President appoints tech-studded ICTA board to drive digital Sri Lanka

In line with his vision for a Sri Lanka driven by technology, His Excellency President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a tech-studded board for the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), featuring industry leaders, technology entrepreneurs, academics and public sector technologists to steer digital Sri Lanka.

Steering the board as Chairman is Jayantha De Silva, Co-Founder of IFS Sri Lanka, the country’s first FDI-funded technology company. With over 35 years of experience in the industry, he is a Past Chairman of SLASSCOM, BCS Sri Lanka and the Software Exporters’ Association of Sri Lanka, and Past Board Member of ICTA and UCSC.

The other board appointments include industry leader, former SLASSCOM Chairman and 99X Technology CEO Mano Sekaram; technology and open source evangelist, and founder of WSO2 Dr. Sanjiva Weerawarana; Prof. Lalith Gamage, CEO of Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), one of the country’s most successful public-private partnerships; former ICTA CEO Reshan Dewapura; SAP India Country Sales Manager Manori Unambuwe and former Digital Secretary and ICTA Programme Director Wasantha Deshapriya.

Co-Founder and CEO of 99X Technology Mano Sekaram holds 25+ years of experience in IT/software management and is the Founder of startup incubator StartupX Foundry and Chairman of the Lankan Angel Network. He works towards shaping Sri Lanka’s future talent through his position on boards of numerous Sri Lankan universities. He is also the past Chairman of SLASSCOM as well as the Advisory Committee on ICT Export for the Export Development Board (EDB) of Sri Lanka.

Technology evangelist Dr. Sanjiva Weerawarana is Founder of WSO2 and current Chairman of the Lanka Software Foundation, of which he is also the Founder. He is currently affiliated with numerous universities, institutes and chambers including the Sri Lanka National Science Foundation. Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology, University Grants Commission, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and more, through which he influences the digital transformation of Sri Lanka.

Prof. Lalith Gamage is the Managing Director, CEO and Vice Chancellor of the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT). He plays an influential role in the country’s IT landscape as the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Technology Incubator, Director of the Lanka Software Foundation and an Advisory Board Member of SLASSCOM. He is also an Affiliate Professor at University of British Columbia, Canada and an Adjunct Professor at Curtin University, Australia.

Currently the CEO of GSS International, Reshan Dewapura counts over 30 years of experience in the IT industry. He served at ICTA for 11 years, in the positions of Program Director, COO and CEO. Prior to joining the ICTA, worked at Hewlett Packard (HP) for nearly a decade, holding many senior management positions mainly with HP Professional Services in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Manori Unambuwe heads the Sri Lankan market for SAP India as its Country Sales Manager. Prior to this, a long and illustrious career at IBM saw her become its Head of Software Sales of IBM, Sri Lanka and Maldives. She is also the former Regional Applications Sales Manager of Oracle Corporation Singapore. She counts over 25 years in senior management positions and experience in sales, marketing communications and business development in the ICT industry for global brands.

Public sector technologist Wasantha Deshapriya has played a pioneering role in bringing technology into the public sector, through his years at ICTA as a Former Re-Engineering Programme Director and Secretary to the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure, among other positions. He has driven several trailblazing eGovernment projects and has acted as a consultant on many projects.

The Board has come into effect from 18 December 2019 and will work towards digitally transforming Sri Lanka.