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AP II T S RI LANKA N EW SLETTER VOLUME 5 | ISSUE 1
APRIL 2018
BAT Conference

Promoting Multidisciplinary Research

APIIT hosted the annual Business, Technology and Law (BAT)
conference for the 3rd consecutive year on 20th of July 2017. APIIT
is uniquely positioned to promote multidisciplinary research, and this
year’s conference was aptly themed “Success through synergy”.
Twenty one papers were presented by researchers from around the
country on a wide range of topics such as Supplier Investment and
Development, Service Quality and Consumer Satisfaction, Artificial
Intelligence, Dispute Resolution, and Labour Values. The Panel Discussion in progress
Prof Siva Muthaly, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Management The best paper of the Computing track was awarded to Ms. Janakshi
of Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU), Dulanga of APIIT Sri Lanka for her paper titled “An Artificial Intelligence
based Scrabble Game for Sinhala Language”. The paper introduced
Malaysia was the keynote speaker. His speech titled “The strategic
the first ever Sinhala language scrabble game known as “Akuru
fusion of social media and big data in e-commerce formulation” shed
Hatana”, an artificial intelligence (AI) based Scrabble game. The AI in
light on cutting edge research into rapidly evolving disciplines of Big
Akuru Hatana was found to be very responsive with a typical response
Data and Analytics. He explained how vast amounts of personal data
time of 7 seconds. Akuru Hatana is suitable for novices as well as
posted on social media are mined by e-commerce giants to extract
experts. The objective of this software is to promote the use and the
highly critical information. He questioned whether the world has
learning of the Sinhala language.
adequate data protection and privacy legislation to safeguard the
users of social media. The best paper of the Law track was awarded to Ms. Imali Kothalawala
of the law firm Neelakandan and Neelakandan for her paper titled “The
A highlight of this year’s BAT was the panel discussion on the “Role of Effects of Plain Legal Language in Renouncing the Rights Embodied in
Higher Education in Promoting Entrepreneurship”. Mr. W.K.H. Latin Maxims”. The study justified the moral obligation of a legal
Wegapitiya, Chairman of LAUGHS Holdings Ltd., stated that most draftsman to draft in Plain Legal Language as the Standard English is
entrepreneurs are bad at training the next generation of entrepreneurs spoken only by a minority in Sri Lanka.
and pointed out that most entrepreneurial endeavours rarely progress
beyond a few generations. Prof Siva Muthaly and Mr Riyaz Hassen,
CEO of Colombo Leadership Academy, on the other hand, examined
the effectiveness of entrepreneurial training by academics. All panel APIIT Conducts Leadership
members acknowledged the important role higher education
institutions can play in promoting entrepreneurship. Development Programme
for Prefects of Kandy Schools

Under the auspices of the Ministry of Higher Education and in
collaboration with the Kandy Schools Past Pupils Association
(KSPPA), APIIT completed 3 rounds of Leadership Training for
a total of 300 prefects from 12 leading schools in the Kandy
district. This is the 3rd consecutive year in which APIIT carried
out a leadership development programme for Kandy schools.

Section of the participants This year, groups of 100 school prefects and their teachers
were brought down to Colombo each week from 4 of the 12
The conference concluded with an award ceremony where awards were selected schools. The programme, comprising of a Business
presented for the best paper in each of the three tracks. The best paper of element, a Law element and an IT element lasted 1 ½ days. The
the Business track was awarded to Mr. Duminda Kuruppuarachchi of the business and IT sessions were carried out at the City Campus
University of Sri Jayewardenepura. The paper was titled “The Impact of while the Law session was carried out at the Law School
Strategic Purchasing on Purchasing Performance in the Sri Lankan Apparel premises. Each session consisted of an introductory presentation
Industry: Mediating Roles on Supplier Investment and Development”. It was followed by interactive discussion; finally, a case study or a
revealed that the supplier involvement partially mediates the relationship scenario was presented and the students were required to
between strategic performance and supplier development. design and present a solution to the problem identified. Upon

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02 A P I I T SRI LANKA NEW SLETTER