International IT conference in Colombo on Dec. 11
View(s):The 14th International Conference on Advances in ICT for Emerging Regions, also known as ICTer conference, will kick off on December 11 and 12, 2014, at the BMICH in Colombo, while workshop and tutorial sessions related to the conference will be held on December 10 and 13 at the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC), according to the Conference Chair Dr. Nalin Ranasinghe, also a member of the faculty at UCSC.
He also added that this conference would feature keynote speakers from Singapore, the US, Australia and Spain who would talk about cutting edge research in their relevant fields, which could benefit emerging regions.
Speaking at a launch event held for the media, Dr. Ranasinghe also noted that this conference was more of a research forum than other conferences currently being held. He also added there were a total of four ICT conferences held in Sri Lanka, three of which were hosted by the universities of Peradeniya, Moratuwa and Colombo, while the fourth was organised by a local ICT association.
Additionally, he also commented that in this day and age a lot of the international conferences were solely about the money involved. But Sri Lankan ICT conferences were not like that, instead providing an impetus for more research; He also opined that those that were truly focused on advancing ICT differentiated themselves by providing peer-reviewed research papers amongst other factors.
Elaborating further, 2013′s Conference Chair Prof. Priyantha Hewagamage indicated that, with the Sri Lankan government now spending more money on research, it was important for that research to be shared to get the best out of it. He also noted that admission to this conference would cost only Rs. 20,000 (a little over US$150), while access to comparable events outside of Sri Lanka would typically cost between $500 and $700.
He also added that around 300 delegates attended last year and the same was expected for this year, while a now concluded call for papers had resulted in 125 research papers being submitted, with 39 full research papers and 22 poster (unfinished) papers being accepted.
Organisers also further noted that the conference would showcase research on areas such as rapid application development, which was growing in importance in the international ICT arena, while also highlighting examples of innovations in the local context, such as the virtual marine environment used by the Sri Lanka Navy and others for full mission and ship handling training scenarios.
(JH)