Dr. Shanta Rajapaksha Yapa

Bio

Dr Yapa is the first PhD from the Faculty of Management & Finance, University of Colombo. He is a fellow of the British Computer Society, the Chartered Institute for IT and also a member of the Institution of Engineering & Technology (UK). He is a Certified Innovation Manager and also a member of several chartered and professional institutions in logistics, marketing, HR and industrial engineering.

He is the Chief Commercial Officer of Avonet Technologies and has 36 years of experience in diverse industry sectors of manufacturing, banking, international business and ICT in leading organisations including Hatton National Bank PLC and Ceylinco Group of Sri Lanka. He is a board director of the ICT Industry Skills Council of Sri Lanka, a past president of the FITIS Software Chapter and an exco member of the Asia Pacific ICT Alliance.

He has been teaching strategy, OB and research methods in postgraduate programs of 20 universities for 20 years. Dr Yapa also works for Cardiff Metropolitan University (UK) as an associate tutor. He is in advisory committees of many Sri Lankan universities. He was a visiting faculty member of AITE of the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand for 7 years. He was also a member of the standing committee for IT at the University Grants Commission of Sri Lanka from 2010 to 2017.

Dr Yapa has published over 20 articles and tools in open innovation and knowledge management. In 2020, he authored the strategy book RISING IN CRISIS – Survival & Growth Strategies for Entrepreneurs and Managers. He is a certified reviewer working for four international journals and a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, an opt-in research community of business professionals.