Shilpa Sayura Project wins prestigious i4d award
19th November 2007
Shilpa Sayura project gained international recognition wining prestigious i4d award at the eINDIA 2007 Conference in New Delhi, India held during 31 Sep - Aug 2nd.
Shilpa Sayura was among seven ICT-based projects that won i4d Awards, for their contribution in the areas of digital literacy, electronic governance etc.
The awards were given out during the valedictory session held on 2nd August, 2007. Central Informatics Organization (CIO), Government of Bahrain, and GDCO, Sudan were amongst the award winners.
Shilpa Sayura initiated by eFusion (Pvt) Ltd as a community ICT project with the vision to empower rural students with ICT based educational systems is to improve self-learning capacity while enhancing ICTA’s Nenasala utilization through participative development.
“Actually this award belongs to the rural communities who created an opportunity for us to achive this. It also tells us that even small but good collaborative efforts can help develop society and i4d award gives us a new responsibility to expand shipa sayura to other rural locations” said Niranjan Meegammana, Founder and Project Director of Shilpa Sayura Project.
Reshan Dewapura, COO, ICTA commending the achievement says, “To receive the ICT4D award at e-INDIA 2007 is very prestigious, the fact that it was only one of two projects out-side India to win an award makes it even more significant. This really is a tribute to e-Fusion, the e-Soc team at ICTA and everyone else who contributed to this effort. It goes to show that we can develop home grown, bottom-up applications that can make a difference in our rural societies.”
“Shilpa Sayura is one of the first five projects to be funded through the e-Society Development Initiative. The fact that it is the first project to be completed and launched speaks for the dedication and commitment displayed by Niranjan. It indeed fitting that Shilpa Sayura, as the first e-SDI project to be ‘birthed’, aptly reflects the essence of this Initiative by addressing the needs and aspirations of remote rural communities,” said Chitranganie Mubarak, Programme Head, e-SDI.
Shilpa Sayura content techers group cordinater Yamuna Ratnayaka says "It's a very happy moment for us for having being involved in a project that won a global award. It's even more valuble as it has helped rural children to come up in life."
e fusion cfo Gamini Pathirana said "I was there at e India 2007, when the award was given to Niranjan, The atmosphere became amazing, all the people cheered for Sri Lanka. The recognition received was great. I felt great to be a Sri Lankan. It's time that we start beliving in our own local solutions and innovations like Shilpa Sayura need to be expanded"
Shilpa Sayura Team also took a content tour in india after receiving i4D award. The content collected to be used in History and Art subjects of Shilpa Sayura.
