Shifting Power: Rights, Democracy and the Digital State

​Sri Lanka is moving fast toward a digital future — from online payments to digital IDs and data-sharing systems. These tools promise efficiency and inclusion, but they also raise difficult questions about power, privacy, and accountability.

​Speakers: Dr. Saranee Gunathilaka, Dr. Sanjana Hattotuwa, Saritha Irugalbandara, and Benislos Thushan

​Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), the foundation of this transformation, is often presented as purely technical. In reality, it reshapes relationships between citizens, the state, and corporations — changing who controls information, who benefits, and who is left behind.

​In a multi-ethnic society still healing from division, and where corruption and power concentration have long undermined public trust, the risks of digital exclusion, misuse, or surveillance are particularly acute. The digital state could either entrench old inequalities or create new opportunities for fairness and participation.

​This event brings together civil society, lawyers, technologists, and human rights advocates to explore what Sri Lanka’s digital transformation means for rights, democracy, and everyday life.

We’ll unpack the power structures behind the digital economy agenda and discuss how to ensure that technological progress strengthens transparency, equality, and social cohesion.