hSenid Mobile completes TADHack Teens Sri Lanka 2021 exclusively focussed towards SL’s youth

TADHack Global, the world’s largest telco application development hackathon, returned to Sri Lanka for the seventh year, organised by hSenid Mobile in partnership with Ideamart. This year, due to the current global and local situation, the event was held virtually on 25 and 26 September. For the first time in Sri Lanka, parallel to the main event, TADHack Sri Lanka team organised TADHack Teens Sri Lanka 2021, which was dedicated to school age kids from around the island. 

“TADHack Teens Sri Lanka 2021, though unprecedented, was a runaway success in more than one way for TADHack Sri Lanka. By opening up the event to include school age kids, our team managed to create a wholesome experience for teachers, as well as parents who were involved. The enthusiasm and inquisitiveness to learn displayed by the kids was encouraging for the local tech industry, as well as our country, as we work towards an IT-led future in the decades to come,” said hSenid Mobile CEO Dinesh Saparamadu.

The event also included participation of school principals, teachers as well as parents of students in various capacities during different stages of the entire event. In the lead up to the main event there were several webinars and ‘Learn to Code’ sessions organised by the organising team in order to get the students, their parents, and teachers all involved in this enterprising event. 

The response from students was overwhelmingly positive with a total of 19 teams participating in the Teens event, of which six were shortlisted for the final stage. The bronze medal was won by Sayuri Wimalasiri, Nethaya Gunathilake, Thathsara Indrapathma, Kevin Dissanayake, Tharuki Piyathilake representing Lyceum International – Anuradhapura for ‘Team CoveID.’ The silver medal was won by Pemsara Bodhipaksha and Hiruksha Rajapaksha representing Ranabima Royal College – Kandy for ‘Team AI Flood Warning.’ The gold medal recipients were Yashen Ariyathilake, Dedutnu Udakotuwage from the same institution for ‘Team E-Slate.’ 

Special awards of recognition were handed out to Team AI Flood Warning for their use of telco services while recognising ‘Girls in Tech,’ an award of special recognition for the all-girls team ‘Fire & Gas Detector’ was also awarded. The team demoed a working prototype using both software and hardware.  

There will also be a special Code Camp scholarship program initiated for all teen participants, sponsored by SLASSCOM Tech Kids.

Judges for TADHack Teens Sri Lanka 2021 included State Ministry of Skills Development, Vocational Education Research and Innovation Secretary Deepa Liyanage, PwC Sri Lanka Executive Director, Technology Consulting Leader and CIO Nishan Mendis, Open University of Sri Lanka Industry Liaison Center Director, Senior Lecturer Dr. Ajith Madurapperuma, University of Moratuwa Senior Lecturer Dr. Chamitha de Alwis, ICTA Sri Lanka Director – Capacity Building Sameera Jayawardena, Lanka Nippon Biztech Institute Head of Academic Affairs Dr. Thilak Hapugahage, PeoplesHR Chief Product Owner Asitha Gunawardene, hSenid Business Solutions Head – Support and Enterprise Delivery Mahinda Pathirana, Multiplier Software Architect Chamil Jeewantha, and hSenid Mobile Senior Software Architect Chathurika Sandarenu. Participating schools at TADHack Teens Sri Lanka 2021 were, Minu/President’s College, St. Bridget’s Convent, Musaeus College, Lyceum International School, Rahula College, Ranabima Royal College, St. Thomas’s Girls High School, Rahula College Matara, Shilpasayura NextGen Academy, Saddananda Central College, B/Bandarawela Central College, Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya, St. Servatius’ College, SLIIT, Shilpa Sayura Foundation, Royal College Colombo, B/Bandarawela Central Collage, R/Gankanda Madya Maha Vidyalaya, Kegalu Balika Vidyalaya, Kegalle, St. Michael’s College National School Batticaloa, BT/ Mahajana College, Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, Wesley College, Zahira College Colombo, Queensway Girls’ International School, D.S. Senanayake College, De Mazenod College, Lyceum International School Colombo, Ilma, G/Neluwa National School, Richmond College, BBMMV, Hewaheta Central College, Lyceum International School – Wattala, St. Anthony’s College Kandy, St. Joseph’s College Colombo 10, Maris Stella College, Veluwana College, Vidura College, MR/Rahula College, Thurstan College, Wp/Ke Karunarathne Buddhist National College, Royal Institute, Isipathana College, Nalanda College, G/St. Aloysius College, Negombo South International School, St. Joseph’s Boys College, Nugegoda, Gateway College, S. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela, B/Badulla Central College, Lyceum International School, Anuradhapura, Madawala Madeena National School, Kotte Ananda Sastralaya, Mahinda Rajapaksha College, and Kaluthara Muslim National School. 

As the world changes through new technology and innovation having a youth primed towards those changing needs is a must for any developing nation. TADHack Teens Sri Lanka’s initial goal was for the event to become a catalyst for our young minds to come to their own with a little nudge in the right direction from hSenid Mobile, Ideamart, and TADHack Sri Lanka as we move towards the future!

At hSenid Mobile Solutions, we pioneer in building end-to-end platforms that equally enable SMBs as well as large enterprises to connect with other businesses as well as end-customers. Having had overwhelming success in the financial and telecom market with our platforms, we have further developed our solutions to cater to the enterprise sphere. Founded in 1997, with the aim of supplying high-quality software products and services to our customers worldwide, hSenid Mobile is currently carrying out operations from Bangladesh, Singapore, and Sri Lanka with a global clientele spanning over 20 countries.