ITTPO

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ITTPO
rHtNjr jkpo njhopyElgtpayhsH fofk
International Tamil Technical Professionals
Organization
Lessons From VanniTech and Moving Forward Jey
Surier
University of California, Los Angeles,
California June 28, 2008
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ITTPO Agenda

• ITTPO
• VanniTech
• What went well
• What went wrong
• Future

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ITTPO Mission Statement

• To develop advanced technology competency in
  North-East Sri Lanka via high-tech education
• Bring together technical professionals and their
  friends around the world and to
• Act as a coordinating organization
• Bring NE-SL to be technically par with developed
  countries
• Provide resources for advanced technology
  education
• Generate high-tech work force
• Encourage and facilitate high-tech ventures

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ITTPO Board of Directors - 2008

• Chairman....Mr.Shan
  Nanthakumar
• Vice Chairman..Mr. Ramoshan
  Canagasaby
• Secretary.Mr. Ragavan
  Ambighananthan
• Asst Secretary..Mr. Aravinthan
  Sivathasan
• Treasurer..Mr. Theivendran
  Velautham 
• Asst Treasurer....Mr.Ravi
  Veerasingam
• Chief Technical Officer..Mr.
  Lesley Emmanuel
• Director of Public Relations....Mr.
  Suren Siva
• Director....Mr. Stephen
  Jaeger 
• Director..Mr. Kumar
  Kumarappan 
• Director..Mr. Dev
  Vamathevan
• DirectorDr. Ratnam
  Sooriyakumaran
• Director.Prof. Raj
  Siddharthan
• Director..Mr. Jey Kumara
  Surier

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ITTPO Project 001

• Nature High-Tech Education
• Name Vanni Institute of Technology
• Location Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka
• Inauguration June 23, 2003

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ITTPO What is VanniTech?

• Not a Computer Training Center!
• Engineering Institution

• Offers University/Industry Level Courses
• Database Application Development
• Web based Application Development
• Computer Communications and Networking
• Electronics
• U.S. Education System
• Quarter System
• GPA
• Admission Based on
• Educational Qualification
• Entrance Exam
• Interview

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ITTPO VanniTech

• Independent Autonomous Institute
• Academic Program
• (9 Months-gt12 months)-gt18 months-gt2 years-gt4
  years
• 4 Programs-gt4ESL-gt
• Migration to New Campus
• 80 Acres Land Allocated
• Yet to move to new campus

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ITTPO VanniTech Establishment

• Hundreds of contributors from the U.S. and other
  countries
• Several individual donors from US100 to
  US25,000
• Some organizations/Foundations
• Dozens of Volunteers from across the world went
  to VanniTech
• U.S.
• Canada
• UK
• Australia
• Many more Volunteers contributed in several ways
• Volunteers from California
• Volunteers from Seattle Microsoft
• Volunteers from other States
• Volunteers from Canada (TSVP and others)
• Volunteers from YahooGroups

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ITTPO VanniTech Facility

• Administrative Offices - 3
• Lecture Halls 2 / Labs - 3
• Library with 15000 books
• Hostel for Men/Women Students
• Cafeteria
• Complete Intranet facility with wireless LAN
  (802.11b/g)
• 2 Generators, 11 Air conditioners
• 2 Telephone lines for Voice/Internet Dial up
• TechShack VanniTechs Employment Incubation
  Center
• ITTPO Guest House for Volunteers
• Study/Work Environment compared to the U.S.

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ITTPO VanniTech Administration

• About 30 Employees (Average Salary US 2,000
  /year/Employee)
• Bimonthly Salary
• Inventory Control
• Management Emphasis on Punctuality
• Process, Procedure, and Forms
• Intranet/Email Communication
• Internet Via Dial-up
• Good Comments from Employees

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ITTPO VanniTech Administration

• Process and Procedures (US Administrative System)
• New Hire Procedure Interview, First Day at Work
• Employee Hand Book
• Employee Review Process
• Cleaning Procedure, Check List for Cleaning
• Generators, Lanterns
• Water Pump
• Security Guard (Log, VSES, Pass)
• Employee Duty List
• Library (students, staff, late fee, photocopy)
• Forms (expense, cash advance, leave, etc. )
• Reports Weekly Employee Reports (employees,
  WSPs)
• File Naming Convention

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ITTPO VanniTech Students 2008

• 70 Students Admitted (out of 152 Applicants)
• 35 of Students are Females
• Students are from several Districts
• 20 Students Living on Campus

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ITTPO VanniTech Students

• Challenges for Students
• New Study System
• New Medium of Instruction
• First Time Away from Home
• Process
• Lot of Exams and Assignments
• Continuous Measurement
• Grading based on several factors
  Exams/Tests/Quiz/HW
• Meetings with Weak Students
• 7 day/week commitment from students

