Special Advisor to ICT4Peace Foundation, Switzerland

Sanjana is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Policy Alternatives, TEDGlobal Fellow 2010, and Head of ICT and Peacebuilding at InfoShare, located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He read English as an undergraduate in Delhi, India and was awarded an Advanced Masters in Conflict Resolution and International Relations from the University of Queensland, Brisbane with a Dean’s Commendation for High Achievement. With significant research and field experience supporting civil society processes for conflict transformation in Sri Lanka, South Asia and beyond, Sanjana is widely recognised as a leader in the design and implementation of ICTs and new media for peacebuilding.

Through work at the ICT4Peace Foundation, Sanjana explores and strengthens the use of ICTs in crisis information management and peacekeeping initiatives at the United Nations. As a Fellow of the Center for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution at the University of Massachusetts, Boston Sanjana examines and gives input into processes related to Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) and peacebuilding, with a special focus on the integration of mobiles.

In 2008, Sanjana was the first Sri Lankan to be awarded the prestigious News & Knowledge Entrepreneur Fellowship from the US based Ashoka Foundation in recognition of his work in Sri Lanka to leverage citizen journalism and new media in support of human rights, peace and reconciliation. 

Sanjana is the founding editor of Groundviews (www.groundviews.org), an award-winning web based citizen journalism initiative now recognised domestically and internationally as one of the most vital sites for critical dissent in Sri Lanka. He writes frequently to traditional print and web media in Sri Lanka and internationally.