Curriculum vitae

Harsha Wijayawardhana

ICT consultant, technology leader, researcher and Internet and Sinhala Unicode pioneer with extensive experience in national digital infrastructure, e-government, enterprise systems, software engineering, language technology and technology governance.

Leadership

Professional profile

Mid-March 2026–present

ICT Consultant — CINEC Campus

Provides ICT consultancy to CINEC Campus, advising on institutional ICT systems, infrastructure, governance and digital development.

Since Theekshana’s formative period

Chief Operating Officer / Chief Technology Officer — Theekshana R&D

Helped establish the UCSC-founded not-for-profit company, shape its operating model and secure its early projects. Led and contributed to major programmes in e-government, higher education and language technology.

2002–December 2018

Head / Consultant — Software Development Unit, UCSC

Led and supervised more than one hundred software-development projects and consultancies for government and other institutions.

Enterprise advisory work

Private-sector ICT consultancy

2026–present

ICT Consultant — Office Network (Pvt) Ltd (ONL)

Advises on enterprise systems and HRIS assessment, ICT and information-security policy, solution evaluation, acceptance criteria and project governance.

January 2023–present

ICT Consultant — Metropolitan Group of Companies

Advises the Group’s ICT Division, including enterprise ICT governance and the upgrading of its SAP ERP environment.

January 2022–present

ICT Consultant — Bogawantalawa Tea Estates PLC

Provides ICT consultancy; since March 2025, the work has included leading the introduction of an enterprise resource planning solution.

January 2023–present

ICT Consultant — Bogawantalawa Tea Ceylon (Pvt) Ltd

Assisted the company in selecting an ERP solution and introducing ICT policies.

Since 1997

ICT Consultant — American Group of Companies

Led long-term enterprise automation and developed an in-house ERP spanning core group functions.

January 2023–present

ICT Consultant — NKAR Travels

Provides ICT consultancy for the travel-sector company.

Public service

Government consultancy

December 2010–9 January 2015

ICT Consultant — Presidential Secretariat and the Fifth Executive President of Sri Lanka

Oversaw key ICT activities, modernised networks and server infrastructure, strengthened cybersecurity and communications systems, and contributed to national ICT policy work.

January–December 2014

ICT Consultant — Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

Developed ICT policy and contributed to network, server, firewall and website modernisation, as well as national IPv6, broadband and cybersecurity strategy.

Additional assignments

ICT consultant and technology adviser

Assignments included the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Immigration and Emigration, Government Printer, Department of Meteorology, Department of Public Finance and other national institutions.

Governance

Boards and institutional service

  • Founding Board Member, LK Domain Registry — 2004–present; member of its Technology and Security Subcommittee.
  • Board Member, Road Development Authority — February 2023–November 2024.
  • Director, Bank of Ceylon — January 2020–January 2023; chaired the Board Subcommittee on ICT and served on Audit, Risk, Nomination and HR committees.
  • Director, Lanka Government Information Infrastructure (LGII) — December 2011–February 2015.
  • Chairman, Technology Committee, All Ceylon Buddhist Congress — January 2021–present.
  • Chair, ICTA Local Language Working Group — from November 2021.
  • Advisory Council Member, Sinhala Dictionary Compilation Institute — May 2021–2024.
  • Founding President, Internet Society Sri Lanka Chapter; later served on its Advisory Council.
National contribution

Internet, standards and language technology

Association with Prof. V. K. Samaranayake

Worked in initiatives led by Prof. Samaranayake spanning election systems, Kothmale Internet Community Radio, Sarvodaya telecentres, Sinhala computing and the early Internet community. Co-authored An Introduction to Unicode for Sinhala Characters (2003) and contributed “Kothmale Internet Program to Virtual Village: Recollection of nine years of ICT4D in Sri Lanka” to the 2007 felicitation volume Partners in Progress.

View the publication record →

Internet infrastructure

Designed and implemented government networks and websites, contributed to election-night infrastructure and results dissemination, and led connectivity work for the Kothmale Internet Community Radio Project.

May 2011

Presidential address — INET Colombo

Addressed the first INET Colombo conference as founding President of the Internet Society Sri Lanka Chapter, speaking on Internet regulation, country domains, the role of ISOC and the development of an open and inclusive Internet community.

Read the preserved historical account →

International forums brought to Sri Lanka

Harsha brought eAsia 2009 to Sri Lanka and served on its Organizing Committee and Paper Committee as well as Track Chair for the Telecentre track. He also brought ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 2/WG 2—the international working group responsible for the Universal Coded Character Set—to Sri Lanka for its September 2014 meeting.

Sinhala romanization for geographical names

Contributed technical and language-technology expertise to Sri Lanka’s national work on a Sinhala romanization system for geographical names, undertaken through the Survey Department and discussed with the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) Working Group on Romanization Systems.

Sinhala Unicode and standards

Contributed to Sinhala SLS 1134 standardization and its third revision, Unicode-compatible fonts, Sinhala OCR, Sinhala numerals in ISO/IEC 10646 and Internationalized Domain Name work.

Internet community

Founding President of the Internet Society Sri Lanka Chapter; contributor to ICANN’s Sinhala Generation Panel and national work on IPv6, broadband and multilingual Internet access.

Selected recognitions

Professional recognition

  • Recognized as an Internet/ICT pioneer in Sri Lanka during the commemoration of 20 years of the Internet.
  • Recognized among the founding contributors to the Lanka Education and Research Network (LEARN).
  • AFIS received the e-Swabhimani 2014 recognition.
  • Elevated as a Chartered IT Professional and Fellow of BCS professional standing.