Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates to visit Sri Lanka next year
Fri, 2008-06-20 06:28
By Quintus Perera - Asian Tribune
Colombo, 20 June, (Asiantribune.com): Bill Gates, Chairman Microsoft Corporation during a 20 minute interview I had with him in Indonesia has assured that he would visit Sri Lanka next year, said Prof Tissa Vitharana, Minister of Science and Technology, addressing the launch of INFOTEL the biggest Information Communication Technology (ICT) event in Sri Lanka that is scheduled to be held on 30th October at the BMICH.
The launch and a press conference to reveal the details of INFOTEL was held at Trans Asia Hotel last week where Prof Vitarana was the Chief Guest.
He said that Bill Gates was invited to inaugurate Infotel, but he has said that he would be unable to attend, but he would send his message for the event.
Prof Vitharana said that when Bill Gates comes to Sri Lanka they could make use of the opportunity to get Microsoft involved in ICT research and development and said that with the government declaring next year as the year of ICT and English and this will enable Sri Lankan children to get jobs they are looking for in a short period of time.
He said that Infotel 2008 will be an ideal platform to showcase the combined strengths of the ICT industry of Sri Lanka and to pitch this message onto the international arena and it will highlight the enormous growth potential in the country and the comprehensive policies, infrastructure and conducive business environment in place to fuel and sustain this growth.
Infotel aims to bring together the entire IT community in Sri Lanka including industry experts, professionals and academics and the user community to a single platform. This will be the 9th Infotel Exhibition will be held as part of the ICT Week for 9th consecutive year commencing from October 17th. The four day exhibition will be on the theme “The Future is already here”.
It is expected to draw attention to the already available infrastructure and offerings in the local ICT field and highlight that human capability and broadened outlook are the pe-requisites to exploit the available facilities to its full potential.
In addition to the software, hardware and communications categories, special “Career Section” will also be introduced. This is aimed to provide career seekers, students and visitors with information on how to match career and job opportunities in the field of ICT with the required academic and professional qualifications along with skills required by the industry. It will also showcase the strengths in the market in terms of academic and professional courses available.
The e-Sri Lanka initiatives section will be coordinated by the ICT Agency to showcase applications that help to bridge the digital divide or remove the technological boundaries between the average citizen and state institutions. It will enable the visitors to share and be informed of e-services and solutions offered by public sector agencies to improve their lifestyles using digital technologies.
Roshan Rasool,Chairman, Infotel Lanka Society said that last year was a great success and this year they want to make it the biggest ICT Week ever in the whole of Sri Lanka.
Roshen Devapura, COO/Director, ICT Agency of Sri Lanka said that the government is devoting increased focus on developing the ICT and ITES sectors of the country.
The 10th International IT Conference (IITC) 2008 organized by the University of Colombo School of Computing is another key event of the National ICT week. It will provide networking opportunities for participants to acquaint themselves with the current global technological developments through presentation made by eminent specialists in the field.
Fri, 2008-06-20 06:28
By Quintus Perera - Asian Tribune
Colombo, 20 June, (Asiantribune.com): Bill Gates, Chairman Microsoft Corporation during a 20 minute interview I had with him in Indonesia has assured that he would visit Sri Lanka next year, said Prof Tissa Vitharana, Minister of Science and Technology, addressing the launch of INFOTEL the biggest Information Communication Technology (ICT) event in Sri Lanka that is scheduled to be held on 30th October at the BMICH.
The launch and a press conference to reveal the details of INFOTEL was held at Trans Asia Hotel last week where Prof Vitarana was the Chief Guest.
He said that Bill Gates was invited to inaugurate Infotel, but he has said that he would be unable to attend, but he would send his message for the event.
Prof Vitharana said that when Bill Gates comes to Sri Lanka they could make use of the opportunity to get Microsoft involved in ICT research and development and said that with the government declaring next year as the year of ICT and English and this will enable Sri Lankan children to get jobs they are looking for in a short period of time.
He said that Infotel 2008 will be an ideal platform to showcase the combined strengths of the ICT industry of Sri Lanka and to pitch this message onto the international arena and it will highlight the enormous growth potential in the country and the comprehensive policies, infrastructure and conducive business environment in place to fuel and sustain this growth.
Infotel aims to bring together the entire IT community in Sri Lanka including industry experts, professionals and academics and the user community to a single platform. This will be the 9th Infotel Exhibition will be held as part of the ICT Week for 9th consecutive year commencing from October 17th. The four day exhibition will be on the theme “The Future is already here”.
It is expected to draw attention to the already available infrastructure and offerings in the local ICT field and highlight that human capability and broadened outlook are the pe-requisites to exploit the available facilities to its full potential.
In addition to the software, hardware and communications categories, special “Career Section” will also be introduced. This is aimed to provide career seekers, students and visitors with information on how to match career and job opportunities in the field of ICT with the required academic and professional qualifications along with skills required by the industry. It will also showcase the strengths in the market in terms of academic and professional courses available.
The e-Sri Lanka initiatives section will be coordinated by the ICT Agency to showcase applications that help to bridge the digital divide or remove the technological boundaries between the average citizen and state institutions. It will enable the visitors to share and be informed of e-services and solutions offered by public sector agencies to improve their lifestyles using digital technologies.
Roshan Rasool,Chairman, Infotel Lanka Society said that last year was a great success and this year they want to make it the biggest ICT Week ever in the whole of Sri Lanka.
Roshen Devapura, COO/Director, ICT Agency of Sri Lanka said that the government is devoting increased focus on developing the ICT and ITES sectors of the country.
The 10th International IT Conference (IITC) 2008 organized by the University of Colombo School of Computing is another key event of the National ICT week. It will provide networking opportunities for participants to acquaint themselves with the current global technological developments through presentation made by eminent specialists in the field.
He sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.
Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
