Amal Kaluarachchi

Consultant - Data Center Services | Dialog Axiata PLC

Results driven Data Center Consultant, Chartered Engineer, Project Manager, Visiting Lecturer, Toastmaster with over 19 years’ professional experience passionate in strategizing and deploying ICT Infrastructure Solutions.

In my career I have consulted, implemented, operated, trained and transferred ICT infrastructure for Data Center, Telecommunications, Health Care, Hospitality, Banking, Insurance, Retail, Manufacturing, Education & Call Center industries and government.

Enthusiastic in coaching having a natural ability to interact well at multiple levels to build effective teams and improve businesses.

Lakmal Embuldeniya

Assistant General Manager | Tech One Global

Lakmal Embuldeniya is the Assistant General Manager of Tech One Global, the Leading Process Automation, Business Process Re-engineering, Digital Transformation consultation services provider and developer of products focusing Digitization (Enadoc) & Digitalization (Flowdoh).

He is an expert working on customer centric  mission critical environments as a Project Manager, Systems, Technical Support and Customer Care Specialist for nearly 15 years in Private & Public Sector organizations.

He is an enthusiastic volunteer to develop the ICT industry globally by participating in the Australia Sri Lanka Alumni Steering Committee, Curtin Alumni Sri Lanka Chapter, The Chartered Institute for IT Sri Lanka Section & Information Systems Audit and Control Association. He is also a visiting lecturer for Digital Transformation, Public Sector Transformation through ICT, Computer Systems, Networking, Information Systems, Information & Cyber Security related subjects.

Marco Brandstaetter

Regional Director Middle East and South Asia | DE-CIX

Marco works as Regional Director for DE-CIX and is responsible for Middle East and South Asia. His current focus is on developing UAE-IX as the first 100 percent neutral IXP in the Middle East and help to develop DE-CIX in India.

Coming from a software development background, Marco founded HAPPYsoft, a software development company, in 1992, and HAPPYnet, one of the first ISPs in Austria, in 1995. In 2003, Marco founded i3b and from that time on he focused on the field of telecom wholesale. After driving forward i3b’s internationalization as wholesale partner for last mile and MPLS connections and finally selling IP transit, the company was sold to its biggest wholesale customer (2010) and ever since Marco worked as independent consultant in the telecom industry in the field of Internet Exchanges and Digital Hub Development.

Savithri Rodrigo

Founder | Stratyx Promotions & Media Concepts (Pvt) Limited and Stratyx Write (Pvt) Limited

recipient of the Sri Lanka Woman Leader 2020 Award, Zonta Woman of Achievement Award for Media in 2004, a Presidential Award winner for Radio Broadcasting in 1995 and Leadership Excellence in Communication & Media – Women for Governance: Professional & Career Women Award 2014/15, she’s founded Stratyx Promotions & Media Concepts (Pvt) Limited and Stratyx Write (Pvt) Limited, two companies working in PR, Media, Communications, Event Conceptualisation & Execution. Her newest project is digital programme Kaleidoscope with Savithri Rodrigo, a weekly feature which runs on her YouTube channel.

She is a corporate media trainer, specializing in media handling and corporate etiquette regularly conducting workshops for corporates and the Bandaranaike Center for International Studies. Her over
three decade career in the media, one of the longest in television, also makes her one of the few specialising in all three media of print, radio and television and now social media.

In her career, she has interviewed a range of personalities in varying areas and industry sectors including heads of state, corporate captains and diplomats. She also moderates local and global symposiums, conferences and workshops, in addition to corporate events including launches, banquets and social functions.

An AFS Scholar to Melbourne Australia, she is a former CNN World Reporter and a news anchor, reporter and producer for state television the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation and state radio, the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. Besides her widely published articles, coffee table books and corporate publications, she has authored biographies of corporate captains Desamanya Ken Balendra and Hemaka Amarasuriya, as well as a collection of speeches and writings of Rienzie Wijetilleke.

She co-authored ‘No Water No Future’ a publication presented to the then South African President Nelson Mandela at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg. This is in addition to a significant number of publications for international agencies and corporate conglomerates including local and global award winning annual and sustainability reports.

She was a former Consultant Correspondent for business magazine LMD, TV programme Benchmark and leisure magazine LIVING. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators (UK) and Institute of Chartered Corporate Secretaries (Sri Lanka). She is a Director of Inter Coir Limited. In a
voluntary position, she serves as a Trustee on the Board of The Salvation Army and has been on the Governing Board of The Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka.

