Dialog, Ideamart in collaboration with Google Developer Group Sri Lanka successfully hosted South East Asia’s largest Google I/O Extended 2018 event in Sri Lanka. ‘Google I/O Extended Sri Lanka 2018’,
The tech event was opened by a keynote speech from Dr. Rainer Deutschmann, Group Chief Operating Officer, Dialog Axiata PLC, and saw the likes of an esteemed panel of speakers from Google, Prashanthan Balakrishnan – Google County Consultant – Sri Lanka, Paul Ravindranath, Developer Relations Regional Lead, Google Inc., Keshan Sodimana, Country Engineering Consultant – Sri Lanka, Google Inc., Lim Shang Yi, Google Developer Expert, Singapore, , Google Inc. and Richa Singh, Program Manager - Google Crowdsource, Google Inc, draw more than 3,500 innovators, entrepreneurs and agile developers to the fore. Paul Ravindranath, Developer Relations Regional Lead, Google Inc. said, “The increase in demand for ICT talent at this stage is key for Sri Lanka to stay competitive in the region. The growth in “AI first” companies, has fueled investments targeted towards supporting developers.”
Dr. Rainer Deutschmann, Group Chief Operating Officer, Dialog Axiata PLC outlined the tectonic shifts from centralised to decentralised and edge computing, facilitated by 5G and blockchain, from classical to quantum computing approaching the quantum supremacy, and from classical deep learning towards self-optimising and self-learning models.
The event provided a platform for the budding developer and tech community to find inspiration and learn more about the opportunities and resources available for them to upskill and work in tandem with the likes of digital incubator companies through increased investment in supporting startups such as the Google Launchpad Accelerator. The Smart Home exhibit included a smart button, to be used as a general-purpose actuator for sending an SMS, an email, calling a taxi, switching on a light, ordering gas and multiple other repetitive tasks. The key highlight was the human powered slot car, that used a racing car, a racing track and a gym bike to power the car and report performance and analytics via the NBIoT (Narrow Band IoT) circuit board developed by Ideamart, which is Sri Lanka’s first ever NB-IoT kit made for developers. The award categories provided a platform for tech personalities in their respective fields to be recognised at the large forum. Some of the award categories included, Youtuber of the Year (Tech Gadgets) awarded to well known social media enthusiast Chanux Bro, Sri Lankan Android App of the Year to Helakuru, Tech Startup of the Year to Arimac Lanka who continues to explore the possibilities of AI for the future, Best Ideamart App based on Google Technologies to LocateMe, Emerging Innovator of the Year clinched by Nuwan Jaliyagoda and a special place to encourage female participation in the community through Tech Startup Female Entrepreneur of the Year which was bagged by the promising Sajani Amarasiri.