image of a researcher interviewing a respondent while another person does some work Announcing a research internship opportunity open on our qualitative research project on persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Sri Lanka.
A list of selected media coverage on AfterAccess following dissemination of the Sri Lanka data and report
LIRNEasia's comments on the Framework for a Proposed Data Protection Legislation for Sri Lanka of June 2019
This document is intended to understand the extant policy context in relation to healthcare data protection, providing international comparisons, and raise important questions for Sri Lanka to consider in relation to data protection, albeit within a narrow sector specific scope.
Corner shops in the neighborhood save the trouble of driving to big stores for day-to-day groceries. That’s what the carrier-neutral POPs do for affordable broadband. It’s ubiquitous in Europe but nearly non-existent in Asia. Only Singapore and Hong Kong host carrier-neutral POPs. That’s why Internet has been centralized in these two city-states.

LIRNEasia at RightsCon 2019

Posted on June 10, 2019  /  0 Comments

LIRNEasia research presented at RightsCon 2019 in Tunis
LIRNEasia comments on the proposed Cyber Security Bill for Sri Lanka - 2019
Sri Lanka just came out with a draft bill for a proactive, national cyber-defense entity. This entity functions by designating systems as Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) and then appointing people responsible for reporting security breaches and so on and so forth. The legalese looks like this: Part V 18(1) states that “the Agency shall identify and recommend to the Minister the designation of a computer or computer system as CII for the purposes of this Act, if the Agency is satisfied that- (a) the computer or computer system is necessary for the continuous delivery of essential services for the public health, public safety, privacy, economic stability, national security, international stability and for the sustainability and restoration of critical cyberspace or for any other criteria as may be prescribed and the disruption or destruction of which would likely to have serious impact on the public health, public safety, privacy, national security, international stability or on the effective functioning of the government or the economy; and (b) the computer or computer system is located wholly or partly in Sri Lanka… The current proposed version gives the Agency the right to designate even corporate computer systems as CIIs, bust down their doors, inspect […]
Five years ago, we celebrated the first of our alumni entering a PhD program.   And today we celebrate the first of our alumni completing a PhD.  Congratulations to Dr Dimuthu Ratnadiwakara who did wonderful work in the short time he worked with us.  He is now on the tenure track at Louisiana State University.  As a lapsed academic I cannot but be proud of Dimuthu’s achievements.
Image of the panel at the Sri Lanka launch of AfterAccess Asia in Colombo on 22.05.2019 Sri Lanka performs poorly on digital indicators, awareness of internet and related services does not translate to use, and the majority of social media users in Sri Lanka think that blocking social media during times of national unrest "is the right thing to do".
Presented by Helani Galpaya, Ayesha Zainudeen and Tharaka Amarasinghe on 22 May 2019 in Colombo, Sri Lanka
LACK OF TRUST IS A KEY BARRIER TO CONVERSION OF USERS TO PLACING ORDERS AND MAKING PAYMENTS ONLINE, SAY THE AFTERACCESS SURVEYS RECENTLY LAUNCHED IN SRI LANKA BY REGIONAL DIGITAL POLICY THINK-TANK, LIRNEASIA.
MANY SRI LANKANS REMAINED UNAFFECTED BY THE SOCIAL MEDIA BLOCKS OF MARCH 2018, ACCORDING TO THE AFTERACCESS SURVEYS RECENTLY LAUNCHED IN SRI LANKA BY REGIONAL DIGITAL POLICY THINK-TANK, LIRNEASIA.
AfterAccess: ICT access and use in Asia and the Global South (Version 3.0)
I write with some sadness.  After 13 consecutive academies and conferences, we are compelled to take a year’s break.  There is no money for CPRsouth in 2019. IDRC continues to value our work; but changed priorities (no longer is “future leaders” a thing) means that they did not allocate funding for us this year. Given my time constraints, I could only try for a single funder who would pick up the core funding including travel.