Keynote address given by Prof. Rohan Samarajiva at the "Cyril Ponnamperuma Memorial International Conference on Multidisciplinary Research 2020" in Kandy on 21 January 2020.
Given we’ve just finished celebrating LIRNEasia’s fifth anniversary, I could not but notice a rather striking compliment in a piece published to mark the death anniversary of Professor Cyril Ponnamperuma, a great Sri Lankan who gave me my first job , post-PhD. The author, Nalaka Gunawardene, is a person we partner with on occasion and a good friend. But anyone who knows Nalaka will have no doubt that he speaks his mind without fear or favor. Looking at the 2009 December piece, I also came across an earlier post that refers to LIRNEasia in the context of innovative organizations: If we want to nurture imagination and innovation, we must first learn from the mistakes of the recent past. Obsolete institutions and ossified policies will need to be reformed.