Inter university Enterprise Mobility Competition 2012 launched

Motorola Solutions Lanka (Private) Limited - a wholly owned subsidiary of Motorola Solutions Inc of USA and Sri Lanka Association of Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) recently launched its annual Inter-University Enterprise Mobility Development Competition.

"The main purpose of this event is to train undergraduates in enterprise mobility technologies and to expose their creative and innovative skills so that Sri Lanka will be a preferred destination for this highly competitive and promising field" said Motorola Solutions Director and Country Manager for Sri Lanka, Anuradha Tennakoon.

Students at the launch of the SLASSCOM and Motorala University Enterprise Mobility Competition 2012.

According to a recent Gartner survey, 30 percent of large organisations cited enterprise mobility as their top business priority for 2012. Today's workers are not static. They are constantly on the move and need to have instant access to information anywhere, anytime.

With all that companies have invested in enterprise mobility the past several years - including new devices, robust applications and high-speed service networks - it's hard to believe the technology can possibly earn any more attention. But that's exactly what will happen next year, according to Gartner researchers.

They recently released their list of the top technology trends for 2012, and enterprise mobility was featured more prominently than anything else. In fact, mobility earned three of the first five spots on the list of 10 technologies.

Global Industry Analysts(GIA) also recently forecast big things for enterprise mobility moving forward by taking a closer look at the market for devices, apps and service contracts. According to GIA, companies around the world will combine to spend nearly $174 b on enterprise mobility by 2017.

Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education, Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said udergraduates should challenge present systems with out-of-the-box thinking. He said, "Be creative, use Motorola's knowledge, develop new Software and think of becoming an entrepreneur as our country need more entrepreneurs.

In the industrial era one had to invest to start a business whereas today with a computer and without a capital one can start a business. IT undergraduates should team up with the undergraduates from other disciplines, invent and patent a product and the ministry is ready to help Dr. Navaratne said.

Chairman SLASSCOM, Sujiva Dewaraja said that SLASSCOM was grateful to its member company Motorola for sponsoring this event. He recalled how Motorola was a pioneer in the field of mobile communication and its innovations are continuing to change the way we live and work. He explained how mobile technologies such as RFID were now reaching affordable cost levels, which will further revolutionise many aspects of trade, commerce and day- to-day life. Events such as these which bring together industry and academia will help position Sri Lanka to capitalise on technological advances.

Event organisers Motorola Solutions and SLASSCOM will conduct the final competition at UoP. Head of the Department of Computer Engineering, UOP, Dr. Manjula Sandirigama, said ,"We are privileged to host this year's Motorola Cup finals at the UoP.

Motorola and SLASSCOM have done a great service to the local IT industry and education system by organising this event that provides a platform for students to showcase their knowledge while making friends and finally becoming productive in the industry.

I wish Motorola and SLASSCOM courage and support in all spheres to sustain this event and to introduce more common platforms for University students", he said. Director, University of Colombo School of Computing, Prof. Gihan Wickramanayake said " The University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) is extremely happy to host the introductory seminar of the Inter-University Enterprise Mobility Competition for students from Universities and Affiliation Colleges in Sri Lanka for the third successive year. Over the past two years this competition gave our students a rare opportunity to demonstrate their innovative and creative skills while being exposure to cutting edge enterprise mobility technologies and tools.

It was great to note the interest and the participation of undergraduates as well as how well outstation students can perform if they are given an opportunity.