Artificial intelligence (AI) offers significant potential to enhance public services and drive innovation within Sri Lanka’s public sector. At the AI Asia Summit 2024 in Colombo, Merl Chandana, Research Manager and head of the Data, Algorithms, and Policy (DAP) team at LIRNEasia, shared insights on how the government can harness AI effectively and responsibly. Speaking on a panel titled “AI for National Economic Growth and Innovation: enhancing services and driving efficiency,” Merl outlined key considerations for adopting AI in ways that truly benefit citizens. Practical steps for AI adoption in public services Merl emphasized that while AI offers vast possibilities, public sector adoption must be both strategic and phased. After highlighting a few ongoing AI pilot initiatives in Sri Lanka’s public sector, he noted that these projects often begin with a strong data foundation and empowered decision-makers with deep expertise in their fields. 
Artificial intelligence (AI) offers significant potential to enhance public services and drive innovation within Sri Lanka’s public sector. At the AI Asia Summit 2024 in Colombo, Merl Chandana, Research Manager and head of the Data, Algorithms, and Policy (DAP) team at LIRNEasia, shared insights on how the government can harness AI effectively and responsibly. Speaking on a panel titled “AI for National Economic Growth and Innovation: enhancing services and driving efficiency,” Merl outlined key considerations for adopting AI in ways that truly benefit citizens. Practical steps for AI adoption in public services Merl emphasized that while AI offers vast possibilities, public sector adoption must be both strategic and phased. After highlighting a few ongoing AI pilot initiatives in Sri Lanka’s public sector, he noted that these projects often begin with a strong data foundation and empowered decision-makers with deep expertise in their fields. 
The 19th World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS-24), a leading global forum for telecommunication and ICT statistics, took place from September 23 to 24, 2024, in Geneva, Switzerland. This year’s edition was held back-to-back with the 15th Meeting of the Expert Group on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (EGTI) and the 12th Meeting of the Expert Group on ICT Household Indicators (EGH), which took place from September 25 to 26, 2024, also in Geneva. LIRNEasia CEO, Helani Galpaya, spoke at the High-Level Panel titled “Data for Universal and Meaningful Connectivity” at the WTIS 2024. Her interventions presented LIRNEasia’s big data analytics and nationally representative household survey work, which contributed to improving policies and practices around social safety nets in Sri Lanka. She also discussed findings from the work on mapping public-private data-sharing partnerships, highlighting key elements such as trust, capacity, funding, technical architecture, and policies that enable data sharing across sectors. 
In an interview with Mawbima newspaper, LIRNEasia CEO Helani Galpaya highlighted the importance of accurate data in holding governments accountable between elections, emphasising its critical role in ensuring a functioning democracy. She also discussed the impact of misinformation and disinformation on public opinion, the role of fact-checking, and the importance of media independence. Below is the full Sinhala interview which was originally published in Mawbima newspaper on August 26, 2024. ඔබගේ කෑම බීමවල සිට රුචි අරුචිකම් සියල්ල නොදැනුවත්වම ජංගම දුරකථනය විසින් ඩැහැගනු ලබමින් සිටී. මෙකී සයිබර් දේශපාලනය අද වන විට ලෝක ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදයටද අභියෝග කරමින් සිටී. 
Taxation is a critical tool for sustainable development, playing a vital role in reducing poverty, ensuring food security, and enhancing social protection. In light of these important issues, the Institute of Charted Accountants of Sri Lanka hosted its Annual Economic and Tax Symposium under the theme “Shaping Fiscal Foundations: Tax Policy as a Catalyst for Sustainable Economic Growth,” on 1st and 2nd of August, 2024. Gayani Hurulle, Senior Research Manager at LIRNEasia, was a panellist at a session titled “Taxation on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Factors: Achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and International Trade and Tax Policies” at the symposium. Other panellists included M. Ravindrakumar, Customs Management Expert; Ayesha Ashanthi, Commissioner, Department of Inland Revenue; and Dr. 
