Registration now open for nationwide software development competition for students
Following the immense success and popularity of RoboFest in 2012, the Faculty of Computing of the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) will conduct CODEFEST for the second consecutive time this year.
Dr. Malitha Wijesundara (Dean of Computing for SLIIT) with the winning SLIIT team of the Mini Hackathan
CODEFEST is a nationwide software competition which aims to harness student talent and aid in the software development sector in Sri Lanka. SLIIT seeks to contribute towards propelling the country to become a knowledge hub by conducting competitions of this nature.
The competition, open to secondary school and tertiary level students, will be held on the 25th October 2013, with a Mini Hackathon and quiz competition running parallel to the grand finale. Participants are required to develop an interactive system to assist students to interact with and improve knowledge on any subject to meet defined learning outcomes.
Criteria for the secondary school category will involve a quiz competition which will be held during workshops for the school teams, during which teams will be asked questions based on the ICT syllabus. The 10 best teams will be selected for the second round, and after an elimination round the best five teams will be selected for
Dr. Rohan Samarasinghe (Coordinator for Codefest 2012) with the Winner from the School Category (Dudly Sennanayake Central)
the grand finale. The top three teams will receive awards and valuable cash prizes of Rs. 80,000, Rs. 60,000 and Rs. 40,000. Furthermore, two other awards will be given to the teams that produce the most innovative and creative software.
The tertiary category encompasses a software competition and Mini Hackathon. This competition is open to students from any higher education institute in Sri Lanka, including universities. Contestants are expected to develop a context-aware mobile application that supports the current needs of Sri Lankan society. Categories of applications could possibly include, but are not limited to the following focus areas: solutions targeting travel, education, health, environment, social harmony
Indraka Udayakumara (Coordinator for Codefest) with the winners of the Open Category.
and development activities. The application context can be a geographical location, environmental conditions or a suitable location to use the application. Innovative forms of locations-based applications and context-sensitive applications beneficial to the progress of the country are encouraged. The top three teams of the competition will be awarded cash prizes worth Rs. 50,000, Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 20,000. Similar to the school category, two awards will be given to the teams producing software that showcases innovation and creativity.
Teams for both the school and tertiary level categories may comprise up to five members. However, all members of a team must be from the same school or university. There can be multiple teams from the same school or university, but one student cannot represent more than one team.
The Mini Hackathon will be held at SLIIT Malabe Campus parallel to the finale of CODEFEST. A product specification of a mash-up application for a simple real life requirement would be presented at the onset of the challenge. For the Mini Hackathon, student teams from both universities and schools will compete with each other to prove their aptitude for software development. These teams may comprise up to five members. Teams participating in the Hackathon are required to hack together a piece of working software within six hours using any technology. The winning team will be awarded a valuable cash prize.
“CODEFEST 2013 is part of SLIIT’s CSR project which seeks to enhance and enrich students’ knowledge of IT while leveraging the power of IT across the island” states Professor S. Karunaratne, Chairman of SLIIT.
“This competition is an ideal platform to promote the application of skills honed from ICT-related modules taught in schools and with undergraduate studies towards problem solving skills and related areas” notes Professor Lalith Gamage, President and CEO of SLIIT. “Participation in the competition provides an opportunity to compete with peers from around the country, sharing real competitive experiences, making new connections and, above all, showcasing talents and innovations”.
To support the potential participants of CODEFEST, SLIIT will conduct a series of IT seminars in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. These seminars will be held at 10 centers island wide, covering most of the provinces in Sri Lanka. The seminar series will assist school children to enhance existing knowledge of ICT and emerging technologies while providing them an opportunity to share knowledge.
The first round of the CODEFEST competition will be held on 20th September, 2013 at SLIIT’s Malabe campus, with the Grand Finale to be held on 25th October, 2013. Registration forms can be downloaded from the website http:/www.codefest.lk/. Applicants must complete the form and return it to the Mr. Indraka Udayakumara, Coordinator – CODEFEST 2013 either through post (Faculty of Computing at SLIIT – New Kandy Road, Malabe) or email (codefest@sliit.lk).
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