The Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා තොරතුරු තා‌ක්ෂණ ආයතනය; ta, இலங்கை தகவல் தொழில்நுட்ப நிறுவனம்) (also known as SLIIT) is a non-profit

private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

specialising in technology and management.http://www.documents.gov.lk/files/egz/2015/10/1936-51_E.pdf It has two campuses and four regional centres, the main campus being based in

Malabe Malabe ( si, මාළබේ, ta, மாலபே) is a suburb of Colombo in the Colombo District, Sri Lanka. It is situated on the New Kandy Road (Kaduwela Road) about away from the centre of the commercial capital Colombo. This suburb is a ...

and a Metropolitan Campus in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

. SLIIT is a member of the

Association of Commonwealth Universities The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) was established in 1913, and has over 500 member institutions in over 50 countries across the Commonwealth. The ACU is the world's oldest international network of universities. Its mission is ...

and

International Association of Universities The International Association of Universities (IAU) is a membership-led non-governmental organization working in the field of higher education. It comprises more than 600 higher education institutions and organizations in over 130 countries. IAU ...

, and has several partnerships with international universities.

History

Founding

Lalith Athulathmudali Lalith William Samarasekera Athulathmudali, PC (; 26 November 1936 – 23 April 1993), known as Lalith Athulathmudali, was a Sri Lankan statesman. He was a prominent member of the United National Party, who served as Minister of Trade and Sh ...

who was then the Minister of Trade and Shipping, originally had the Mahapola Trust Fund acquire in Malabe in the 1980s with the expectation of building a Technological University and the headquarters of the Mahapola Trust Fund. Minister of Commerce

Kingsley Wickramaratne Kingsley Tissa Wickramaratne was the 5th Governor of Southern Province, Governor of Southern Province, Sri Lanka. Wickramaratne held the position from 1 February 2002, through 23 October 2006, when he was replaced by Kumari Balasuriya. Reference ...

and

Richard Pathirana Richard Pathirana (24 February 1938 - 3 July 2008) was a Sri Lankan politician and educationist. He served as the minister for Education and Higher Education from 1994 to 2000 and as the minister for State Administration, Home Affairs and Adm ...

would eventually use the land for establishing SLIIT. The Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology was established in 1999 by incorporation under the Companies Act of 2007 as a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

company by guarantee (registration number GL 24) with the ability to award

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degrees following amendments to the Universities Act the same year, thus gaining recognition from the

Minister of Higher Education {{Unreferenced, date=March 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A Ministry of Higher Education is a government department that focuses on the provision or regulation of institutions of higher education. In some countries these exist as ministries compounde ...

. SLIIT was established primarily to educate and train information technology professionals.

Expansions

Initially limited to the fields of information technology and computing, in 2007 SLIIT expanding into new fields of study. These include

electronic engineering Electronics engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering which emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current ...

and

business management Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

in collaboration with

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Cr ...

. SLIIT also expanded its presence from

and its suburbs to other parts of the country, by establishing centers in

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

and Matara, making SLIIT accessible in six locations. Presently, SLIIT operates two campuses - the Colombo Metropolitan Campus at Kollupitiya, and the Malabe Campus, with centers in Matara, Kandy, Jaffna, and Kurunegala with an undergraduate student population of over 7,000. A further 1,000 students follow master's degree Programmes, Postgraduate Diploma and other Professional Development Programmes. In 2011, SLIIT established its faculty of business after it was accredited by the UGC to award

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

degrees in

Human Capital Management Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...

Accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

and

Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

Marketing Management Marketing management is the Organizational studies, organizational discipline which focuses on the practical application of marketing orientation, techniques and methods inside enterprises and organizations and on the management of a firm's mar ...

Quality management Quality management ensures that an organization, product or service consistently functions well. It has four main components: quality planning, quality assurance, quality control and quality improvement. Quality management is focused not only ...

and

Management Information System A management information system (MIS) is an information system used for decision-making, and for the coordination, control, analysis, and visualization of information in an organization. The study of the management information systems involves peop ...

s. This was followed in 2012, with the establishment of the Colombo Academy of Hospitality Management (CAHM). The project is a joint venture of SLIIT, Colombo Academy of Hospitality Management (CAHM),Colombo Academy of Hospitality Management
/ref> and William Angliss Institute of Australia. It has been developed in line with international standards, housing a training kitchen, banqueting facility, training restaurant, model bedrooms, an IT training center, and team rooms for students' practical training to prepare students for the degree of Bachelor of Tourism and Hospitality Management. The faculty of engineering was formed in 2013, with it awarding its own

