SLASSCOM and Motorola sponsor Inter-University Enterprise Mobility Competition 2012

Motorola Solutions Lanka (Private) Limited – a wholly owned subsidiary of Motorola Solutions Inc of USA together with Sri Lanka Association of Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) recently launched their  annual Inter-University Enterprise Mobility Development Competition for the third consecutive year  with the participation of  undergraduates from state and private sector universities  across the country.  

“The main purpose of this event is to train University Undergraduates in Enterprise Mobility Technologies and to expose their creative and innovative skills so that Sri Lanka will be a preferred destination for this highly competitive and promising field said Motorola Solutions Director and Country Manager for Sri Lanka,” said Motorola Solutions Director Anuradha Tennakoon.

According to a recent Gartner survey, 30% of large organisations cited enterprise mobility as their top business priority for 2012. Today’s workers are not static. They are constantly on the move and need to have instant access to information anywhere, anytime.

With all that companies have invested in enterprise mobility the past several years – including new devices, robust applications and high-speed service networks – it’s hard to believe the technology can possibly earn any more attention. But that’s exactly what will happen next year, according to Gartner researchers.

They recently released their list of the top technology trends for 2012, and enterprise mobility was featured more prominently than anything else. In fact, mobility earned three of the first five spots on the list of 10 technologies.

Global Industry Analysts also recently forecasted big things for enterprise mobility moving forward by taking a closer look at the market for devices, apps and service contracts. According to GIA, companies around the world will combine to spend nearly $174 billion on enterprise mobility by 2017.

Participating as the Chief Guest for the launch, Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne, Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education advised the Undergraduate community to challenge present systems with out of the box thinking. He further said, “Be creative, use Motorola’s knowledge, develop new Software and think of becoming an entrepreneur as our country need more entrepreneurs. In the industrial era one had to invest lot of money to start a business whereas today with a computer and without a capital one can start a business. IT undergraduates should team up with the undergraduates from other disciplines, invent and patent, Ministry is ready to help added Dr. Navaratne.”

Chairman SLASSCOM Sujiva Dewaraja said that SLASSCOM was grateful to its member Co, Motorola for once again coming forward to sponsor this important event in its calendar. He recalled how Motorola was a pioneer in the field of Mobile Communication and its innovations are continuing to change the way we live and work. He explained how mobile technologies such as RFID were now reaching affordable cost levels, which will further revolutionise many aspects of trade, commerce and day to day life beyond recognition. Events such as these which bring together Industry and Academia will help position Sri Lanka to capitalise on these technological advances.

On the invitation of the University of Peradeniya (UOP), the event organisers Motorola Solutions and SLASSCOM have decided to conduct the final competition at UOP.  Dr. Manjula Sandirigama, Head of the Department of Computer Engineering, UOP said that, “We are honored and privileged to host this year’s Motorola Cup finals in UOP. Motorola and SLASSCOM have done a great service to Sri Lankan IT industry and education system by organising this event that provide a platform for students to show their knowledge while making friends and finally becoming productive in the industry. I wish Motorola and SLASSCOM courage and support from all spheres to sustain this event and to introduce more of such common platforms for University students.”

Professor Gihan Wickramanayake, Director, University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) where every year’s event launch and last two years finals took place said, “UCSC is extremely happy to host the introductory seminar of the Inter-University Enterprise Mobility Competition for students from Universities and affiliation colleges in Sri Lanka for the third successive year. Over the past two years this competition gave our students a rare opportunity to demonstrate their innovative and creative skills while being exposure to cutting edge Enterprise Mobility Technologies and Tools. It was great to note the interest and the participation of undergraduates from all over the country as well as how well the outstation students can perform if they are given an opportunity. I thank Motorola Solutions and Sri Lanka Association of Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) for jointly organising this event and wish them the very best in preparing the students for this year’s competition.”

Closing up the launch ceremony Tennakoon further stated, “The scope for this year’s competition has been widened from Enterprise Mobility Application Software Development Competition to Enterprise Mobility Development Competition in order to provide a wider area for your thinking. Thereby you can propose not only an Enterprise Mobility Application but also things such as frameworks, Utilities, Security Applications and even improvements to existing hardware so that the sky will be the limit for your innovative thinking.”