The first webinar on the digital platform was held on 18 August 2020 with active participation of around 75 distinguished Sri Lankan professionals, academics and scientists living in Australia. They appreciated this novel initiative aimed at harnessing Sri Lankan expatriates for national development and expressed their fullest support and cooperation to make it a success.
Identification of high priority areas in Sri Lanka as per the national policy and determination of the intellectual resource base in academia and R & D Institutions and their capacity building needs, and matching them with the competencies and interests of the expatriates in a mutually rewarding manner through a multi-disciplinary approach were identified as prerequisites for successful implementation of the platform. In addition, the expatriates have sent valuable suggestions and ideas to the chat box which will be taken into account in designing and implementing programmes under the digital platform. It is expected that the above will contribute to a win-win situation.
Prof. Ranjith Senaratne, Chairman of NSF, chaired the webinar and Dr. Thamara Dias, Actg Director General and Mr. Shantha Siri, Head, International Liaison Division of NSF, Prof. Prasad Jayaweera, Professor of Computer Science Sri Jayawardenapura, Prof. Saman Seneweera, principal liaison point (PLP) for Australian expatriates in Sri Lanka, Prof. Saman Halgamuge, University of Melbourne, PLP in Australia and Mr. Ashique Ali, Vice Chairman of SLASSCOM spoke. Ms. Thilinakumari Kandanamulla, Scientific officer and Mr. Madhawa Perera, Head/IT Unit of NSF were instrumental in organizing the event.
NSF wishes to record its deep appreciation to the Australian expatriates for their active participation and valuable feedback and all others who contributed in numerous ways to make the event a success.
Webinar with the Sri Lankan expatriate scientists from Australia (held on 18.08.2020)
