Wishing for a year of learning and collective progress.
Let’s build back better in the new year.
– Best wishes from the LIRNEasia team
Wishing for a year of learning and collective progress.
Let’s build back better in the new year.
– Best wishes from the LIRNEasia team
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) become increasingly embedded in everyday systems, concerns around data protection, privacy, and accountability are gaining urgency. A new 2024 report, ‘Beyond the Hype: Realising Responsible AI through Data Protection in South and Southeast Asia,’ examines how existing data protection laws in the region respond to the risks emerging from AI adoption.
In an article published on 31 December 2025 in the Daily FT, LIRNEasia Chair Professor Rohan Samarajiva highlights how the Ditwah disaster exposed major vulnerabilities in telecom networks. He emphasizes that numerous telecom sites across the country were affected, leaving many districts without mobile or data services for days, which restricted access and delayed restoration efforts.
LIRNEasia Data, Algorithms, and Policy (DAP) Team Lead and Research Manager Merl Chandana was featured in ‘The Morning’ newspaper on 28 December 2025, in an article by Nelie Munasinghe, where he underscored the urgency of moving from AI policy discussions to real-world implementation. “The perception that Sri Lanka has not yet widely adopted AI is inaccurate.
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