as one of the main reasons for unemployment of IT graduates from the regional universities. SLASSCOM invites all IT faculty members of all State universities to join this workshop and be actively involved with the IT/BPO industry.   SLASSCOM acts as the catalyst of growth for the Sri Lankan IT and BPO industry by facilitating trade and business, propagation of education and employment, encouragement of research and innovation and by supporting the creation of a progressive national policy framework. Follow @SLASSCOM on twitter or visit www.slasscom.lk for more information.

For further information, please contact Roshan Ranasinghe, Program Manager, SLASSCOM Corporate Office on Tel: +94 11 7884460/ or [email protected].