Informatics Institute of Technology

The Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT) was established in 1990 under the name Informatics Institute of Computer Studies (IICS) with the objective of catering to the growing demand for ICT education. 

With the objective of catering to the demand of the growing ICT sector and to provide British higher education to the Sri Lankan youth, Chairman of the Informatics Group,[2] Dr. Gamini Wickramasinghe took an initiative to establish IIT.[3]

IICS which was collaborated with the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) was a platform which enabled Sri Lankan students to receive an internationally recognized British degree by studying in Sri Lanka at fraction of the cost of completing the degree programme in UK.

The first student body consisted of 22 students, and the original faculty of 6 was expanded to 12 for the second year. In 1994, IICS held its first convocation with former Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayawardena gracing the occasion as its guest of honour.

With a more modern ideology and with plans of expanding, in 2002 IICS was renamed as the Informatics Institute of Technology and was registered with the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka.

In 2000, IIT collaborated with the Keele University and became the pioneer in bringing the first British MSc in IT to Sri Lanka. In 2005, IIT completed the University of Westminster validation process[4] which has endorsed undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.[5] The University of Westminster is an acclaimed modern University having won the prestigious Queen's award for enterprise for 2 consecutive years.

In 2016, IIT partnered with Robert Gordon University to introduces Sri Lanka's first-ever MSc in Business Analytics and Fashion Business Management Masters program.

Undergraduate programmes are offered in the disciplines of IT and Business.

• BSc (Hons) in Computer Science
• BEng (Hons) in Software Engineering
• BSc(Hons) Business Information Systems
• BA (Hons) Business Management

Postgraduate Masters Programmes

• MSc Advanced Software Engineering
• MSc Business Analytics
• MA Fashion Business Management
• MSc Big Data
• MSc Cyber Security and Forensics

Foundation programme.

• Foundation Programme

The institute is a five floor facility which contains lecture rooms, IT Labs and tutorial rooms which are equipped with modern teaching aids. The library has a collection of over 7,000 volumes of related texts and references. The library also subscribes to academic and professional journals. All students have access to the special study rooms, conference halls, canteen and recreational facilities, including a swimming pool.

• State-of-the-art lecture rooms equipped with multimedia projectors, whiteboard and Wi-Fi
• Well stocked library with over 10,000 books and access to journals
• Access to ‘Blackboard’, the online study portal of University of Westminster
• Swimming Pool
• Sports
• Clubs
• Student Lounges
• Cafe

IIT has won many local and International Awards:

• British Council HSBC Youth Enterprise Award
• NBQSA – Silver award under the Tertiary Student category (Technology)
• Imagine Cup 2013 Worldwide Finals held on 11 July at Russia[6]
• GLO-BUS[7]
• e-Swabhimani award[8]
• First Runner up at Imagine Cup 2012[9]
• Team ‘CR-Coderzs’ from IIT win second place at Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011[10]
• 'Gold’ for the third time in succession at NBQSA 2011[11]
• Third place at the Motorola Inter-University Enterprise Mobility Application Software Development Competition – 2010[12]
• Gold award in the tertiary category in NBQSA 2010[13]
• Gold and Bronze Awards at NBQSA 2009[14]
• Silver medal for the Tertiary Education category at  NBQSA 2005[15]
• E-Swabhimani
• mBillionth
• APIICTA

At IIT there is a wide range of extracurricular activities offered to students. Arts and Culture are at the centre of campus life at the institute.  Stagecraft which is an annual talent show organized by the IIT Students Union displays the students’ artistic talents in song, dance and drama. Cutting Edge is another annual event organized by IIT which showcases the students’ talents in the technological field where they would come up with new concepts and display innovative ideas.  

IIT also offers several sports and student organizations which help them develop into all round graduates. The sports offered at IIT are, Cricket, Rugby, Athletics, Swimming, Netball, Basketball, Badminton, Table Tennis, Tennis, Soccer and Carom.

• IIT Student Union
• IIT Rotaract Club
• Mozilla Campus Club - IIT
• AIESEC
• IEEE
• IEEE WIE of IIT
• Toastmasters
• Mobile Club
• Gaming Club
• iFM

IIT provide students with a more hands-on experience by giving undergraduate students a chance to obtain work experience during the course of their degree. This comes as a mandatory one year industrial placement which will help students obtain both a degree and also the necessary work experience.

Many international and local companies have come forward to provide the necessary exposure for IIT students which have helped them to gain an insight into their respective industries as well as acquire essential skills that were vital to a successful career.

Most IIT alumni are employed in premier mercantile companies including John Keells, Unilever, Aitken Spence, IBM, Hatton National Bank, Informatics, Millenium IT, Fonterra, Zone 24 x 7, WSO2, Brandix, Industrial and Financial Systems (IFS), Commercial Bank, NDB, Vanik and Virtusa. Many of these companies participate in the annual IIT Career Day which provides Sri Lankan companies an opportunity to recruit IIT students and graduates.

• Official website
• Official Informatics Group Website
• Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT), Center for Postgraduate Studies