Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka

ICTA’s Spiralation Hackathon “Code-in-Kandy” marks GEW

Tuesday, 20 November 2012 16:40

This year November 12-18 is Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). In Sri Lanka it is highlighted by a programme encouraging budding ICT entrepreneurs initiated by the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) with the partnership of the University of Peradeniya. Called Spiralation Hackathon “Code-in-Kandy” it will be conducted during 16 -18 instant at the Peradeniya University premises.

In a fortunate coincidence the two above-mentioned institutions with senior advisor to the President Professor P. W. Epasinghe as their common Head are joining hands in celebrating the GEW. (Senior Advisor to the President is Chairman of the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka, ICTA, and the Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya). In a further coincidence the three-day event, Spiralation Hackathon “Code-in-Kandy” ends on the eve of 19th instant as if recalling the epoch-making 19th November 2005 swearing-in.

The spiralation initiative of ICT Agency of Sri Lanka looks at supporting budding entrepreneurs or start-ups with business ideas/concepts to create new products or services that would serve in creating new businesses, breech market gaps, assist new ICT related innovations etc.

Local digital creations aplenty for national recognition

Friday, 02 November 2012 10:34

eSwabhimani receives more than 200 applications

An unprecedented number of applications has been received for the fourth eSwabhimani (2012), an initiative of the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) for recognition of local digital content developers.

From its inception in 2009 the eSwabhimani Award has evinced great interest and this year’s applications have hit the 219th mark, the highest in the Award’s history.

This year too ICTA had invited developers to spruce up their digital creations, develop innovative products and applications under the categories of their choice. The specified categories and the number of applications received under them were as follows:- (1) e-Government & Institutions – 32 (2). e-Health & Environment – 10, (3). e-Learning & Education – 31, (4). e-Entertainment & Games – 24, (5). e-Culture & Heritage – 4,(6) e-Science & Technology – 18, (7) e-Business & Commerce – 54,(8). e-Inclusion & Participation – 18, (9). m-Content – 28.

As was expected the highest number of applications was from the e-Business and Commerce category . e-Government and Institutions was the category that had the next largest number of applications with e-Learning and Education coming a close third in the number of applications received under it. Judging from numbers of applications submitted, m-Content, e-Entertainment and Games, e-Science and Technology, e-Inclusion and Participation and e-Health and Environment were the next preferred categories in that order.

ICTA, ‘year’s best public sector organisation in SAARC region’

Tuesday, 30 October 2012 12:02

The ICT Agency of Sri Lanka won a “best public sector organisation of the year” award at the FutureGov Summit 2012 awards ceremony held in Chiang Mai, Thailand recently.

The ‘Public Sector Organisation of the Year’ category, under which ICTA won the above award, was considered under sub-sections consisting of five geographical areas, namely, SAARC, North Asia, Oceania, Middle East and Asean. ICTA won the award as the best public sector organisation of the year under the geographical area of the SAARC region (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). Similarly four other public sector organisations won awards under the rest of the above-mentioned geographical areas. Accordingly the public sector organisations, the Hong Kong Police, the Western Australian Department of Local Government, the Bharain eGovernment Authority and Indonesia’s Surakarta City Government won awards as ‘best public sector organisation of the year’ respectively in the North Asia, Oceania, Middle East, and the ASEAN (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, VietNam) regions.

The above award bagged by ICTA was one of the two awards won by Sri Lanka at the close of the three-day summit (17-19 Oct. 2012) at the Shangri La hotel.