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ITTPO VanniTech Activities

• Work Study Program
• Lab Assistants, Resident Assistants etc.
• Quarter Break Program
• Introduction to Computers
• 2003 gt1000 Students, 17 Schools, 6 Districts
• 2004 gt4000 Students, 23 Schools, 7 Districts
• 2005 gt 2500 Visitors for VanniVision high-tech
  Exhibition
• Weekly Seminar (technology, confident building,
  etc)
• Participation in Real Work
• Assembled new Computers (Building System while
  Building Confidence)
• Setup Networks
• Field Deployable Project (Great Success !)
• Software and Hardware Projects
• Networking
• Data Base
• Electronics
• Students graduated - Class of 2004, 2005, 2006,
  2007
• Seminars in University of Jaffna and Eastern
  University

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ITTPO Achievements 2003-2008

• Efficient and Effective Administration in Place
• 4 Batches of Students Graduated
• 160 Graduated
• 60-70 Engaged in Technology
• First Outsourcing with US Company
• Website development for US, Canada, Norway
• More Technology being used
• 80 Acers Land Allocated

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ITTPO VanniTech

• Media Coverage
• BBC, Rupavahini, Vision TV, STAR TV, Others
• International
• San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle,
  Hindu, NewsWeek, Tamil Guardian
• Local
• All Sri Lankan Tamil News Papers
• Visitors and Comments
• Environment
• Facility
• Equipment
• Locals comments
• Comparing to other INGOs
• INGOs Comments
• VanniTech has set the Benchmark

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ITTPO Pictorial Tour of VanniTech
Home of Vanni Institute of Technology
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ITTPO VanniTech Facilities
Networking Equipment
Wireless LAN
Hardware Lab
IT - RAID Servers
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ITTPO VanniTech Volunteers
Volunteer from Canada
Volunteer from UCLA
Seminar Identifying Your Strength
International Gathering _at_ Pineapple Party
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ITTPO Vanni Vision 2005
Vanni Vision 05 Award Winning Display System
VanniVision 05
VanniVision 05
VanniVision 05
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ITTPO VanniTech Clients
UNDP
World Food Program
Govt of Sri Lanka
Rural Economic Education Research Development
Organization
NECORD
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ITTPO What Donors Have Done?

• Changed Peoples Life
• Students
• Staff
• Local People
• Capacity Building has Started (Building High-Tech
  Skills)
• Foundation for a High-Tech Workforce
• Foundation for a New Economy

Hand-Up is better than Handout !
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ITTPO What Went Right

• Majority of the Graduates Engaged in Technology
• Doing business with SL Govt, UN Agencies, INGOs
• More Technology Savvy people in Vanni
• VT a role model for School Children
• Thousands of School students have benefited
• VT has filled the Technology Vacuum
• Words Matched Deeds
• Hundreds of International Volunteers/Visitors/Dono
  rs

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ITTPO What Went Wrong

• Ground Situation Deteriorated
• Not totally unexpected!
• Not enough Instructors
• Not enough Qualified student pool
• Expected Revenue from BU not achieved
• Not much Exciting Progress
• No International Visiting Volunteers
• Funding has been challenging
• Couldnt Expand Programs
• Couldnt Move to the New 80 Acre Land

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VanniTech Graduation Class of 2007
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ITTPO Return On Investment
ROI Priceless !
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ITTPO

• Future
• 2008 2013 gt 2020 -gt 2050
• What can we do?

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ITTPO Technology and Future

• Technology and Future
• IT Investment GDP Increase

- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
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ITTPO IT Investment
Source World Bank
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ITTPO Moving Forward

• Focus on
• Teaching Training Technology
• Creation of Related Employments

Creating Employment gt Providing Education
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ITTPO Moving Forward

• Focus on
• Technology Based Education
• Technology
• International English
• Business Education
• Project Management (PMP)
• Accelerated Programs

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ITTPO Moving Forward

• Teach/Train Technology Based Education
• For the next 2-5 years
• Identify and Avoid Declining Technology
• Adopt Proven and Present Technology
• Prepare to Adjust Curriculum Every 2-5 Years
• Adopt/Explore New Methods
• Internet
• MIT Open Courseware/YouTube
• Teaching over Internet
• Collaborate with Teaching Assistant with
  Universities
• Lec 4 MIT 6.033 computer Systems Engineering
  spring 2005
• http//youtube.com/watch?vzm2VP0kHl1MfeaturePla
  yListp6535748F59DCA484index0

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ITTPO Moving Forward

• Focus on English
• Need to communicate International English
• ESL
• Teaching via Internet/DVD
• Able to follow courses via Internet
• MIT courses
• University of Illinois
• University of Berkley

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ITTPO Moving Forward

• Teach/Train
• Business Administration
• Project Management
• Communication
• Leadership
• Business Ethics
• Customer Service

• Confidence building
• Time Management
• Delegation

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ITTPO Moving Forward

• Students like New Things
• Willing to give Commitment (Obtain it)
• Offer US Educational/Admin Systems
• Students/Staff need to be motivated not Lectured!
• Hire the Best / Leave the Rest
• Reward the Talents/Return the Lazy

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ITTPO Moving Forward

• Accelerated Programs
• 1-2 Year Program
• Diploma
• Associate Degree
• International Standard
• Popular US Universities offered Accelerated
  Programs during WWII

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ITTPO .And One Day
Stanford University