On 17 July 2026, GovTech Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Digital Economy (MoDE), together with LIRNEasia, organized an Expert Consultation on the CHIPS Digital Economy Assessment for Sri Lanka. The session was conducted with funding support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
At the request of GovTech Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Digital Economy, LIRNEasia undertook an assessment to evaluate and benchmark Sri Lanka’s digitalization progress and identify key challenges and good practices from other countries. To support this effort, LIRNEasia applied the CHIPS framework as a benchmarking tool to assess Sri Lanka’s digital economy.
The CHIPS framework is a multidimensional assessment framework developed by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) to measure digitalization across countries. Unlike indices that focus on specific aspects of digitalization, such as digital governance or access, the CHIPS framework examines the digital economy through a broader lens. It assesses digital economies across five interconnected pillars: Connect, Harness, Innovate, Protect, and Sustain (CHIPS).
The expert consultation presented preliminary findings from the benchmarking exercise, legal review, secondary data analysis, and key informant interviews (KIIs) conducted by LIRNEasia. Bringing together experts from government, industry, academia, and development organisations, the consultation aimed to validate the findings, identify gaps, and gather practical insights to ensure the assessment accurately reflected the realities on the ground. The sessions focused on Sri Lanka’s potential to harness digital technologies to enhance productivity and assess how to strengthen the digital economy through the CHIPS framework.
The event commenced with a welcome address by Helani Galpaya, CEO, LIRNEasia, followed by opening remarks from Waruna Sri Dhanapala, Secretary, Ministry of Digital Economy, and Cholpon Mambetova, Country Operations Head, ADB.
Helani Galpaya delivering the welcome address.
Waruna Sri Dhanapala and Cholpon Mambetova during the opening remarks.
This was followed by presentations from Deepak Mishra, PhD, Distinguished Visiting Professor, ICRIER, and Aarti Reddy, PhD, Fellow, ICRIER, who shared insights on global developments in digitalization and the application of the CHIPS framework. Sanjaya Karunasena, Acting CEO, GovTech Sri Lanka, then highlighted the importance of digital economy benchmarking for Sri Lanka.
Deepak Mishra, PhD, and Aarti Reddy, PhD, presenting on global developments in digitalization and the application of the CHIPS framework.
The session continued with presentations by Gayani Hurulle, Senior Research Manager at LIRNEasia, and Sachini Ranasinghe, Senior Researcher at LIRNEasia, on research findings on Sri Lanka’s performance across the five CHIPS pillars. This was followed by expert review sessions, where participants provided feedback to validate the findings, identify gaps, and offer recommendations to strengthen the assessment.
Gayani Hurulle and Sachini Ranasinghe presenting research findings on Sri Lanka’s performance across the five CHIPS pillars.
The event concluded with a synthesis of key discussion points by Helani Galpaya, followed by closing remarks from Hans Wijayasuriya, PhD, Chief Advisor to the President on the Digital Economy.
Sanjaya Karunasena highlighting the importance of digital economy benchmarking for Sri Lanka, and Hans Wijayasuriya, PhD, delivering the closing remarks.
The insights and recommendations gathered during the expert review sessions will be incorporated into the final report being prepared by LIRNEasia, which will be submitted to the Government of Sri Lanka.
The consultation brought together experts from government, industry, academia, and development organisations.
Participants of the expert consultation
