Sarvodaya Fusion on Friday

Wednesday, 18 February 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Including excluded grassroots talents into social entrepreneurship cycle

Kanthale Infogate IT Centre Managing Director Ishara Madushanka receiving the ‘Upcoming Entrepreneur Award’ at last year’s Fusion Awards

Every year, talents hidden in the remotest corners of the country are brought into spot light by Sarvodaya Fusion (the ICT arm of the largest and the oldest civil society movement of Sri Lanka – Sarvodaya Shramadana Sangamaya) through its iconic annual graduation ceremony; Fusion Awards. Once again, this annual landmark celebration of grassroots talents in the IT industry is just around the corner. The ceremony is scheduled to be held on 20 February for the fifth consecutive year with the participation of young grassroots IT enthusiasts and social entrepreneurs from 22 districts across the country along with experts of distinctive government and corporate bodies such as Microsoft, World Bank, CARE International, ICTA, TVEC and John Keells Holdings. Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Development Dr. Harsha De Silva is expected to grace the ceremony as the Chief Guest. Information and Commu-nications Technology is one of Sri Lanka biggest growth industries and currently employs over 50,000 individuals. The island is the fifth largest exporter of software in the world yet computer literacy is still only 16%. A lack of skilled ICT staff is an increasing concern for Sri Lanka’s businesses and Fusion Education’s DICA program is designed to address these shortfalls, support industry and empower individuals. The students receiving their certificates at the Fusion Award Ceremony have all graduated from the Diploma in Computer Application course. The qualification has been designed and produced in association with an expert resource pool at the University of Moratuwa within TVEC (Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission) guidelines. The DICA qualification is a nationally recognised qualification that ensures all graduates have achieved a high level of knowledge around the practical and theoretical use of information and communications technologies. The course has been uniquely designed for poorer, less educated rural communities and is accessed through rural telecentres to overcome an environment of still developing infrastructure. The main objective of the event is to provide these talented youngsters a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the taste of a glamorous and prestigious graduation ceremony that will be locked up in their hearts for a life time as one of the fondest memories in life. It also creates a platform for them to associate with higher level professionals of IT sector as well as experts from various other fields, get exposure and mentoring to mould their future into a better reality breaking away from their present underprivileged actuality. The ceremony also felicitates the achievements of young social entrepreneurs in the IT sector who have emerged out from their disadvantageous backgrounds and are currently working for the betterment of their communities. Corporate giants; Microsoft Sri Lanka, Singer and Unilever have joined hands with Fusion as main sponsors of this noble cause of creating a dream graduation for these deserving youth coming to Colombo from every part of the country including Jaffna, Trincomalee, Morawaka, Puttalam, Nuwara Eliya, Kanthale, Kandy etc.