Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology

Beginnings

Late Minister Lalith Athulathmudali acquired the 25 acre land where SLIIT stands today in the 1980s in the expectation of building a Technological University and the Mahapola Trust Fund Headquarters.Eventually, former Minister of Commerce Kingsley T Wickramaratne along with Minister Richard Pathirana took necessary steps to establish the Institute.

The Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology was established in 1999 by incorporating under the companies act as a company by Guarantee in Sri Lanka, with ability to award degrees following amendments to the Universities Act the same year, thus gaining recognition from the University Grants Commission. It is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). SLIIT was established primarily to educate and train information technology professionals. Its guarantee company registration number is GL 24

SLIIT is a non-state institution with initial funding from the government. The land for the Malable campus was given by the government. SLIIT was financially funded by Mahapola Higher Education Trust Fund and was aided by the ministries of International and Internal Commerce Affairs, Higher Education and by the Ministry of Finance & Planning.

SLIIT has been under various government ministries from time to time and presently comes under the purview of the Ministry of Higher Education. Unlike other state universities, it does not depend on government funding and therefore has a great deal of autonomy. In 2007 SLIIT began expanding into fields of study outside those of IT and computing. These include electronic engineering and business management in collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University.

Since its conception, under the presidency and chancellorship of Professor Sam Karunaratne, it has become the leading degree-granting institute in Sri Lanka for information technology, producing 600 graduates annually. SLIIT has expanded its IT education from Colombo and its suburbs to other parts of the country, including Kandy and Matara, making SLIIT accessible in six locations.

Expansions

Presently, SLIIT operates two Campuses - the Colombo Metropolitan Campus at Kollupitiya, the Malabe Campus, and few centres in Matara, Kandy, Jaffna and Kurunegala. The total enrolment of students at SLIIT for bachelor's degree Programmes is about 7,000.

A further 1,000 students follow master's degree Programmes, Postgraduate Diploma and other Professional Development Programmes. This has been followed by planned expansion into Bangladesh and enrolment of students from Africa and South Asia. Since its inception SLIIT has produced over 50% of the professionals in Sri Lanka's IT and BPO industry, the fifth largest export earner in the country.

Recent history

In 2011, SLIIT was accredited by for awarding Bachelor of Business Administration degree and in 2013 for Bachelor of Science in Engineering under new faculties of business and engineering. The same year SLIIT opened Colombo Academy of Hospitality Management to offer the Bachelor of Tourism and Hospitality Management degree offered by the William Angliss Institute Australia.

SLIIT opened a new expansion, SLIIT Computing, in Kollupitiya to further expand undergraduate studies.

In 2014, Professor L. Rathnayake was appointed as the vice-chancellor.

In 2015 SLIIT established the School of Architecture.

Malabe Campus

The Malabe campus covers an area over 25 acres and is the largest SLIIT campuses. This is the flagship campus. Malabe is home to the faculties of Computing, Business & Engineering. It is between Kaduwela and Malabe towns along the New Kandy Road. This campus is well known for its eye catching building complex. Malabe campus houses lecture theaters, research facilities, auditorium, restaurants, gymnasiums and the main library of SLIIT. This campus also has sporting facilities.

Metropolitan Campus

The metropolitan campus is in Kollupitiya. Mainly postgraduate programs and some undergraduate programs are conducted in this campus.

Regional centers

SLIIT has regional expansions out of Western Province in Kandy, Matara, Jaffna and Kurunegala. These regional centers have facilities for undergraduate studies.

Faculties

SLIIT is divided into four faculties: Computing, Business, Engineering and Graduate Studies.

Faculty of Computing

Faculty of Computing is the most demanded and largest faculty of SLIIT. It was started in 1999 to produce IT professionals for the nation. This faculty offers Bachelor of Science in Information Technology in over five disciplines. This faculty comprises three departments.

Faculty of Business

The faculty of business at SLIIT offers the Bachelor of Business Administration in Human Capital Management, Accounting and Finance, Marketing Management, Quality management, Management Information Systems. This faculty has two departments.

Faculty of Engineering

Faculty of Engineering at SLIIT offers undergraduate degrees approved by the UGC. The faculty also conducts Engineering degrees and master's degrees from partner universities such as Curtin University (Australia) and Sheffield Hallam University (UK). There are several sub-departments. This faculty offers BSc. Engineering degrees in several disciplines. Sub-departments of this faculty are:

Colombo Academy of Hospitality Management

The CAHM is the first internationally recognized school for tourism and hospitality management in Sri Lanka. It was initiated in 2012. The project is a joint venture of SLIIT, Colombo Academy of Hospitality Management (CAHM), and William Angliss Institute of Australia. It has been developed in line with international standards, housing a multi-use training kitchen, a full-scale banqueting facility, training restaurant, model bedrooms, an IT training center and team rooms for students’ practical training.

SLIIT Computing

SLIIT Computing is a new privately managed subsidiary of SLIIT. This institute is in Kollupitiya. Bachelor of Science in Information Technology three-year program and some other undergraduate courses are conducted in this institute.

Faculty of Graduate Studies

Master of Science in Information Technology under several disciplines are conducted in this faculty.

School of Architecture

SLIIT established School of Architecture (SSA) in 2015. The School of Architecture at SLIIT, offers a five-year Architecture degree.

Affiliations

SLIIT has built partnerships with Australian universities including Curtin University, Deakin University, Monash University, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, University of New Castle, University of South Australia, University of Tasmania, QUT, Swinburne University and William Angliss Institute.

The partnership with Sheffield Hallam University in United Kingdom enables SLIIT to offer undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and degree transfer programs. The University of British Columbia allows students to study for postgraduate degree from SLIIT. Similar partnerships allow students to complete several semesters of study at SLIIT and to finish the degree work at the other universities.

Research

SLIIT conducts IT and computer-related research and is a partner of ConceptNursery.com, Sri Lanka's technology incubator. The SLIIT Research Symposium, which is held annually, showcases and helps advance research in the IT field in Sri Lanka.

Professional courses

SLIIT conducts the Cisco Network Academy courses (CCNA, CCNP and CCSP) under the only regional Cisco Network Academy in Sri Lanka. SLIIT is the only Microsoft Academy in Sri Lanka offering Certification Courses.

Administration

SLIIT is chartered as a non-profit organization and comes under the Ministry of Higher Education & Highways and is governed by appointed director board headed by the chairman. SLIIT is an education institute overseen by Board of Investments (BOI). As of 15 October 2015 it is under the purview of Ministry of Higher Education & Highways, under extraordinary Gazette Notification 1936/51

Key People

Library

SLIIT Library operates several branches at Colombo, Mathara and Malabe.

Rankings

SLIIT is ranked at many instances within private institutes in Sri Lanka. The corresponding rankings within Sri Lanka are:

Sport

SLIIT promotes sports and recreational activities. Malabe campus has a range of sporting facilities used by students including Cricket, Rugby, Basketball, Netball, Volleyball, Tennis, Table tennis, Badminton, Chess and Carrom. SLIIT sporting teams compete in a range of local and national competitions.

Vice-chancellors