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Catalyzing policy change through research to improve people's lives in the emerging Asia Pacific.

16/10/2026

𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝘀: 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗨𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗵’𝘀 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀

Ride-hailing and delivery apps have transformed how people move and shop in Bangladesh’s cities, but social protection systems have struggled to keep pace with these changes.

As part of the FutureWORKS Asia-supported project, 'Life after Life: Future of Work in Bangladesh', researchers from the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) have published an op-ed article examining gaps in social protection for platform workers. The article highlights the fragmented nature of existing coverage and calls for a portable, contributory, and progressively expandable system that protects platform workers without waiting for all questions surrounding their employment status to be resolved.

This research was conducted under the FutureWORKS Asia initiative, administered by LIRNEasia, and is part of the FutureWORKS Collective—a global effort supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC / CRDI), Canada.

Read the full article published in New Age: https://www.newagebd.net/post/new-age-specials/314839/social-protection-must-catch-up

12/10/2026

The Internet Governance Forum Sri Lanka (IGF Sri Lanka) 2026 was held on 23 September 2026 under the theme ‘Empowering the Internet in the Age of Intelligence through Multistakeholderism’. The event brought together stakeholders from government, industry, academia, civil society and the technical community.

LIRNEasia Senior Research Manager Gayani Hurulle moderated a session on ‘Internet Governance and Digital Economy’, featuring Waruna Sri Dhanapala (Secretary, Ministry of Digital Economy), Conrad Dias (Chairman, LOLC Finance), Upendra Pieris (CEO, Orel IT), and Yash Agarwal (Regional Manager, ICANN).

The discussion explored the opportunities and challenges in Sri Lanka’s digital economy, including the Digital Economy Blueprint and its five targets for 2030, new lending models for emerging forms of work, AI’s impact on the IT and BPM sectors, and efforts to broaden participation in internet governance.

Read more about this event: https://lirneasia.net/2026/10/internet-governance-forum-sri-lanka-internet-governance-and-digital-economy/

02/10/2026

LIRNEasia is looking for a talented individual to join the team as a Senior Researcher to drive impactful research.

📍Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka
📅 Application Deadline: 16 October 2026
🔗Full job description: https://lirneasia.net/2026/02/lirneasia-is-hiring-senior-researcher-5/

23/09/2026

⏰ 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼! 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗲𝘁?

There’s still time to join us tomorrow for a discussion on how countries across Asia are bringing AI into school curricula.

Everyone says AI is important, but when should we start teaching it to kids? And what should students actually learn?

Drawing on examples across Asia, the session will explore emerging approaches, early lessons learned, and practical resources to help shape AI curriculum and education.

Speaker: Andrew Swindell, Ph.D., Specialist at EdTech Hub, providing senior-level policy, research, and technical guidance to Ministries of Education and non-governmental partners on technology-enabled learning systems.

The session is organised by LIRNEasia under the EmpowerED initiative, funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC / CRDI), Canada.

🗓 Tomorrow, 24 September 2026
⏰ 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM IST
💻 Online via Zoom
🔗 Register now: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/7ZndfRBF0c

19/09/2026

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗶𝗱𝘀?

Join us online for a discussion on how countries across Asia are responding to AI in education by adapting their school curricula.

As education systems introduce AI into their curricula, early experiences raise questions about what students need to learn and how to make that learning meaningful and accessible. Drawing on examples across Asia, the session will explore emerging approaches, early lessons learned, and practical resources to help shape AI curriculum and education.

Speaker: Andrew Swindell, Ph.D., Specialist at EdTech Hub, providing senior-level policy, research, and technical guidance to Ministries of Education and non-governmental partners on technology-enabled learning systems.

The session is organised by LIRNEasia under the EmpowerED initiative funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC / CRDI), Canada.

🗓 Date: 24 September 2026
⏰ Time: 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM IST
💻 Platform: Zoom
🔗 Register now to secure your spot: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/7ZndfRBF0c

18/09/2026

🚀 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗲𝗯 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀!

LIRNEasia is inviting proposals from qualified web development firms, service providers and consortia of individual professionals to design, develop and deploy a public-facing website for the 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗔𝗜𝟰𝗗 𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: 𝗔 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

The website will serve as an interactive regional knowledge repository, making evidence and resources on responsible AI easy to discover, use, and share.

📅 Deadline: 5:00 PM IST, 29 September 2026

📄 Full RFP: https://lirneasia.net/2026/09/request-for-proposals-development-of-a-website-for-the-asia-ai4d-observatory/

16/09/2026

LIRNEasia is seeking an individual to join the team as a Data Annotation Intern.

🗓 Application Deadline: 30 September 2026
🔗 Full Job Description: https://lirneasia.net/2026/09/lirneasia-is-hiring-intern-data-annotation/

08/09/2026

The World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2026, held in Shanghai from 17–20 July, brought together leaders from across the world and drew global attention to the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), as well as the increasingly important question of who gets to shape the rules governing it.

In this analysis, LIRNEasia Senior Researcher Sachini Ranasinghe examines China and Sri Lanka’s positions on global AI governance, based on speeches delivered at WAIC 2026.

The analysis explores the alignment between Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech and Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister of Digital Economy, Eng. Eranga Weeraratne’s speech across key themes, including inclusive global AI governance, the role of the Global South, international cooperation, and AI safety and security.

Read the full analysis: https://lirneasia.net/2026/09/sri-lanka-at-waic-2026-aligning-with-a-more-inclusive-vision-for-global-ai-governance/

04/09/2026

LIRNEasia CEO Helani Galpaya will be joining the upcoming Wired World: How AI is Reshaping South Asia series for a discussion on 'AI and the Balance of Power: Technology and Political Choice in South Asia'.

The session will explore AI investment, technological sovereignty, regional cooperation, and the choices facing South Asian countries as they navigate growing dependence on global AI infrastructure and technologies.

Join the conversation on Zoom on 8 September 2026 at 6:30 p.m. IST.

Register through the link below: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfSPJBizVlWaxG4Xxw_rAO_Kz4YbjuuX-pbtjeUC4cR0_8a8w/viewform

04/09/2026

LIRNEasia Senior Research Manager and Team Lead for Data, Algorithms, and Policy (DAP), Merl Chandana, was interviewed on NewsFirst Sri Lanka’s Face to Face programme on 9 August 2026.

The interview focused on the wonders and dangers of Artificial Intelligence (AI). During the discussion, Merl discussed the potential implications of AI risks for countries such as Sri Lanka, particularly given the country’s developing digital infrastructure and limited regulatory capacity.

To address these challenges in the local context, Merl recommended that, rather than introducing entirely new laws, Sri Lanka should review and amend existing legislation to address emerging AI-related risks where applicable. He suggested that existing cybersecurity and data protection laws could be amended, strengthened, and supplemented with additional guidelines as a practical first step towards mitigating potential harms arising from these systems.

Watch the full interview: https://www.youtube.com/live/MD5-1KqFGig?si=XtoJH_UMhwAKDPcg

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