🏆 SLIIT Innovators Win Global AI Challenge with Sinhala Learning App

• Overall Achievement: Team Akura, a group of four final-year students from SLIIT’s Faculty of Computing, emerged as champions at the global 2026 AI Tool Building Challenge on OneEarth, organized by Goldsmith’s University, London. • The Innovation: The team developed a mobile, multi-modal learning platform designed for children aged 3–6 to learn Sinhala. Moving beyond rote learning, the adaptive tool combines handwriting guidance, pronunciation assessment, gesture-based numeracy, and emotion-aware learning to provide personalized, real-time educational support. • Economic & Sector Impact: This achievement highlights the growing global competitiveness of Sri Lanka's ICT/BPM and higher education sectors. By fostering high-skilled talent and scalable AI-driven solutions, such innovations support national goals of economic diversification and positioning the country as an emerging tech hub. • Competition & Recognition: Competing under the theme "AI for Inclusive and Quality Education," the team successfully defended their project through two rounds of presentations before an international panel of experts in Generative AI, cloud systems, and data security. Along with the victory, the team secured further mentorship from leading global tech and education organizations.