Conference 2011
Concluding summary of the International Statistics Conference 2011
The International Statistics Conference 2011 jointly organized by the Institute of Applied Statistics of Sri Lanka, the School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sydney, Australia, and, the Department of Statistics, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, concluded amidst much praise on the 30 th of December 2011. The conference was held on three consecutive days at the Waters Edge Hotel, from the 28 th , 29 th and 30 th of December with a remarkably distinguished audience of over two hundred and fifty participants from twenty one countries namely Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Canada, India, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Oman, the Republic of South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Out of these participants more than one hundred participants are local participants.
The objective of this conference was to is to unite statisticians from across the world through presenting their latest research findings on theory and applications of statistics befitting the theme “Statistical Concepts and Methods for the Modern World”.
The highlights of the conference were the key-note addresses by the world renowned statistician, Prof. C. R. Rao and the President of the American Statistical Association, Dr. Nancy Geller. The chief guest of the conference was the Honorable Senior Minister of Science and Technology Prof. Tissa Vitharana.
Apart from the two keynote speeches, there were eight guest lecturers delivered by eminent statisticians around the globe. Around 105 presentations were held under 33 invited paper sessions while 36 research studies were presented under contributed paper sessions as well as invited paper sessions. Two conference proceedings: one consisting abstracts, and the other consisting contributed full papers, were published.
Two pre-conference workshops were also held on the 26th of 27th of December at the Financial Mathematics Laboratory, in the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo covering the topics Sequential Methodologies with Applications by Professor Nitis Mukhopadhyay and Mr. Sankha Muthu Poruthotage, from the University of Connecticut, USA and Using R-Commander and R for Statistical Research by Dr Maheswaran Rohan, Scientist-Statistician, Department of Conservation, New Zealand. The first workshop was attended by 22 participants (28 registered) and 25 participants attended the second workshop (29 registered).
The conference was sponsored by the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka Insurance Company, Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, American Statistical Association, National Science Foundation, People’s Bank of Sri Lanka, Minitab Inc., The Neilson Company, The University of Connecticut, USA, Taylor & Francis Group, and etc.
The International Statistics Conference 2011 saw the participation of several eminent statisticians from around the world. The conference significantly helped in sharing and exchanging views, ideas and modern concepts, and, building valuable associations for a productive and inspiring future.
