Ratnakanthi is a primary school teacher at the Yasodara Balika Maha Vidyala, in Ward Place, Colombo, Sri Lanka. She joined LIRNEasia in June 2008 as a researcher and worked on the IDRC funded project ‘Linking knowledge to innovation in government services: The case of solid-waste services in local government in Sri Lanka.’ “By the time I left LIRNEasia in August 2009, I had learned a great deal about the problem of solid-waste and different waste management mechanisms implemented by different local government authorities. Working under Dr Sujata Gamage, I also learned about research methods and how to use statistical software like SPSS,” says Ratnakanthi. Today, Ratnakanthi is imparting her knowledge about waste management, to her students.
Asanka was a former researcher for LIRNEasia’s Knowledge to Innovation project, whilst concurrently reading for an MPhil in environmental management at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. His research thesis examines the effectiveness of training programs conducted by local government authorities on solid-waste management practices in Sri Lanka. LIRNEasia’s Knowledge to Innovation project funded this research. Asanka joined LIRNEasia in December 2008 while working on his research project for his MPhil in Environmental Management, at the Forestry Department of the Sri Jayewardenepura University, Sri Lanka. He worked as a researcher at LIRNEasia until August 2010, mainly on the 3R project on solid-waste management, under Dr Sujata Gamage.
Anusha was a junior researcher at LIRNEasia working on the Knowledge to Innovation project. She holds a bachelor’s (Hons.) degree in Town Country Planning from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. She was involved in developing Clean City Performance Indicators through an analysis of a Clean City Survey conducted in Negombo, Sri Lanka. Before joining LIRNEasia, she worked as an independent contractor for a local economic government project conducted by the Asia Foundation.
Aileen is a researcher at the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (the Institute of Peruvian Studies), a private non-profit organization in Lima, Peru, where she focuses on rural development and gender issues. One of the main projects she is currently involved in, is a regional project to gather quantitative and qualitative data on socioeconomic conditions, demographic data, households’ endowments, ethnic identities, vulnerability and political participation, of young rural women in the countries of Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Peru. She is also involved in several other research projects in the areas of broadband development and universal service, and mobile banking. Aileen was at LIRNEasia for a six month internship in 2009, from the Institute of Peruvian Studies, which is affiliated with DIRSI, LIRNEasia’s sister network in Latin America. During her time at LIRNEasia Aileen worked on two research papers, one on expenditure patterns on mobile phone services and the other on the potential for mobile remittances, both in emerging Asia.
Tahani is an independent consultant with over 15 years of experience in digital and tech policy and regulation across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Her policy and research interests include digital inclusion and development, emerging tech, infrastructure and connectivity, platform regulation, data privacy and protection, competition and trade, and telecommunication regulation. Previously, she was part of Meta’s (Facebook) Connectivity and Access Policy Team in APAC where she led infrastructure and connectivity policy initiatives and accessibility efforts in the region. Prior to that, she worked as a regulatory and policy specialist attached to the Group Corporate Office and Regional CEO’s Office at Axiata Group Berhad in Malaysia, supporting the Group’s telecom and digital investments across South and South East Asia. As a policy researcher, Tahani worked at the Singapore Internet Research Centre (SIRC) at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. 
Yashothara was a Researcher with the Big Data team at LIRNEasia. Before joining LIRNEasia, she worked as a Research Assistant at the University of Moratuwa. Prior to this, she worked as a Software Engineer at WSO2 where she was a member of the Platform Extension team. She holds an MSc by Research in computer science and Engineering from the University of Moratuwa. She presented four Natural Language Processing related papers at CICLing: International Conference on Computational Linguistics and Intelligent Text Processing and International Conference on Asian Language Processing (IALP). 