Rajendra Theagarajah

Independent Non Executive Chairman | Digital Reality Pvt Ltd (Dialog Axiata & Orion City)

Rajendra Theagarajah traces his origins from Manipay, Jaffna. Born in Colombo and educated at Royal College, he trained as a Chartered Accountant and having qualified as a CA in Sri Lanka followed by becoming a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK). Mr Theagarajah did his MBA at Cranfield School of Management UK and joined The Chase Manhattan Bank (know known as J P Morgan Chase) in London and obtained extensive training in a multitude of areas covering Global Commercial Banking while being attached to the bank’s London office. He chose to return to Sri Lanka in 1992 and joined the Colombo office of Banque Indosuez (now part of the Credit Agricole Group of France) as its Deputy General Manager.

Mr Theagarajah chose to remain in SriLanka when Indosuez decided to close operations in Sri Lanka and joined the Hatton National Bank as a young Assistant General Manager in 1997. During the next 8 years he steadily took on more responsibility in Business banking, International Trade and Corporate Finance and became the 3rd MD/CEO of HNB in Dec 2004. During the next 9 years he led the bank to great heights when the Bank was recognized as the “Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka for 6 consecutive years. He has been recognized by the Asian Banker magazine twice in 2010 & 2013 for Outstanding Leadership in Banking. In 2009 HNB was also recogised as the “Best bank in the Asia Pacific Region among 130 small cap banks delivering the Highest total shareholder Return over the 5 years 2004-2009. He was profiled as one of “Asia’s promising 25 banking CEOs” in the book FUTURE OF FINANCE IN ASIA by John Wiley & Co the UK publisher. Mr Theagarajah also became the first Chairman from Sri Lanka of the Asian Banks Association for the period 2010-12.

Having stepped down from HNB as its CEO in 2013, he led the National Development Bank for 3 years until November 2016. He then served as Deputy Chairman and MD/CEO of the Cargills Bank, part of the Cargills Group for 4 years until September 2020 when he retired from active full time executive management in financial services.

He has served his profession and industry with distinction by holding the positions of Chairman Sri Lanka Banks Association, Chairman Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Sri Lanka Board and co-opted Council member of CIMA UK for 4 years. In 2017 he became the first ever career Banker to hold the position as the Chairman of the 180 year old Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) until June 2019. He continues to engage with the CCC as the Chairman of the Enterprenuership Ecosystem.

A Founding Trustee of the Colours of Courage Trust, he has been actively involved in overseeing the fund raising/ implementation of the 120 bed Tellipalei Cancer hospital which opened to the public in January 2014. He followed this by becoming one of the two dozen who walked 670 kilo meters over 28 days from Point Pedro to Dondra Head, raising awareness across the country and helped to raise USD 5 mn for the construction and equipping of a cancer care hospital in Karapitiya, Galle.
Mr Theagarajah also served as a member of the Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange and Board Member/ Chairman Audit Committee of the World University Service Canada for six years. He is an Independent Non Executive Director of Carson Cumberbatch PLC and The Capital Maharajah Group.

Mr Theagarajah is married to Sharmani a PHd holder in Control systems Engineering from Imperial College London and has two daughters Arushka a MA in US Studies from University College, London and Anjali a Post Graduate from Green-Templeton College, Oxford.

Dr. Harshana Jayashantha De Silva

Manager - Data Center Technologies | KBSL Information Technologies Limited

Dr. Harshana Jayashantha De Silva is manager for Data Center technologies at KBSL information technologies limited the pioneer of delivering leading technological solutions to businesses within and beyond Sri Lanka. At KBSL he is responsible for Driving large scale design requirements end to end from inception to closure as a technical lead covering multiple areas. Provide 24 x7 break fix, post sales and operational support in line with service level agreements to 25+ customers including a few of the largest conglomerates in the country.
Provide strategic inputs to the company road map for the technology selection and transition from solution integrator to service integrator
along with Financial analysis in lead selection for optimizing profitability of the organization whilst ensuring budget management for division. Recruitment, mentoring, coaching and development of engineers as the solution integrator industry is a high turnover industry in the country.

Dr Harshana also holds a doctorate of Business administration from Aldersgate College, Philippines with a thesis on THE ALIGNMENT OF BUSINESS STRATEGY WITH INFORMATION SYSTEMS STRATEGY ENABLED THROUGH CLOUD ADOPTION: IMPACT ON COMPANY PERFORMANCE.

He also holds an MBA an MSC and BSC in Engineering. He has 12+ years of experience in the Data Center and technology industry.

Zaheer Meeran

Head Of Information Technology | Habib Bank Limited

Dedicated and objective driven with solid one decades in Banking information technology management. 14 + years of experience in the IT banking industry.

Proficient in all areas of banking IT management (network, security, operation, infrastructure, procurement, creation of policy, design/program software (in-house), documentation, handling IT projects and IT risk management.

Recognized for my information technological expertise which along with my base abilities & unique management service attitude provides me the capability for finding and accommodating nevertheless technical and non-technical solutions for difficult problems with a challenging opportunity towards growth and fulfillment of career aspiration.

