25 January 2023 12:07 am
Dotitude, the university outreach initiative by leading technology company 99x, completed 2022 empowering more than 2,000 IT undergraduates across Sri Lanka.
Dotitude has been in operation for more than a decade and has reached out to over 50,000 undergraduates during this time through multiple activities. In 2022, the volunteer-based initiative conducted 20 technical sessions through collaborations with universities and higher education institutes and supported many research projects.
Dotitude is a programme driven by 99x in collaboration with universities, higher education institutes and the local ICT industry to empower university students. This initiative aims to build bridges between universities and Sri Lanka’s ICT sector.
“Empowerment fosters engagement and enables individuals in unprecedented ways. Not only do they become more confident and work-ready but they also become more committed, strategic, intuitive, creative and analytically competent. When it comes to local undergraduates, it is important to empower them with the required skills to face global market demands,” said University Relations Manager Anura Adhikari.
During 2022 alone, Dotitude conducted more than 25 sessions for undergrads. Apart from these sessions, the Dotitude team conducted mock interviews with undergraduates. They were given feedback on improving their interview-facing and resume-writing skills. Some of the prominent workshops were LinkedIn and CV writing, Test Automation with Selenium, QA industry and breaking the myths, DevOps practices and how to be a hero in the industry.
Furthermore, the Internship 4.0 programme of 99x is an integral part of the Dotitude University Outreach Initiative. The programme is focused on ensuring that an intern’s technical and soft skills exceed industry expectations. In addition to industry experience, the Dotitude team conducted mentoring sessions and assigned a dedicated mentor for each intern. Last year, the team received more than 1,000 applications and conducted 300 internship interviews.
Commenting on plans for Dotitude in 2023, Adhikari said, “The realignment of our existing initiative to help undergraduates is expected to continue well into 2023, which focuses on a more rounded internship method. Right now, we are focusing on global hiring and global mentoring. Previously, we had a few Project Leads and mentors on the project but in this revamped version, we will have a buddy and a mentor. It will also be divided into shorter review phases to identify any issues from the student’s side earlier.”