Technology

Lack of skilled people - main drawback in software industry

by Gamini Warushamana

[email protected]

Though all stakeholders are aware about the software industry potential in the country the responses are slow, said the Dean of the Faculty of IT, University of Moratuwa, Prof. Dileeka Dias.

The University of Moratuwa, the main institution that produces IT engineers caters to the fast growing software industry in Sri Lanka. The University has been internationally recognised with various international awards. The university was ranked No.1 at the Google Summer Code 2008, a few weeks ago.

According to industrialists the main drawback of software industry in Sri Lanka is the lack of skilled people. They said the industry is lagging behind its true potential due to the HR issue.

Main bottlenecks

Prof.Dias said that one of the main bottlenecks in the growth of the industry is the lack of human resources. The university generally has a dearth of physical and human resources and is unable to increase the intake of students.

The funds allocated to each Faculty depends on the number of students.

The new IT Faculty building is now ready to be opened.

It took three years to complete the construction work, she said.

Though the physical infrastructure problem has been solved it is still difficult to find teachers because all the best students who passed out as well as the experienced teachers are absorbed by the industry.

Traditionally the best students who pass out with classes are retained in the university and become teachers.

However, the IT graduates are attracted by the industry as the industry pays very high salaries together with other benefits. Today we recruit only 100 students to the faculty, she said.

Resource persons

With the new building we can increase the intake but the lack of teachers is the issue. To keep up with the industry demand we have to maintain the quality of the graduates. We need more teachers to guide the students individually in their projects instead of the group projects we conduct today, she said.

To address this issue the university has collaborated with the industry.

The industry provides resource persons as part-time lecturers. However, this process is not quite successful as those lecturers are extremely busy at work in their companies.

As a solution Prof. Dias proposes to release those resource people for a given period i.e. for a semester.

The salaries of university lecturers are far below compared to the salaries in the industry. Therefore, we allow our teachers to work as consultants on government projects.

The University has been interacting with the industry to keep peace with the rapidly changing IT industry and update the study courses on a regular basis to maintain its courses up-to-date since its inception.

There are consultative boards at the university, faculty and department level.

The IT industry in the country is working closely with the university while the courses are updated and the latest technologies are introduced.

The industry provides six months internship for students and Prof. Dias added that many large and small IT companies help the Faculty to train the 100 students in each batch.

Changing technology

Despite all these interactions with the industry, Prof.Dias still feels that the university should work hard to keep its courses up to date with the changing technology. “Technology is changing fast but we are not fast and efficient to change with the industry.

We have several plans and collaborations with foreign universities and staff development is one option. Most importantly we are looking forward to appoint an industry sponsored chair (a professor) to the university.

He or she will be an eminent person from the industry (a Sri Lankan or a foreigner).

He will be in the university and help us in research, development of teachers and maintain our courses with industry needs,” she said.

Prof. Dias said that the highest demand from the students still is for the Engineering courses and not for IT. Students who pass the GCE (A/L) examination with mathematics or physics can apply to the IT Faculty and therefore even bio science students can enter the IT Faculty.

The Faculty has launched external degree courses and 300 students in the first batch are now following the course. It is an on-line course and students who pass the GCE (A/L) examination in any subject stream can follow the course.

Prof. Dias said that producing a software engineer to suit the industry is not an easy task. “We get students from various backgrounds and therefore in addition to academic knowledge we need to build confidence in them and develop their communication skills, she said.

Xerox expands coverage in Lanka

Lumen Technologies Ltd., the authorised distributor for Xerox in Sri Lanka appointed Kobian Technologies as a reseller for Xerox products. Kobian Technologies will showcase a range of Xerox products in their 30 outlets islandwide.

Ruksan Sheriff, Chief operating officer of Lumen Technologies, said that the vast coverage Kobian Technologies command throughout the country, has been the main reason for this tie up and believes that this move will give the users more access to the Xerox band.

Saliya Wimalaratne, Chief Executive Officer of Kobian Technologies Ltd., said that they were delighted to enhance their product range by taking a step forward with Xerox, a brand known for innovation the world over.

Lumen Technologies Ltd, a member of Golden Key Group and a Ceylinco Consolidated Company, entered the Sri Lankan market in April 2007 to offer world-renowned document management solutions. Since its inception, Lumen Technologies have steadily grown and at present they are the authorised distributor for Xerox Corporation in Sri Lanka.

They cater to the office equipment, Production system and work flow solution segments and provide professional consultancy in choosing the correct technology and total system integration.

Intel to sponsor INFOTEL 2008

Intel Sri Lanka will sponsor Sri Lanka’s premier showcase for Information Communication Technology (ICT) - INFOTEL 2008, which will feature the largest gathering of industry experts, professionals, academics and the user community on a single platform.

This year’s INFOTEL 2008 will display new technologies and feature a special career section, in addition to the standard software, hardware and communications categories.

The new addition to the exhibition will provide visitors with information on the latest products and career opportunities available in the field of ICT, the required academic and professional qualifications and skills, as well as an insight into the education resources on offer.