Dinesh Wickremanayake

Managing Director and Sri Lanka Location Head | WNS Global Services

Dinesh took over as the Country Managing Director for WNS Sri Lanka in 2016 .

He is a Senior Leader with a proven track record in a number of Financial and Management disciplines. He brings with him a wealth of expertise and knowledge, gained over 30 years of experience in the areas of Finance and Accounting, setting-up and Managing Global Business

Services, Captive Shared Service Centers, and all aspects of Business Process Management/Re-Engineering , including expertise in the areas of Delivery, Transformation, Automation, (Pre/Post Sales), Solution Design, Transitions and Operational Excellence.

Prior to joining WNS, Dinesh served in Operational and Sales roles during his 10 year tenure at Accenture as a Senior Director. Dinesh was instrumental in working with large MNC’s in the UK , USA and APAC as part of the Solution Design, Transition and Delivery of Services. Dinesh has worked collaboratively to assist clients in their transformation journey by acting as the catalyst in the identification and execution of robust complex RPA infused Transformation projects.

Dinesh was a Client Partner for Wipro Consulting Services, responsible for establishing and leading the Finance and Accounting Transformation, as well as consulting practice for Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), for a short period prior to re-joining Accenture.

Dinesh holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business, majoring in Accounting & Law, and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA), majoring in General Management from the University of Technology (UTS) Sydney, Australia.

Dinesh is currently on the Advisory Board for Export Development Board for IT / BPM. This is the body responsible for executing government policies in relation to IT/BPM in Sri Lanka. This is a Gazette Appointment by the Sri Lankan Government.

Dr. Samila Fernando

Managing Director | Fastrupee PVT Ltd

Currently working as a Country Manager – FastRupee PVT LTD (Member of Finstar Financial Services ) . A Retail/SME Banker by profession counting over 16 years at MCB bank Ltd, National Development Bank PLC (NDB) & Multi Finance PLC.

Well versed in a computerized environment using Flexcube, Globus, T24 & E financials banking software package, MS-Office & PC applications. Excellent communication, interpersonal & people management skills. Ability to make decisions and complete work on schedule in independently as well as a team member with Strong leadership qualities

Eranga Perera

Head of IT | Jubilant Food Works Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.

I am a well-trained and capable team player with Software, Hardware, Network & Communications expertise with over 18+ years of all-round experience.

Part of my expertise involves in mapping the future technologies to the existing infrastructure while ensuring the Governance, Risk & Compliance are in order and to align the IT strategy with the business while understanding the importance of maintaining the IT Systems up to date on industry trends and technologies

Currently managing highly talented teams to deliver business requirements quickly and flawlessly as the IT/Digital Department Head while working with other departments as a member of the Sri Lanka Leadership Team.

While I take pleasure in working on and studying anything IT related, my knowledge in both Electrical/Electronic and Communication technology is an added advantage in managing IT / Digital systems.

Commander (Rtd.) WASN Ananda

Chief Information Security Engineer | Sri Lanka CERT

TERTIARY EDUCATION : Master of Business Administration (e-Governance)
Kothalawale Defence University
Master of Science (HRM)
Asia eUniversity, Malaysia
Master of Science (Information Security)
Asia eUniversity, Malaysia
Bachelor of Information Technology (Completed)
University of Colombo School of Computing
Diploma in Diplomacy and World Affairs
Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute
Diploma in Creative Diplomacy
Regional Centre for Strategic Studies
Master of Science (Cyber Security & Forensics) – Following
Informatics Institute of Technology
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS
• EC Council – Certified Ethical Hacker
• EC Council – Certified Hacking Forensic Investigator
• EC Council – Certified EC-Council Instructor
• PMI – Project Management Professional
• EC Council – Certified Penetration Tester (CPENT) Following

KEY APPOINTMENTS & POSITIONS
• Officer In-Charge Information Technology School – Naval & Maritime Academy
• Command Information Technology Officer (Western Naval Command)
• Senior Staff Officer (Systems Management)
• Deputy Director Naval Information Technology (Systems) – Sri Lanka Navy
• Manager Engineering Cyber Security – Sri Lanka Navy
• Deputy Director Naval Information Technology (Utility) – Sri Lanka Navy
• Group IT Manager – WatchGuard Group of Companies
• VP Information Security & Technical Head Infrastructure Solutions – Informatics International Limited
• Chief Information Security Engineer Sri Lanka CERT|CC (at present)
Memberships in Professional organizations:
• Professional Member – Computer Society of Sri Lanka
• Member of Internet Society – Sri Lanka Chapter
• Member of Project Management Institute
SKILLS
Possess Competencies in Programming languages and Integrated Development Environments, Database Administration, Server Administration and Web Development.
Excellent Project management skills in software development projects and implementations.
Developed skills in training personnel in software application development, Database Management, Networking and Cyber Security.
Ability to interact with diverse stakeholders in dealing with complete cycle of project management.
Excellent organizing, instructional and communication skills with human capital management competencies.
Excellent command in English and Sinhala languages.
MERITS
• Best in Projects – IT Manager Course India
• First in Aggregate – Database Manager Course India
• Best in Overall order of Merit – MBA (e-Governance)-KDU

