University of Rajarata wins Inter-University Enterprise Mobility Solutions Development Competition 2

The team from University of Rajarata emerged the overall winner for their Computerised Vehicle Terminal Management System developed aiming the Sri Lanka Ports Authority at the Inter-University Enterprise Mobility Solutions Development Competition organised by Motorola Solutions and Sri Lanka Association of Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM).

The University of Kelaniya team emerged as the 1st Runner-Up for their solution on railway information and management system and the team from University of Jayawardenapura was adjudged as the 2nd Runner-Up for their solution called Z-Meter, which is a smart mobile application using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to read electricity meter usage.

Minister of Higher Education S.B. Dissanayake was the Chief Guest for the awards ceremony and he was accompanied by Secretary to Ministry of Higher Education Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne.

A total of 16  teams  from 12 universities and degree awarding university  affiliation colleges in Sri Lanka, including Universities of Peradeniya, Ruhuna, Kelaniya,  Jayawardenapura, Uva-Wellassa, Jaffna, Rajarata, OUSL, SAITM, APIIT, SLIIT, and IIT, demonstrated enterprise level mobile solutions that they developed during past  five months.

The 16 solutions demonstrated at the finals were selected from 91 initial entries by a panel of experts evaluating over a period of three weeks. Solutions reached for the finals addressed the needs of different industry verticals such as transportation, healthcare, agriculture, floriculture, plantation, educational institutes, electronic maintenance, supply chain management, construction and public sector organisations such as Railways, Ports Authority, Utilities, Disaster Management, and Water Management. Students groups have studied the burning issues of the organisations and come up with innovative mobility solutions to address the burning issues.

Having viewed all solutions demonstrated, Dissanayake in his address said: “As an emerging economy, Sri Lanka should be prepared to increase productivity of enterprises to formidable levels. Currently mobility solutions are gradually picking up in Sri Lanka and in that context this competition is extremely important.”

Addressing the undergraduate students, Dr. Navaratne said: “Sri Lanka needs people like you. The Minister wants to make Sri Lanka the cost effective quality education hub in Asia. Improve the acceptability of our graduates and make them 100% globally employable.”

He invited the students to join the Enterprising Graduates program and said: “You are the job givers. Not job seekers. Motorola has given a good example in how to develop good entrepreneurs.”

The Inter-University Enterprise Mobility Solutions Development Competition, held for the third consecutive year, has helped hundreds of young graduates develop skills and experience in enterprise mobility so that they become entrepreneurs or globally-employable professionals. This event has especially helped outstation universities where the resources and opportunities are scarce, said Anuradha Tennakoon, Director and Country Manager for Motorola Solutions Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, participating as the Chief Guest at Motorola/SLASSCOM sponsored Inter-University Enterprise Mobility Solutions Development Competition 2012 finals, United States Ambassador for Sri Lanka and Maldives Michele J. Sison said: “The United States and Sri Lanka have been close trading partners for over 100 years, and we are working very hard to further expand our economic relationship.  An essential ingredient for US and Sri Lankan competitiveness in today’s marketplace, and part of what drives the mutually-beneficial growth in both of our economies, is the innovation of sharp minds in the technology sector. We see here today a perfect example of how our partnership can foster and help build innovation in Sri Lanka.  It is great to see a reputable and long-standing American company like Motorola partnering with SLASSCOM to organise this competition for the university students in Sri Lanka.

“Some of you may not know this, but Motorola Solutions is an 82-year-old American company with a rich heritage of innovation – from the development of the first transistor radio to the first mobile telephone, and from the first automobile radios to the technology that enabled astronaut Neil Armstrong to communicate from the surface of the moon back to NASA control.  And today, the company’s state-of-the art R&D centre here in Sri Lanka, under Anuradha Tennakoon’s leadership, is pioneering breakthrough mobile technology solutions that promise to further change the industry for the better.

“This competition provides an opportunity for undergraduates to gain invaluable experience developing software solutions and to showcase their products to the judges.  Perhaps more important is what happens when these young students graduate from the universities: the country will have a growing pool of innovative developers that are readily employable. The Government of Sri Lanka and private sector are working hard to develop Sri Lanka’s IT sector, and the students participating here today will, in time, help make Sri Lanka one of the top software development centres in the world.”