LIRNEasia is a regional think tank based in Sri Lanka. It works in 11 countries. In terms of its research, India occupies its energies more than its home base. However, LIRNEasia cannot be blind to what is going on around it. Several months ago, as the people held as human shields by the LTTE began to filter out, current and former LIRNEasians collected funds that were used by its partner Sarvodaya to purchase nebulizers for children in the camps.

We believe in using our knowledge, in addition to our pocketbooks, in responding to humanitarian crises. We could not do it on the scale that we did in the aftermath of the tsunami in 2005, but we do try. The first of my Choices columns that was written on the theme of “ideas to win the war” used some of the knowledge we had gained on e gov. The most recent ideas to win the war column takes off from the main speech at the ICA awards ceremony that I attended in Chicago last month. It continues the discussion we have been having on this website about the use of telecom in conflict situations.