TRAINING
Successfully completed the following workshops and short courses:
Diploma in Computer System Design Course (DCSD), NIBM, Sri Lanka. (1999)
Computer Hardware Engineering Course, Science Land Information Technology (Pvt) ltd.(2000), Lanka Institute of Computer Skills & Services. (2004)
Geographical Information System (GIS) Course, University of Moratuwa . (2006)
IT Manager Course, Indian Naval Base (Hamla). (2006)
REDHAT Linux Certified Engineer Course, Naval Headquarters. (2007)
Database Manager Course, Indian Naval Base (Hamla). (2009)
Information Security Management System ISO 27000 Course, Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration. (2010)
Network Manager Course, Indian Naval Base (Hamla). (2012)
Project Management Professional Course, Net Assist International (Pvt). (2014)
Professional Diploma in Networking & System Administration, CICRA Campus. (2017)
WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS
Innovative Government: Public Sector Programme, Microsoft Sri Lanka. (2011)
Dealing with Cyber-Crimes in a Globalized World, TechCERT, Sri Lanka. (2015)
Cyber Security Summit, EC Council & CICRA Consultancies. (2015-2017)
International Dual-Use Investigations Course, Unites States of America – Department of Defence International Counter proliferation Program, Sri Lanka. (2017)
Annual Galle Dialogue, International Maritime Conference, conducted by Sri Lanka Navy. (2010-2016)
Member of Cyber Endeavor for United States Pacific Command’s Multinational Communications Interoperabi8lity Program (MCIP), United States of America. (2017)

Roshan Razik

Head Of Technology Operations & Information Security | Pearson Lanka

Roshan is a passionate leader specializes in transitions & transformations with 20+ years of experience in the IT industry. He has built, lead & transformed teams of multiple disciplines such as IT Operations, Service Management, Security, Compliance & Governance. Roshan is a focused, goal driven leader takes on challenges as opportunities. He has been part of Global enterprises transforming teams to contribute to the wider organizational goals for greater efficiency & optimization. He is experienced in building operational strategy, Continual service improvement, workforce optimization, digital transformation, technology transitions, IT Operations & Service Management, serving multinational cooperation’s such as Pearson, Virtusa, Siebel & British Telecom. Roshan is a resilient leader.

Hessam Seifi

Managing Director | DC PRO BV

More than 20 years of international experience in Europe, Middle east & Africa including working with a Big Tech Company (Google) in the field of data centers & infrastructure.

Specialized in Technical Management, Business improvement, Risk & Strategy management, with extensive knowledge of designs, process optimization and an unsurpassed business ethics and project delivery for data centers, district energy,

co-generation, renewable energy projects globally. Led engineering teams with successful delivery of multiple industrial projects across the globe including prestigious hyper-scale data centers, mega-scale district energy plants, high-rise towers, etc.

Mahinda B Herath

CEO | ICTA

Eng. Mahinda B Herath is the Chief Executive Officer of the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), the apex digital agency of the government mandated to develop the National Digital Policy and drive the national digital transformation.

He counts over a decade of experience in the C-suite and was the Group Chief Digital Officer and the Group Chief Planning Officer of the Sri Lanka Telecom Group – the National Telco Service Provider,
prior to joining ICTA.

Mahinda is an ICT specialist with a 360-degree exposure in the industry; well versed in the entire value chain of ICT. He is a transformational leader with a proven track record in designing,
implementing and managing large-scale digital transformational journeys with extensive hands-on expertise in that domain. A sought after speaker in the international circuit on digital transformation, 5G, AI and IoT, Mahinda is an engineering graduate from the University of Moratuwa (UOM), a Chartered Engineer and an ardent enthusiast in mathematics with a Masters in that field . He serves as Director in several Boards, including the Governing Council of the National Institute of Business Management (NIBM) – the country’s
premier business management school, Business Management Education Board of NIBM, Lanka Government Information Infrastructure (LGII), LK Domain Registry, National Library & Documentation Services Board and the Governance Council of APCICT (Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development) of the UN – ESCAP. As the Chief Executive of the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka, Mahinda is currently giving leadership to a number of pioneering national digital initiatives, including the creation of the Sri Lanka Unique Digital ID (SL – UDI), automation of the government, court automation and
modernizing of the national foundational infrastructure comprising of the Lanka Government Network (LGN), the Lanka Government Cloud (LGC) and the Lanka Government Payment System (LGPS).