Eranga Weeraratne
Eranga Weeraratne | |
|---|---|
එරංග වීරරත්න எரங்க வீரரத்ன | |
 | |
| National List Member of Parliament | |
| Assumed office 21 November 2024 | |
| President | Anura Kumara Dissanayake |
| Prime Minister | Harini Amarasuriya |
| Member of Parliament for National List | |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Political party | National People's Power |
| Spouse | Prabhashini Herath |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Moratuwa,Mahanama College |
| Occupation | Engineer, Business Executive |
Eranga Udesh Weeraratne is a Sri Lankan politician, engineer, and business executive who was appointed as a National List Member of Parliament in 2024 under the National People's Power (NPP) government[1]. Subsequently he was appointed as deputy minister of Digital Economy.[2]
Early Life and Education
[edit]Eranga is the eldest of three siblings. His sister, Chamindi, works in the real estate industry, and his brother, Suranga, serves as the Head of Finance and Administration at Omobio.
Weeraratne completed his secondary education at Mahanama College in 1993 and his undergraduate studies at the University of Moratuwa, earning a degree in engineering in 2000.
Career
[edit]After his graduation in Computer Science and Engineering field, he joined Infotech Limited as an engineer in e-Business, in the early years when the Internet business was starting to thrive. He led the development of OmniBIS, which was the first Sri Lankan portal offering free email and collaboration tools including online calendar, instant messaging, file storage, personal organizer, etc. even before Gmail and Dropbox type services were established. One unique feature of this service was to send and receive emails via SMS.
After that, he was the founding member of the team that established WaveNET; a software development company specialized in telecom-based products and services. WaveNET that started with only three members has now grown into a strong 120 member team. He was CTO at WaveNET, a position he held from 2003 to 2010.
In 2012 he took on the responsibilities as the CEO and CTO of Omobio Pvt. Ltd. The Omobio team under Eranga’s guidance strives as one towards making a positive impact on the world through innovation products and solutions. He has led the company towards success and won many renowned awards for the Dialog Self-Care Application, Customer-Care Application, TEAM – SMS Box platform solutions at the National Best Quality ICT Awards, and many more. This multi awards winning company serves more than twenty plus telecom operators and service providers in more than twenty countries.[3]
Under his leadership, Omobio gained recognition for its innovations in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, expanding globally with offices in multiple countries and plans for further growth into Europe, Africa, and the Americas. [4]
He held the position of CTO at Telfinity Systems (Pvt) Ltd from 2010 to 2013.
Apart from being the CEO/CTO of Omobio, he has ventured into many other industries such as:
- Chairman/Director at eimSky (Pvt) Ltd
- Director at Textware (Pvt) Ltd
- Chairman at Matrix Plantations
- Chairman/Director at Spiceyaya (Pvt) Ltd
- Chairman/Director at Spice Fortress (Pvt) Ltd
- Director at E-Lottery Solutions (Pvt) Ltd
Political Career
[edit]In 2019, Eranga entered active politics through the National Intellectuals Organisation (NIO), an organization of which he is a founding member. NIO is affiliated with the NPP party.
Weeraratne was appointed to the 17th Parliament of Sri Lanka as part of the NPP's National List in 2024. His selection reflects the party's emphasis on including experienced professionals and innovative leaders to guide policy and national development.[5]
His appointment was received postively by the IT industry in Sri Lanka.[6][7]
Personal life
[edit]Eranga is married to Prabhashini Herath, and they have two children.
Controversies
[edit]In 2012, Eranga Udesh Weeraratna became embroiled in a significant legal controversy involving software theft during his employment as a software engineer at the University of Colombo. He and another engineer were accused of stealing a laptop belonging to Gihan Wikramanayake, the Director of the Computer Division(UCSC).
During the subsequent police investigation, authorities recovered 74 CDs and DVDs from Weeraratna's residence, with 50 of these discs reportedly containing pornographic content. The case gained further complexity when it was discovered that the stolen laptop's data had been deliberately erased prior to its recovery. Acting on the directives of the Fort Magistrate, the police initiated an investigation to determine whether any of the stolen information had been sold to external institutions.[8]
See Also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "NPP reveals its 18 National List MPs". Ada Derana. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- ^ "New Deputy Ministers Appointed". News First LK. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
- ^ "Omobio: Pioneering Telecom Sector with Digital and Smart Solutions". Insightssuccess. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
- ^ "Omobio: From bootstrapped startup to global enterprise". Echelon. 9 February 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- ^ "Profile of Eranga Weeraratne". Apollo.io. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- ^ "FITIS welcomes creation of dedicated Digital Economy Ministry". DailyFT. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
- ^ "SLASSCOM Celebrates Key Appointments Driving Digital Transformation in Sri Lanka". Ada Derana. 28 November 2024. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
- ^ "SOFTWARE THEFT AT COLOMBO UNIVERSITY". GossipLankaNews. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
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