History
The roots of the Department of statistics and computer Science (DSCS) lie in the Department of Mathematics of the University of Colombo. The two main stands of the DSCS, namely, Statistics and Computing, have their origins in two units created within the Department of Mathematics with the express purpose of introducing these two new disciplines into the University teaching curriculum.
The first step taken in this direction was the launch of a course on Computer Programming as early as in 1967. This heralded the dawn of an era of computing within the Sri Lankan Universities. In parallel with the development of computing as a discipline, the Department of Mathematics also embarked on the development of Statistical Education with the creation of a Statistical Unit in 1968.
The two main objectives that were envisaged for this unit were: the introduction of Statistics into the Undergraduate curriculum, and the provision of consultancy services to clients such as various Research Institutes, the Department of Census and Statistics and the Central Bank among others.
The Statistical Unit received a major boost in 1974 with the establishment of a link with the Department of Applied Statistics of the University of Reading, U.K. This link was made possible through a grant from the Overseas Development Administration of the British Government. The University of Reading undertook to train local staff to MPhil and Ph.D levels in Applied Statistics under this link programme. Apart from this, the Statistical Unit, with the guidance of the staff of the University of Reading launched undergraduate courses for the general science programme and two year, part time Postgraduate Diploma and M.Sc. in Applied Statistics in 1976.
In December 1984, the Statistical Unit took the initiative in organising an international course on Statistics in Agriculture for 14 foreign and 10 local participants. This course, which was held to mark the 10th anniversary of the Colombo-Reading link, made extensive use of Statistical packages. It was repeated the next year, and was run for a local audience, consisting of 30 participants.
In 1985, the Statistical Unit and the Computer Centre merged to form the Department of Statistics and Computer Science(DSCS) and since 1987, It occupied the ICT Building.
The period from 1987 onwards has rapid development in the Department with the successful initiation of B.Sc. and M.Sc. degree programmes in both Statistics and Computer Science. In parallel with these developments, senior staff have gradually begun to be engaged in carrying out research in their respective fields of specialisation. These efforts have paid rich dividends, with the department contributing a large number of technical papers at the SEARCC 95 conference held in Colombo.
As of 1995, the DSCS has further improved its Statistical Education initiative by introducing a special degree in Statistics at undergraduate level and by restructuring its M.Sc. course in Applied Statistics to a more streamlined form. The Special Degree course in particular benefits from students undertaking placements in industry in the final year, thus enabling them to do projects which are relevant to the country at large.
As the Department developed and expanded academically and resource wise it was necessary to split the department into two in their own disciplines for further development. As a result the DSCS was split into The Department of Statistics(DST) and The Department of Computer Science in June 2001.
The DST has now matured into a strong institution, and with help of a dedicated and highly competent cadre is now seeking to expand its horizons in two vital directions: to set up research programmes on topics relevant to the country’s needs; and to build on its existing links with the local industry by collaborating with them on developmental work in key areas.