How will AI shape our upcoming presidential election? Can AI-generated fake audio mislead voters? Is AI a threat to election integrity? In an article in the Sunday Times, Sri Lanka, LIRNEasia’s Research Manager and Team Lead: Data, Algorithms, & Policy Merl Chandana highlighted these concerns and emphasised the need to address AI’s potential to create misleading and harmful content. He told the Sunday Times: “AI can generate text, video, audio, and photos. 
During the parliamentary debate on the Telecom Bill on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, Member of Parliament Charitha Herath emphasised the need for public engagement and expert consultation in the lawmaking process. He cited the Telecommunications Act amendment as an example where expert input from individuals like LIRNEasia Chair Prof. Rohan Samarajiva refined the legislative outcome. “My friend, Professor Rohan Samarajiva, who is well-versed in this subject, has put forward some good suggestions. In the Determination of the Supreme Court regarding the Telecom Bill, his opinions were agreed upon. 
The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) represents a landmark regulation aimed at creating a safer and more transparent online environment. Central to the DSA are mandates for large online platforms and search engines, referred to as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs), to conduct Systematic Risk Assessments (SRAs) and engage in meaningful consultations with civil society. At present, VLOPs and VLOSEs in the European Union are conducting their second round of mandatory risk assessments under the DSA. These assessments seek to identify and mitigate systemic risks related to human rights on large platforms. In the meantime, in late June, the Global Network Initiative (GNI) and the Digital Trust & Safety Partnership (DTSP) hosted the European Rights & Risks: Stakeholder Engagement Forum (“the Forum”) in Brussels with the intention of sharing insights on assessing systemic risks to fundamental rights as part of implementing the DSA. 
කෘත්රිම බුද්ධිය ලෙසින් පොදු සමාජය බැලූ බැල්මට හ¾දුනා ගන්නේ සංවර්ධිත රටවල දියුණුවේ අග්රඵලයකි. එහෙත් ආර්ථික අර්බුදයක කරවටක් ගිලුණු ශ්රී ලංකාව වැනි රටකට කෘත්රිම බුද්ධියෙන් ළඟා කරගත හැකි වාසි සුළුපටු නොවේ. මේ, ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ලංකාවේ කෘත්රිම බුද්ධිය ප්රවර්ධනයට රාජ්යමය මැදිහත්වීමේ කොටස්කරුවකු වන ලර්න් ඒෂියා ආයතනයේ දත්ත විද්යා කණ්ඩායම් ප්රධානි මර්ල් චන්දන මහතා සමඟ කළ සාකච්ඡාවකි. කෘත්රිම බුද්ධිය ගැන සරල තාක්ෂණික නිර්වචනයකින් අපි කතාව පටන්ගමු? කෘත්රිම බුද්ධිය ගැන නිර්වචනයක් විදිහට ගත්තොත් කාටත් තේරෙන විදිහට මිනිස් මොළය පාවිච්චි කර කරන ක්රියාකාරකම් පරිගණක හරහා කෙරෙද්දී අපට ඒකට කෘත්රිම බුද්ධිය කියන්න පුළුවන්. 
The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka recently ruled that several sections of the proposed Telecommunications Amendment Bill are inconsistent with the country’s Constitution. This decision comes after significant opposition and criticism from experts, including LIRNEasia Chair Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, who had been vocal about the potential threats to democratic values posed by certain provisions in the bill. One of the most controversial aspects of the bill was the proposed Section 59A, which aimed to introduce a new offence related to telecommunications. The section stated: “Every person who, wilfully makes a telephone call or sends or transmits a message using a telephone, with the intention of causing public commotion or disrupting public tranquillity commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding one million rupees or to an imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and imprisonment and in the event of the offence being committed continuously, to a fine of one thousand five hundred rupees for each day on which the offence is so committed or an imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment. 
The implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) extend beyond mere technological advancement. There is no doubt that while the Global North is gaining most of the benefits of AI, the Global South faces significant problems, such as biased language models. AI has the potential to transform our media systems. It can also disrupt business models, spread disinformation, and erode trust in society. However, AI also offers a transformative potential to democratise information access and increase digital participation. 
The report “Social Media Regulation and the Rule of Law: Key Trends in Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh”, which was launched recently in Colombo, examines the balance between state security, human rights, and the role of social media across these South Asian nations. This collaborative effort involves Konrad Adenauer Stiftung’s Rule of Law Programme Asia, LIRNEasia Sri Lanka, the Centre for Communication Governance (CCG) at the National Law University Delhi (NLUD) India, and the School of Law at BRAC University Bangladesh. The report provides several crucial observations and recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders alike: Key observations from the report: Bangladesh and India provide conditional liability exemptions for third-party content hosted by intermediaries, but recent legislative trends suggest a weakening of safe harbour protection. Across all three countries, centralisation of power with the executive is evident, resulting in regulatory frameworks lacking effective judicial and parliamentary oversight over blocking orders, internet suspensions, and user data requests. The centralisation of power with the executive has also fostered a lack of transparency and accountability in government actions, often justified by state security interests. 
In her latest article for Daily FT, LIRNEasia policy fellow Tahani Iqbal critiques the current amendment process of Sri Lanka’s Telecommunications Act, stating it “has not been transparent and open,” and calling for a comprehensive overhaul of the Act, aligning with the newly issued National Digital Economy Strategy 2030, to truly drive Sri Lanka’s digital development. “It is critical that the Government puts a stop to its conservative and traditional approach to telecoms regulation and handles it in a way that will ensure that digital connectivity spurs the development of the nation. Converged markets and services require converged authorities and approaches to governance. The amended Bill has no place in Sri Lanka’s digital future and should be sent back to the drawing board for a proper re-draft.” Despite several attempts to revise the Act, Tahani argues that the lack of substantial updates has left Sri Lanka with a “low level maturity [in] legal and governance frameworks,” as evidenced by its G2 ranking from the International Telecommunications Union. 
In an insightful analysis published in the Daily FT, Professor Rohan Samarajiva, Chair of LIRNEasia, examines whether the proposed amendments to the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Act are ready for the future, or even adequate for the present. While questioning the future-readiness of the legislation in terms of consumer rights and market competition in the telecom sector, Prof. Samarajiva has also asked whether the amendments provide a clear and coordinated legal framework necessary for the future deployment of advanced telecom infrastructure, essential for smart cities. Highlighting several critical issues related to the structure, capacity, and functioning of the Telecom Regulatory Commission (TRC), here are some of the key issues addressed in his analysis. 1. 
With the digital world becoming increasingly intertwined with our daily lives, from studying and working to shopping, the digital economy has seen significant growth. In the global digital landscape, data often flows across borders for various transactions, meaning that data generated in one country may be stored and processed in another. This movement of data across international borders isn’t just a technical matter—it’s a major driver of economic development, innovation, international trade, and social progress. However, these cross-border data flows have raised concerns about privacy, security, and data protection. One major worry is data localisation rules, which insist on keeping data within a country’s borders. 
We are inviting proposals from potential bidders to conduct a study on human factors in the information disorder and finding measures to counter. The full RFP can be found here. Please check our Technical Proposal Template, Financial Proposal Template and the Sample Contract, before sending your proposals. Proposals for the study must be received by LIRNEasia by 17.00 hrs Sri Lankan time on 7th June 2024. 
The following article was originally published on the IDRC – Resisting information disorder in the Global South website. LIRNEasia studied information disorder in Asia for a scoping study on challenges of information disorder in the Global South in 2022[1]. We conducted over 80 key informant interviews, including fact checkers and journalist to gather data for the study. Fact checkers and journalists talked about use of digital tools, including AI tools in their day-to-day work. Some of their Digital tools included ‘the Social-People Index, Facebook Ad Library, Crowd Tangle, Sentione, Google fact-check tool, Claim Buster, and TinEye’.