By: Staff Writer Colombo (LNW): A key milestone in Sri Lanka’s IT education was marked recently by the DP Education of Dhammika & Priscilla Perera Foundation (DP Foundation) and the University of Ruhuna (UoR) by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the facilitation of free online program on data science, machine learning, and AI development and delivery. The objective of this project is to provide opportunities for free learning and unlimited access to IT knowledge for IT enthusiasts in Sri Lanka. DP Foundation, through its DP Education IT Campus arm, will facilitate the UOR on this new initiative by providing the required full funding, research input in curriculum development, and EdTech assistance for the online course delivery. The program consists of five courses and they are: Foundation course; Data analysis; Machine learning; Data engineering, and Data science. All courses would be offered completely for free for anyone of any age through an online platform. The program will ensure the highest quality of content delivery aimed at offering job opportunities in computer engineering and computer programming. The aim of the online program development between DP Education and the UOR is to increase the contribution of the IT sector to the GDP enabling economic growth in the country. Furthermore, DP Education and the University of Kelaniya are also working on launching an open online course development and delivery in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) specialized in SAP. They are Foundation Course; ERP Functional Course; ERP Technical Course and ERP BASIS Course. The University of Moratuwa in partnership with the DP Education has launched the world’s first free online skills program on Project Management. The program is aligned with the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) Exam Content Outline of the Project Management Institute (PMI) of the USA. The program comprises 12 modules Initially the program has been launched with the first four modules – Foundations of Project Management, Project Scope and Schedule Management, Project Communication and Stakeholder Management and Agile Project Management in ICT Projects. The program incorporates the latest 2022 version of the PMI, USA curriculum.The online learning platform is available at open.uom.lk, and can be used by any university which is interested as well as hold the relevant exam. The Certified Associate of Project Management (CAPM) is a globally recognized credential that opens the door to opportunities at every stage of your career in the field of project management. As per PMI, 25 million new project management oriented employees are needed to meet global talent demands by 2030. The launch of online learning of Project Management is the second collaboration between DP Education and Moratuwa University. Last year they launched the full stack developer online program which has been a major success with over 200,000 registering.