Fusion Awards 2014 – Encouraging and Appreciating the Grassroots Youth Achievements

Over 800 young IT enthusiasts from 70 rural tele-centres Island wide were gathered at the Sarvodaya Vishwa Samadhi hall to get their talents applauded at the FUSION AWARDS 2014 organized by Sarvodaya Fusion; the ICT arm of Sri Lanka’s leading civil society movement, Sarvodaya Shramadana Sangamaya.

On the day of the event, Vishwa Samadhi premise was flooded with these talented youngsters, who were well cladded and were second to none of the most urbanized. There were so much incomprehensible emotions in the air when these young ones were posing for their batch photographs with huge smiles spread across their faces and their family members watching them with pride and tears of contentment from a distance

Chief Guest of the event, Dr. Harsha De Silva; the Hon. Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Development, Guest of Honour; the Hon. President of Sarvodaya Shramadana Sangamaya; Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne along with all the other special guests including Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne; General Secreatary Sarvodaya, Mr. Madu Ratnayake; Chairman of Sarvodaya Fusion and the General Manager of Virtusa, Dr. Harsha Liyanage ; Managing Director Sarvodaya Fusion, Mr. Rohan Pandithakkorralage; Director- HR Aitken Spence, Mr. Dumindra Rathnayake; Ex- CEO of Etisalat Lanka were gracefully welcomed in to the ceremony by a group of traditional dancers.

Following the lightening of the oil lamp, singing of the National Anthem and a traditional Pooja Dance, Dr. Harsha Liyanage; Managing Director of Sarvodaya Fusion welcomed the gathering highlighting “Empowerment of Rural Youth through ICT” as the core mission of Sarvodaya Fusion. Coming up on stage next, Mr. Madu Rathnayake; Chairman of Sarvodaya Fusion, delivered the key note speech of the evening elaborating further on the importance of connecting technology and education to meet the demands of a globalized world.

The ceremony kicked off in full phase, awarding nearly 800 IT enthusiasts with Diploma in Computer Applications (DICA) certificates among which 30 students who excelled in the examinations were awarded with Gold, Silver & Bronze medals as an encouragement. Additionally awards were presented to the “Upcoming Entrepreneur”, “Most Outstanding Entrepreneur” and the “Best Telecentre” selected among 70 Telecentre network. Several industry partners and Corporate Partners were appreciated in recognition of their contribution made towards the successful implementation of e-Empowerment projects during the last year.

Guest speech and presentation on Cyber Security made by Ms. Shalini Ratwatte; Head of Legal and Corporate Affairs for South East Asia New Markets of Microsoft was a key Highlight of the event. Opportunity was provided to showcase the hidden talents of the participants and a speech was delivered in English by Master I.D.S.R.D. Jayasinghe of Refresh College – Puttalam who became the Island rank 1 in November 2014 Examination. Mr. Ishara Madushanka; Managing Director of Infogate IT Institute – Kanthale who was awarded the most outstanding entrepreneur 2014 shared his thoughts representing all the Fusion Grassroots Partners. Students of Infinite IT Education – Thudella entertained the audience with a Western dance performance which added glamour and hype for the day.

The generous support extended by the Gold Sponsors Microsoft Sri Lanka and Singer Sri Lanka together with Silver and Bronze sponsors NDB Bank, Seylan Bank, Tech One, Glaxosmithkline, Coca-Cola and Aquafresh made the event a reality. Read me was the digital partner of the event.