Theme: Connecting Dots

Where do your beliefs lie? That our future is based on what we did in the past or that we are dictated by what we do in the present?
What if you knew that your idea will somehow weave its way throughout time, eventually connecting in our collective future? What then? We'd like to hear you out, the idea that gave you the confidence to follow your heart even when it led you off the well-worn path. Something that's made all the difference in you today.

'Connecting Dots” sets out to inculcate a deeper thinking about the place that us Sri Lankans have to lead towards – or will be pushed in – in relation to determining (far-future) fields such as technology, love, health, life & living. This goes far beyond a mere out-of-the-box thinking strategy, this essentially means that the box can no longer exist or even be considered a reference, thereby allowing the uncontrolled dissemination of an idea to flourish. Rarely has our world seen before the volume of game-changing shifts it will experience between now and the forthcoming decades. Some of these transformations are apparent already, and connecting these dots to a holistic vision for the future is inevitable.

The question is, to what extent?

Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre
C W W Kannangara Mawatha
Colombo 7, Kŏḷamba, 00700
Sri Lanka

King South

Tamil Rapper

Krishan Maheson a.k.a Kingsouth is the founder of Thamizh hiphop music in Sri Lanka. Launching his career as a rap vocalist in 1998 and is now an award winning musician with international exposure. He is the first Sri Lankan artist to release an album with Universal Music in 2005. Kingsouth has been featured on Kollywood movie soundtracks, International Radio stations, World music compilations and is currently exploring a role as a music director on an upcoming Kollywood Movie project.

Anish Wijesinghe

Entreprenuer/Musician and CEO at Motion Miracles

Anish is essentially a video game expert with his own game design company in which he tries to empower and educate people. While venturing in 3D designing and starting his first business at the age of 13 he also experimented with building his mind through music. Claiming guitar as one of the most versatile instruments out there, he experimented with various styles of guitar. Now having performed for over half a million people on YouTube and television he continues to compose elegant pieces that captivates all audiences. However, seeing as the guitar didn’t quench his lust for experimentation, he leveled up by trying his hand at beatboxing and hasn't stopped since.

Aritha Wickramasinghe

Lawyer/ Equality Director of I-Probono and Founding Trustee of Think Equal

Aritha is an international banking lawyer, a founding trustee of the global education initiative- Think Equal; a new subject being enrolled into schools that teaches children values and skills; and the equality director of iProbono, an online tech platform that connects people who need legal help but cannot afford it. Having formerly been a lawyer at Clifford Chance and K&L Gates in London, he also works closely with the Government of Sri Lanka on education reform, and has advised the British Government during his time in London on on how to use British business to promote human rights abroad and was also instrumental in setting up the Trans Equality Inquiry at the British Parliament. For his work, Aritha was ranked No.1 Future Leader by the Financial Times in their 2015 OUTstanding List alongside Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Lloyds CEO Inga Beale.

Bhanuka Harishchandra

CEO of SurgeViral

A passionate Marketer & Entrepreneur, Bhanuka specializes in Growth, Inbound & Content distribution. He is the CEO of SurgeViral, a digital marketing agency that works with startups and Fortune 500 companies around the world. Helping them grow and scale through Content, Social, Search, and everything in between. Figuring out how business can leverage the internet and reach more people through digital storytelling is at the core of SurgeViral.

Harinda Katugaha

CEO of Idama.lk

“If you only read books or hang with people who agree with your ideologies, then you are committing mental incest.” Living by the words of Tim Mann, Harinda describes himself as a Perpetual Student. Having learnt that growth happens where discomfort begins, Harinda has traveled from orthodox to unorthodox destinations such as Libya during the Arab Spring and North Korea for Kim Il Sung’s 100th Anniversary celebration. He has worked with the United Nations, IDLO, BMW and General Motors before starting his first entrepreneurial venture – IDAMA.lk; and is currently in the process of building two distinct new technologies, using Artificial Intelligence and Materials sciences. Re-drawing the boundaries of his life through extraordinary experience and people, his thinking starts out of bounds and works its way back in, creating new areas and opportunities. To feed his learning spirit, he pursued an Executive MBA from INSEAD and is currently a Doctoral candidate at Bocconi University.

Peter D’Almeida

CEO at N*able

Peter D’Almeida is the Managing Director and Chief Executive of N*able, a technology services company which today employs over 180 people. With a career that spans nearly three decades in a series of industries both locally and abroad- he was also the CEO of Millennium ESP. Alongside IT, and his involvement with the labour rights movement in the 1980s, Peter has had a parallel career in the Arts, as an actor and a director. He has starred in plays, television dramas and films. Today, Peter has gained traction as a public speaker for a variety of forums across the education, business and technology sectors, focusing on the importance of creativity and the need to push past the narrow boundaries that confine our personal, professional and political lives.

Smriti Daniel

Journalist

Smriti Daniel has made a career out of talking to strangers. In over a decade as a prolific feature writer, she has followed her diverse interests across a number of subjects ranging from the arts, in particular literature, to science reportage and travel writing. Her longform pieces have explored the intersections of culture, politics, development and history. Having been a contributing writer for world-renowned publications such Al Jazeera, VICE, and a whole lot more; she has also made her film debut in Oscar-winning director Gerardine Wurzburg’s documentary Wretches and Jabberers. Smriti is also proudly a Falling Walls Science Journalism Fellow and a Gabriel García Márquez Cultural Journalism Fellow; gaining the titles from her many achievements in the industry over the years.

Vidusha Nathavitharana

Talent Manager - High Five Consultancy

At the age of 28, Vidusha founded High5 Consultancy and Training- a firm that now runs assignments in 7 countries regionally. Prior to that, he headed HR and HRD for the local arm of a Fortune 500 company, possibly rendering him as the youngest HR Manager to date for the organization, winning accolades locally and internationally for a series of corporate achievements. He was also a lecturer for the CIM program, a Talk Show Host (of ‘Nothing Personal’) and a founding Director of Chrysalis – a Social Enterprise. Hailing from the University of Lincoln and University of York St. John with both a bachelor’s and a Masters in Leading Innovation and Change, Vidusha prefers to be identified as a son, a husband and a father : the three ‘titles’ he works hardest to live up to, and derives greatest joy and satisfaction from.