Viren worked as a researcher with the Data, Algorithms and Policy (DAP) team at LIRNEasia between 2018 and 2022. His work at LIRNEasia included (inter alia): studying migration patterns using call detail records (CDR) data, developing methodologies for privacy-preserving synthetic data, traffic modeling using taxi GPS data, developing socioeconomic indices, and analyzing the ethics of algorithms. Additionally he has an interest in producing interactive visualizations. Before joining LIRNEasia, he worked as a software engineer at YAMU, a content company serving as a casual guide to life in the city of Colombo and Sri Lanka. Prior to this, he worked as a sustainability engineer at Brandix under the Energy and Environment Division at their Head Office. 
Firas worked on the big data and AfterAccess teams at LIRNEasia. His research interests are in the area of mobility and transportation leveraging new data sources. He previously worked at the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka as an Assistant Lecturer in both the Applied Science as well as Engineering faculties. He has also interned previous in the Analysis Division of Lanka Market Research Bureau (Pvt) Ltd. He actively volunteers his time as a teacher for Statistics and Mathematics at various institutes. 
Pamudu reviewed the literature and data related to women’s labor force participation and the effects ICTs could have on these low participation rates, for LIRNEasia. Prior to LIRNEasia, Pamudu worked stints as a market researcher, academic tutor, and a coordinator of art shows. She recently completed her thesis for an MPhil at the School of Architecture, University of Queensland, Australia. She has a BA (Magna Cum Laude) in Growth and Structure of Cities and Fine Arts (Sculpture) from Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, USA. She is currently reading for a PhD in the History of Art and Architecture, at Brown University, Rhode Island. 
Pradeepa Jayaratne is a Senior Academic, researcher and consultant in Transport and Logistics where she has experience in the field for over 20 years. She completed her Ph.D. at the Sydney Business School (SBS) of University of Wollongong in 2015, Australia. She has also completed her Master of Science in Logistics and graduated with a Distinction award from University of Wollongong (UoW), Australia in 2007. 
Moinul Zaber, PhD, was a Research Fellow at LIRNEasia. He is a computational social scientist and technology policy specialist. He is currently working as an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. His research focus is on spectrum management and policy, data-driven techno-economic analysis and design thinking. Moinul lead’s Data and Design lab (https://dndlab.
Dharshana was a Research Fellow at LIRNEasia. He graduated from the Dept of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Moratuwa, in 2004. He has over 7 years experience in the ICT industry, both as a Software Engineer and a researcher. Dharshana obtained his Ph.D.
Abu worked in the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) as its Secretary General from August 1, 2010 to July 31, 2012.* Earlier he was a Strategy Analyst at Ericsson’s Southeast Asian head office in Malaysia until June 2010. Previously, he was Technology Editor for bdnews24.com, Bangladesh’s first online newspaper, as well as a research analyst at EMC World Cellular Database (currently owned by Informa) covering the mobile markets of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. As a journalist, he influenced various policies pertaining to the telecoms sector of Bangladesh. 
Yudhanjaya worked at LIRNEasia from April 2017 to October 2021. He was a Senior Researcher on the Data, Algorithms and Policy team. His research interests include social networks, network theory, and linguistics. He is the co-founder of Watchdog, a fact-checking organization that sprung up in the wake of the April 2019 bombings in Sri Lanka. He is also a science-fiction author, a Nebula Award finalist with a five-book deal from HarperCollins. 
Thavisha worked on the Big Data for Development team at LIRNEasia. She has explored the applications of new data sources and specifically big data for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while working with us. She also managed the Asia component of a Global South-focused network working to harness big data for the SDGs and facilitate Southern voices in the global discourse around the responsible use of big data in development. She holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science, from the Institute of Technological Studies, Sri Lanka and an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management, Sri Lanka. 
Sriganesh was previously the Data Innovation and Policy Lead at Pulse Lab Jakarta, a joint facility of the United Nations and the Government of Indonesia. Prior to that, Sriganesh co-established and led LIRNEasia‘s multidisciplinary research practice on Big Data for Development. His work involved the conceptualization and implementation of big data analyses to support global development. He researched and engaged in the public discourse on responsibly mainstreaming the use of big data and AI for public purposes, and their implications on society (including data protection, ethics, and competition policy). His work has been used by the Government of Sri Lanka in the planning and implementation phases of the Western Region Megapolis Plan.