Hon. Minister of Small & Medium Business and Enterprise Development and Hon. Minister of Industries and Supply Chain Management Mr. Wimal Weerawansa and Hon. Minister of State Ministry of Technology and Innovation Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala are on an inspection tour of the Center of Excellence for Robotic Applications (CERA) functioning under the State Ministry of Technology and Innovation with the intention of rectifying the shortcomings of it and transform the Center to the highest level.Hon. Minister of Small & Medium Business and Enterprise Development and Hon. Minister of Industries and Supply Chain Management Mr. Wimal Weerawansa and Hon. Minister of State Ministry of Technology and Innovation Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala are on an inspection tour of the Center of Excellence for Robotic Applications (CERA) functioning under the State Ministry of Technology and Innovation with the intention of rectifying the shortcomings of it and transform the Center to the highest level.

The Government is planning to expand its robotics excellence center at the Industrial Export Board's premises and it was agreed to prepare a master development plan for the entire land where it is now established. Hon. Minister Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala said that the aim is to make robotics more accessible to the industrial development of the country, to produce prototypes that are needed for the industry and thus achieve higher production capacity. He further said that this venture would be used to increase the production capacity of the public and private sectors in order to make maximum use of the money invested for it.

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Hon. Minister to the State Ministry of Technology and Innovation has agreed to launch a special program to use of Drone Technology and Leading Technologies for the Prevention of Dengue menace. The first discussion in this regard was held at the State Ministry of Technology and Innovation under the patronage of the Hon. Minister of Technology and Innovation Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala. The objective of the discussion was to establish a principle policy agreement between the two parties on the practical steps, which could be taken to create a country free from Dengue.Hon. Minister to the State Ministry of Technology and Innovation has agreed to launch a special program to use of Drone Technology and Leading Technologies for the Prevention of Dengue menace. The first discussion in this regard was held at the State Ministry of Technology and Innovation under the patronage of the Hon. Minister of Technology and Innovation Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala. The objective of the discussion was to establish a principle policy agreement between the two parties on the practical steps, which could be taken to create a country free from Dengue.

Speaking further Mr. Sumathipala said, “We can provide our technical assistance time to time to eradicate dengue. The main objective of this program is to provide technical support to the Ministry of Health in order to curb it. Arthur C. Clark Institute for Modern Technologies, Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology and other research institutes including Industrial Technology Institute would provide a leading support of latest technologies. As a national project, we will engage more important parties. We are also encouraging researchers to develop a technical tool to perform a low-cost test to detect dengue virus, and to carry out scientific research on dengue mosquitoes, including mosquito repellent for clothing. Funding for research on eradicating Dengue should not be an issue when the potential harm to human lives caused by the Dengue is taken into consideration. We fully support research grants on this as well. The label “Dengue Free Country” is very important for the development of our tourism industry. ”

Despite various efforts being made by the Ministry of Health to control the dengue menace, the dengue epidemic is emerging from time to time, so it is important to use the technical expertise of the State Ministry of Technology and Innovation to create a systematic program to control it. It was also revealed that these national issues are more effective and easier to achieve with parties involved together to share their knowledge on these nationally important issues, rather than having different parties individually worked.

The possibility of using Video and photo reports via drone technology was discussed with more focus on subject like technical issues caused by speed of the wind, access issues caused by the public and private institutions like schools, religious places, construction sites and sites associated with the spread of dengue. Creating a Geographical Information System to Generate Maps, mosquito attracted to a specific spot through Nano Technology and mosquito-breeding methods were among special topics discussed at this meeting. 

The Minister also instructed to formulate a special committee for this project. Mr. Chinthaka Lokuhetti, Secretary to the State Ministry of Technology and Innovation, Director General of Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies, Mr. Sanath Panawannage, Mr. Manju Gunawardena from Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology, Officers from Provincial Health Services Director's Office and National Dengue Eradication Unit, doctors and public health inspectors on behalf of the Ministry of Health were present.

A Patent Finding Skills Development and Training workshop organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Japan Patent Office Partnering with the State Ministry of Technology and Innovation, the Coordinating Secretariat of Technology and Innovation and the National Intellectual Property Office of Sri Lanka, was held in Colombo today under the patronage of the Hon. Minister of State Ministry of Technology and Innovation Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala.

The workshop was organized under the six-year Enabling IP Environment (EIE) project launched by the World Intellectual Property Office in Sri Lanka in 2017. This project conducts training programs and workshops on intellectual property-based technology assignments, including policy development, technical licensing, technical evaluation, marketing, and so on.

Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala, Hon. State Minister of Technology and Innovation, said that he would directly intervene in addressing the deficiencies of CERA aiming at its successful transformation into an advanced technological centre. The Minister made this remarks during an observation visit made to the said institution which currently functions under the purview of the State Ministry of Technology and Innovation under the present government.  The Minister, further elaborating on the matter said, Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala, Hon. State Minister of Technology and Innovation, said that he would directly intervene in addressing the deficiencies of CERA aiming at its successful transformation into an advanced technological centre. The Minister made this remarks during an observation visit made to the said institution which currently functions under the purview of the State Ministry of Technology and Innovation under the present government.  The Minister, further elaborating on the matter said, 

 “This institution was initiated as a public - private partnership project several years ago and is now in an inoperative condition. H.E. the President has taken steps to place this institution, which functioned under a different ministry during the days of the earlier government, under the scope of our ministry.

We will do our maximum to take this centre of excellence for robotics application to the maximum state of development that it could achieve within the next two years. This will ensure the acquisition of higher production capacity for our industries. The application of Robotics would benefit industries by way of lowering the production costs and increasing the efficiency of the production process as well as resulting in a higher level of finishing for our local products. Our objective is to transform this centre into a pilot institution.  I will personally intervene in the development of the centre.  We have to make an investment on the centre in order to build a country based on novel Technologies in line with vistas of prosperity.”

By converting the Centre of Excellence for Robotics Application to a pilot institution, the children of the future generations would be given the opportunity to rally around this technology as well as enabling youths to improve their knowledge. Also a platform would be created for industrialists who expect large production capacity  to  elevate themselves to the next technological tier. Mr. Saman Perera, Additional Secretary to the Ministry and a group of officials of the Co-ordinating  Secretariat  for Technology and Innovation were also present  on this occasion.