Bachelor of Science in Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Bach ...

degrees and master's degrees from partner universities such as

Curtin University Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

and

. The SLIIT Computing was established as a privately managed subsidiary of SLIIT in

Kollupitiya Kollupitiya, also known as Colpetty is a major neighbourhood of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The name Kollupitiya comes from the name of a chief from Kandy who had unsuccessfully attempted to dethrone the last king of Kandy. During the period of British ...

to further expand undergraduate studies. In 2015, SLIIT established its School of Architecture, offering a three-year degree in architecture. In 2016, introducing 16 new research-based degrees including PhD and

MPhil The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

degrees approved by the Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation of Sri Lanka.

Campuses

SLIIT has two main campuses in the

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

- a Metropolitan campus in central Colombo, and a flagship suburban campus at

. The Malabe campus covers an area of about , making it the larger of the two campuses, and houses the faculties of Computing, Business and Engineering, as well as the main library. Located between Kaduwela and Malabe along the New Kandy Road, it is the only SLIIT campus with sporting facilities. The smaller Metropolitan campus is located within the Bank of Ceylon Merchant Tower at

, hosting mostly postgraduate facilities. The institute also has regional centers in Kandy, Matara, Jaffna, and Kurunegala.

Governance

The company (Incorporated under Companies Act) is governed by a board of directors headed by a chairman; the current chairman is Professor L. Rathnayake, who succeeded founding chairman Professor Sam Karunaratne. Due to government ownership of the institute, many of the Board's seats are held by government officials on an

ex-officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

basis. The Board delegates power over academic and administrative affairs of the institute to the President, who also acts as CEO of the institute. Professor

Lalith Gamage Professor Lalith Gamage , MBCS, MIEE is a Sri Lankan academic. He is a professor, currently serving as the president and Chief Executive Officer of Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, a position he has held since the beginning of th ...

is the current President.

Faculties and schools

Faculty of Computing

The origins of the Faculty of Computing goes back to the formation of SLIIT in 1999, when it introduced degrees in

Information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

. ; Departments * Information Technology * Computer Systems and Network Engineering * Software Engineering * Information Systems Engineering * Cyber Security * Interactive Media * Data Science

Faculty of Business

The Faculty of Business (Business School), which was formally known as the Faculty of Business was established in 2011, offering BBA degree programs. ; Departments * Business Management * Accounting and Finance * Business Analytics * Human Capital Management * Marketing Management * Quality Management * Logistics and Supply Chain Management * Information Management

Faculty of Engineering

Established in 2013, the Faculty of Engineering offers

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

s in engineering degree programs. ; Departments * Civil Engineering * Electrical & Electronic Engineering * Mechanical Engineering * Materials Engineering

Faculty of Humanities and Sciences

The Faculty of Science and Education was established in 2017, with the introduction of a degree programs in

Biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

, law,

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and

nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

School of Science

* School of Science - BSc (Hons) Biotechnology - The first degree course in the School of Science is Biotechnology. Established in 2019, by 2021, batches 6 will be in education, enrolling nearly 200 new students annually. It provides the first and only Biotechnology degree course available in Sri Lanka, equipped with state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, including

Microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

Molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

Tissue Culture Tissue culture is the growth of tissues or cells in an artificial medium separate from the parent organism. This technique is also called micropropagation. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-solid, or solid growth medium, su ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

. In addition, it maintains close relations with SLINTEC and Peradeniya University. * School of Education - BEd (Hons) Biological Sciences, BEd (Hons) Physical Sciences, BEd (Hons) English * School of Law - LLB (Hons) Law JMU* School of Nursing - Higher Diploma in Nursing, BSc (Hons) Nursing - International JMU* School of Psychology - Higher Diploma in Psychology, BSc (Hons) Psychology JMU* English Language Teaching Unit * Mathematics Unit - BSc (Hons) Financial Mathematics and Applied Statistics xpected in 2021

Faculty of Graduate Studies

The Faculty of Graduate Studies is a

graduate school Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...

that conducts taught and research postgraduate degree programs in the fields of engineering and computing.

