Prof. Lasith Gunasekera chosen to serve on ORAC

Prof. Lasith Gunawardena from the Department of Information Technology has been selected to serve on the ORCID Researcher Advisory Council (ORAC).

ORCID, which stands for Open Researcher and Contributor ID, is a global, non-profit organisation supported by a global community of more than 1200 organisational members, including research organisations, publishers, funders, professional associations, and other stakeholders in the research ecosystem, according to a University of Sri Jayewardenepura official.

ORCID IDs are used by more than 13 million researchers and provide an identifier for individuals to use with their name as they engage in research, scholarship, and innovation activities. It is the most widely used identification mechanism worldwide, and in the higher education and government sectors, ORCID is the de-facto standard.

ORAC members will provide advice to ORCID staff and the ORCID Board to ensure that ORCID provides value and utility to researchers worldwide and aids in the process of research and innovation.

Dr. Gunawardena has been involved with ORCID for a number of years. He is one of only three Asians to be selected to this prestigious council, and his selection is indeed an honour to Sri Lanka and the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

Dr. Gunawardena is a fellow of BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, and a senior member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), USA and Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, USA (IEEE). He also served as Deputy Chairman for National ICT Awards, NBQSA 2021.