Abhaya Induruwa
Abhaya Induruwa අභය ඉඳුරුව is the inaugural Professor V K Samaranayake Endowed Professor of Computing, University of Colombo School of Computing, Sri Lanka. Currently he serves as the Director of Cyber Innovation Hub in the School of Engineering, Technology and Design at Canterbury Christ Church University in the United Kingdom where he leads research into security and forensic investigation of Internet of Things. Professor Induruwa is considered the father of Internet in Sri Lanka.
Education
After spending three years of his early primary education at Kahagolla Madya Maha Vidyalaya, Diyatalawa, he was admitted to Nalanda College, Colombo from where he proceeded to the University of Sri Lanka, Katubedda Campus. He is the first student to graduate with a First Class Honours degree in Electrical or Electronics Engineering since the inception of the University of Sri Lanka, Katubedda Campus, and is the recipient of the Prof Om Prakash Kulshreshtha award for the Best Electrical and Electronic Engineering student in 1975. In September 1976 he proceeded to Imperial College London and in January 1980 he was awarded PhD from the University of London for his research on Computer Simulation Techniques in Power Systems Planning. His research supervisor was Emeritus Professor Brian J. Cory.Professional career
Professor Induruwa founded the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Moratuwa in 1985, the first and the only department of its kind in a Sri Lankan university, and served as its Head until 1998.In 1989 he pioneered and served as the Principal Investigator of project LEARN,
which he developed into the academic Internet in Sri Lanka
.
He obtained funds from the Sri Lankan government and other well wishers, commissioned staff and resources, provided technical and managerial leadership, and led the project LEARN to completion in 1995. He also administered the.LK domain since its first registration in 1990 until 1998.
Professor Induruwa is a founding member of the Internet Society and a member of the Internet Society Sri Lanka Chapter. He is a contributing author to the Asia Internet History project.
He is a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, UK, Chartered Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, and a Chartered Fellow of the British Computer Society.
Professor Induruwa is a founding member of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka. In recognition of his services to computer education and IT industry in Sri Lanka the Honorary Fellowship of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka was conferred on him in 2003.
In recognition of his signal contribution to the growth, connectivity, and use of the Internet in Sri Lanka, and for pioneering LEARN - the first IP WAN in Sri Lanka - Professor Induruwa was inducted to the Internet Hall of Fame 2014, an honorary lifetime achievement award administered by the Internet Society. Recognising his significant contribution to the development of networking and Internet in Sri Lanka Professor Induruwa was honoured by the Internet Society Sri Lanka Chapter with an Internet Pioneers Award at the celebration of 20 years of Internet in Sri Lanka in June 2015. For his exceptional contribution to the digital arena Prof Induruwa received a Life Time Achievement Award from Sri Lanka Telecom in June 2017. In October 2019, at the 30th anniversary celebrations of LEARN, he received the LEARN Founder Award from H E Maithripala Sirisena, the President of Sri Lanka, for proposing in 1989 the conceptual design for an academic and research network in Sri Lanka, and implementing the same between 1990-1995, finally connecting to the Internet in 1996.
Prof Induruwa served on the Internet Hall of Fame Advisory Board from 2016 until 2018. He serves as a Member of the General Assembly of the European Cybercrime Education and Training Group of the Europol. In 2018 he served as an Expert on Cybercrime to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on their Education for Justice project. In 2019 he served as an Expert to the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office to evaluate project proposals under BRAIN-BE 2.0.
Life Time Achievement Awards
2004 - Honorary Fellow of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka recognizing the distinguished services to the ICT education and ICT profession in Sri Lanka2014 - Internet Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award of the Internet Society for pioneering IP networking and Internet in Sri Lanka
2015 - Internet Pioneers Award of the Internet Society-Sri Lanka Chapter celebrating 20 years of Internet in Sri Lanka
2017 - Sri Lanka Telecom Zero-One Lifetime Achievement Award for exceptional contribution to the digital arena
2019 - LEARN Founder Award for proposing, designing and implementing academic and research networking, and pioneering Internet in Sri Lanka
Keynotes and public lectures
- "LEARN: Its Journey from 1989", Keynote address at the 30th Anniversary of Lanka Experimental Academic & Research Network, 7 October 2019, Hotel Shangri-la, Sri Lanka.
- "Emerging Cyberspace Challenges and the Role of Cyber-intelligence", Main keynote address at the inauguration of the 12th International Research Conference of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, 11 September 2019, Ratmalana, Sri Lanka.
- "Realising the Internet of Things : Can we afford to miss the opportunity?", Plenary keynote address at the 12th International Research Conference of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, 11 September 2019, Ratmalana, Sri Lanka.
- "Computer Science & Smart Currencies", Plenary Keynote address at the 11th International Research Conference of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, 14 September 2018, Ratmalana, Sri Lanka.
- "Sri Lanka 3CENTRE - A National Initiative for Capacity Building in Cybercrime Forensics, Cybersecurity & Cyber Intelligence", Keynote Speech delivered at the Cyber Security Industry Forum, 31 May 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- "Internet - the Next Wave of Disruption: Opportunities and Threats", Keynote Speech delivered at the 34th National IT Conference of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka, 9–10 August 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- "Internet of Everything: How secure should it be?", Keynote Speech delivered at the 2015 IEEE International Conference on Research in Computational Intelligence and Communication Networks, 20–22 November 2015, Kolkata, India.
- "A Moment in Internet History", Address delivered at the 20 Years of Internet in Sri Lanka, 8 June 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- "Making and Breaking the Internet", Guest Speaker at the, 18 December 2014, Perth, Australia.
- "Distributed Computation: Its impact on Network Security and Forensics", Keynote Speech delivered at the 2014 IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Communication Networks, 14–16 November 2014, Kolkata, India.
- "ICT for Inclusive Development of Sri Lanka beyond 2020", Keynote Speech delivered at the 32nd National IT Conference of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka, 26–27 August 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- "Intelligent Future", Seventh Annual Professor V K Samaranayake Memorial Oration delivered at the University of Colombo School of Computing, 23 July 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- "Hidden in the Clouds: Impact on Data Security and Forensic Investigation", Keynote Speech delivered at the International Conference on ICT for Emerging Regions, 1–2 September 2011, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- "Cyberwar - How Real is the Threat?", Keynote Speech delivered at the 29th National IT Conference of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka, 24–25 August 2011, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Interviews