ACCA holds Sri Lanka’s first Financial Hackathon

The participating teams

The country’s very first Finance Hackathon took place on 26 June, hosted by ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) at the JAIC Hilton in Colombo.

10 teams that consisted of those from the key universities in the country and from some of the leading corporate entities, worked around the clock to come up with solutions to case studies presented to them on current challenges that are prevalent in the finance industry. 

The Hackathon participants were set through the paces by Peter D’Almeida, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of N-able, a part of the Hemas Group of companies, who provided valuable advice, input and guidance to the participants 

With less than four hours of brainstorming, the teams pitched their ideas to a team of industry experts ranging those from top finance entities, blue chip companies and banks. The panel of judges for the event consisted of Dr. Sanjeewani Cooray – University of Jayawardenapura, Dr. Tharusha Gunarathna – University of Colombo, Suren Rajakarier – Vice Chairman Member Network Panel ACCA Sri Lanka and Partner KPMG, Adrian Perera – Chairman Member Network Panel ACCA Sri Lanka and Director corporate affairs OASIS Hospitals Ltd., Nilusha Ranasinghe, Head of ACCA Sri Lanka, Peter D’Almeida – Managing Director and Chief Executive of N-able, Nandika Buddhipala - Member of Member Network Panel ACCA Sri Lanka and CFO Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, Dr. Mudith Sujeewa – University of Kelaniya, and Dr. K. Uluwatta – Uni ersity of Wayamba

The judges evaluated the ideas presented, by perusing their user potential, level of innovation and commercial potential.

The Hackathon showcased some of the brightest minds coming together to work on case studies involving customer and business solutions, creating an intense burst of idea storming. Students and young executives of each team worked diligently on seeking intelligent solutions to overcoming and managing challenges in the finance arena. These included working on case studies based on financial management and analysis, involving risk, financial reporting and maximising company value and mind mapping on solutions pertaining to fair value. 

After impressive pitching from all teams, Team Image Makers from University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Team Sparklers from University of Colombo who bagged the winning trophies and Rs. 100,000 each in cash.

The runners up were Team Maximus from Moody’s Analytics and Team Phoenix from University of Kelaniya who walked away with trophies and Rs. 50,000 each in cash.

ACCA Sri Lanka Head Nilusha Ranasinghe added, “What we saw during the Hackathon was innovation at its best! Our main aim through this event was to foster and harness out of the box thinking and collaboration amongst our youth and to help them contribute their talents to think of ideas that will revolutionise the way forward for the financial industry that is evolving at a very rapid pace. It also gave a great opportunity for the participants to be coached by some of the top industry experts, meet new people and learn new skills. Inspiration, innovation and learning was the backbone of this Hackathon and we hope it gave our participants a deeper understanding of the challenges they will face to stay at the forefront of the finance Industry in the future.”