Colombo Academy of Hospitality Management

The Colombo Academy of Hospitality Management
CAHM
was started in 2012 as a joint venture with SLIIT and

William Angliss Institute of TAFE William Angliss Institute of TAFE is a TAFE institute located in the Melbourne CBD, Victoria, Australia providing training and vocational education in Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts. It is the oldest and largest provider of hospitali ...

, offering degrees in tourism and hospitality management.

SLIIT Academy

SLIIT Academy (Private )Limited previously known as SLIIT Computing was established a s a subsidiary of Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology under the companies act No.17 of 1982 in 2011 and was registered with the Registrar of companies under the No. N (PVS) 29707 on 31 December 2001. SLIIT Academy (Pvt.) Ltd was established to provide educational opportunities to a wider range of students who wish to progress their higher education with an industrial oriented learning experience. SLIIT Academy offers Foundation Programs & Degrees in IT, Business, Engineering & Health and Life Sciences and Post-Graduate Program in MSc in PM which paves the way for students to keep their knowledge up-to-date in this fast-moving environment. With the growing demands of the workforce, SLIIT ACADEMY has been one of the first to introduce one of a kind Educational opportunity to the Nation of Sri Lanka. A blend of theory and practice gives the edge for those who want to enter the workforce with sound academic background and gives a competitive advantage among the others. ; Foundation Programs University of Bedfordshire (UOB) Degree Programs *Foundation Certificate in Information Technology *Foundation Certificate in Business Management

- SLIIT Academy Foundation Certificate programs in *Information Technology *Engineering *Business *Health & Life Sciences ; Higher Diploma Programs *Electronic & Electrical Engineering *Information Technology *Business Management ; Degree Programs ; Departments *Computer Science and Software Engineering - UOB *Computer Networking - UOB *Electronic & Electrical Engineering - LJM *Business Administration - UOB *Human Resources Management - UOB ; Postgraduate Programs *Project Management – Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU)

School of Architecture

The School of Architecture was established in 2015 offering

and MSc degree programs in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

from the Liverpool John Moores University.

Academics

Affiliations

Partnerships with foreign universities allow students to finish their degree at these universities following an initial study period in Sri Lanka.

Research

SLIIT conducts IT and computer-related research and is a partner of ConceptNursery.com,

's technology incubator. The SLIIT Research Symposium is held annually.

Professional courses

SLIIT conducts the Cisco Network Academy courses ( CCNA,

CCNP A Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) is a person in the IT industry who has achieved the professional level of Cisco Career Certification. Professional certifications Prior to February 2020 there were approximately eight professional-le ...

and CCSP) under the regional Cisco Network Academy in Sri Lanka. SLIIT is also one of the Microsoft Academies in Sri Lanka offering Certification Courses.

Controversies

Ownership

The Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) was established as a government owned but privately managed institute and was built on a property that belonged to the Mahapola Higher Education Scholarship Trust Fund. In 2015 SLIIT Board of Directors had transferred the assets of SLIIT to a company limited by guarantee, which was set up to manage SLIIT. The government auditor department said such a transfer was in contravention of the law and resulted in Mahapola not getting the correct amount of funds from SLIIT. In September 2018, Dr. Rajapakshe submitted a Cabinet paper, attempting to establish SLIIT as a fee-levying institution under the Government, but this has so far been unsuccessful. In 2021, SLIIT has been asked to appear before the Committee On Public Enterprises (Sri Lanka) for the investigations but SLIIT refused to appear before the Committee citing it was not state-owned and COPE expressed its displeasure. In 2020, the

Sri Lankan parliament The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

appointed a committee to investigate the misuse of public funds by the SLIIT; this committee included 22 members of the Sri Lankan parliament, and its final report was released in April 2021. According to this report, the top management of the SLIIT has taken a series of informal steps to vest state resources in private ownership. Hence, this committee recommends that legal action be taken under the Public Property Act against parties who alienated state ownership and management of the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology without proper authority.

Rankings

Sport

The Malabe campus has a range of sporting facilities including

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

and

carrom Carrom is a tabletop game of Indian origin in which players flick discs, attempting to knock them to the corners of the board. The game is very popular in the Indian subcontinent, and is known by various names in different languages. In Sou ...

. SLIIT sporting teams compete in a range of local and national competitions.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology 1999 establishments in Sri Lanka Business schools in Sri Lanka Educational institutions established in 1999 Information technology institutes Information technology research institutes Schools of informatics Universities and colleges in Colombo District Engineering universities and colleges in Sri Lanka Universities in Sri Lanka