Sri Lanka wins 3 gold awards and 8 merits at APICTA Awards in Vietnam

Students who attended APICTA Awards in Vietnam with FITIS Chairman Abbas Kamrudeen, Software Chapter President Prasad Hettiarachchi and FITIS CEO Aruna Alwis 

Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards is an international awards program organised by APICTA, which aims to increase ICT awareness in the community and assist in bridging the digital divide. APICTA brought together participation from across Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Nepal at this year’s event in Halong, Vietnam held from 19 to 23 November. 

Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS), apex body for ICT industry in Sri Lanka represented Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards (APICTA) together with BCS Sri Lanka section. This year over 35 innovative products were submitted to APICTA awards from Sri Lanka and the companies are ITX360 Ltd., Arimac Lanka Ltd., EIMSKY Business Solutions Ltd., Enhanzer, Magicbit Ltd., Omobio Ltd., Techwire Lanka Ltd., Tiqri Corporations Ltd., Epic Lanka Ltd., Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT), Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) and University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Arimac Lanka Ltd., Epic Lanka Ltd. and University of Sri Jayewardenepura won gold awards. 

Six outstanding young Sri Lankan innovators between the ages of 10 and 20 years, who were adjudged the overall winners at the Young Computer Scientist Competition 2019, flew to Vietnam to showcase their innovations at the Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards (APICTA Awards), dubbed the ‘Oscars’ of the ICT industry. 

The students who hail from Colombo, Kandy, Chilaw, Biyagama and Anuradhapura were adjudged the overall winners of the Young Computer Scientist Program 2019, organised by the Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka, the apex ICT industry body in Sri Lanka. The competition was conducted in association with the Ministry of Education and the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC). 

The students who represented Sri Lanka at APICTA Awards were 18-year-old B.G.N.A. Gamaarachchi from Ranabima Royal College, Kandy, 19-year-old H.M.M.K.K.B. Herath of Poramadulla Central from Kandy, 20-year-old W.N.D. Fernando of Ch/Medagama Abhaya from Chilaw, 15-year-old S.B. Karunasena of OKI International, Biyagama as well as 13-year-old L.M.Y. Jayasinghe of Thurstan College, Colombo and 10 year old Kisali R. Dhanapala of Sri Rahula College, Anuradhapura won a Merit award.  

FITIS Chairman Abbas Kamrudeen said that as the apex body that plays a pivotal role in the development of the ICT industry in Sri Lanka, FITIS was delighted to sponsor the six students to APICTA awards in Vietnam, which provides them a unique opportunity to showcase their technological innovations to an international audience. 

“As the apex body, we don’t only restrict competitions within Colombo, and this year’s Young Computer Scientist Competition featured a total of five out of six overall winners who were from out of Colombo. This is a commendable achievement, because its testament that we have innovators all over the island,” he said.