The Lanka Education and Research Network (LEARN), formerly the Lanka Experimental Academic and Research Network, is a specialized internet service provider dedicated to supporting the needs of the research and education communities within

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. The history of the internet in Sri Lanka began with the initial proposal of the 'Lankan Experimental Academic and Research Network' (LEARN) to Sri Lankan government in 1989 by Prof.

Abhaya Induruwa Abhaya Induruwa ( si, අභය ඉඳුරුව) is the inaugural Professor V K Samaranayake Endowed Professor of Computing, University of Colombo School of Computing, Sri Lanka. Having served as the Director of Cyber Innovation Hub he rece ...

. In 1990 the LEARNmail was initiated and the first message was sent over LEARN was from the

University of Moratuwa (''Vidyaayev Sharvadhanam'') , motto_lang = Sanskrit , mottoeng = Wisdom is all Wealth , established = , type = Public , chancellor = K. K. Y. W. Perera , vice_chancellor = N. ...

to the

University of Colombo (Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate) , mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens'' , established = , endowment = Sri Lankan rupee, LKR 1.461 1,000,000,000 (number), billion

. In 1994, wireless links were used to create first

Internet Protocol The Internet Protocol (IP) is the network layer communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function enables internetworking, and essentially establishes the Internet. IP h ...

Wide area network A wide area network (WAN) is a telecommunications network that extends over a large geographic area. Wide area networks are often established with leased telecommunication circuits. Businesses, as well as schools and government entities, us ...

(IP/WAN) in Sri Lanka between University of Colombo, University of Moratuwa and

Open University of Sri Lanka "The Open University of Sri Lanka" (OUSL; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා විවෘත විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, இலங்கை திறந்த பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a national universit ...

. Based on a proposal submitted in 1992 to Sri Lankan government, LEARN connected to the internet in 1995 opening doors to the Internet era in Sri Lanka Today LEARN as the National Research and Education Network in Sri Lanka, connects all of the UGC funded Sri Lankan national universities, a number of public universities, higher education institutes under other ministries, the University Grants Commission, the

Ministry of Higher Education {{Unreferenced, date=March 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A Ministry of Higher Education is a government department that focuses on the provision or regulation of institutions of higher education. In some countries these exist as ministries compounde ...

, and six national research institutions. It is a private company, owned by fourteen national universities including the UGC since 2009. According to University Grants Commission, its international connectivity include a 7Gbps bandwidth to the commodity internet and a 2.5Gbps link to LEARN

point of presence A point of presence (PoP) is an artificial demarcation point or network interface point between communicating entities. A common example is an ISP point of presence, the local access point that allows users to connect to the Internet with their ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. It also connects the academic, world research internet through the TEIN4 network, SingAREN, NKN, LGN,

Internet2 Internet2 is a not-for-profit United States computer networking consortium led by members from the research and education communities, industry, and government. The Internet2 consortium administrative headquarters are located in Ann Arbor, Mi ...

and

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

. LEARN as the NREN forms the Sri Lankan component of the global advanced Research and Education Internet network.

Current members

The full list of current members is shown below.

Sites Connected to the LEARN Network

University Grants Commission (Sri Lanka) University Grants Commission is the body responsible for funding most of the State Universities in Sri Lanka, and operates within the frame work of the Universities Act No. 16 of 1978. A public organisation, established under the Parliament Act ...

Ministry of Higher Education and Highways The State Ministry of Higher Education ( si, උසස් අධ්‍යාපන රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය, translit=Usas Adh‍yāpana Rāj‍ya Amāt‍yāṅśaya; ta, உயர் கல்வி இராஜா� ...

Universities

University of Colombo (Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate) , mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens'' , established = , endowment = Sri Lankan rupee, LKR 1.461 1,000,000,000 (number), billion

* Eastern University *

University of Jaffna The University of Jaffna ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாணப் பல்கலைக்கழகம், translit=Yāḻppāṇap Palkalaikkaḻakam; si, යාපනය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ''Yāpanaya Viśvavidyālaya''; ...

University of Kelaniya Pannaya Parisujjhati , mottoeng = Self-purification is by insight , established = 1875 Vidyalankara Pirivena1959 Vidyalankara University , type = Public , endowment = , adminis ...

* The Open University of Sri Lanka *

University of Peradeniya The University of Peradeniya ( si, පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, பேராதனைப் பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a Public research university, public university in Sri Lanka ...

Rajarata University Rajarata University of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජරට විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, இலங்கை ரஜரட்ட பல்கலைக்கழகம், abbreviated RUSL) is a public univ ...

University of Ruhuna The University of Ruhuna ( si, රුහුණ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, රෝහණ සරසවිය (Ruhuṇa Viśvavidyālaya, Rohana sarasaviya),; ta, ருகுண பல்கலைக் கழகம்) is a publ ...

Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka The Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා සබරගමුව විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, சபரகமுவா பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a public university in Belih ...

South Eastern University of Sri Lanka The South Eastern University of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා අග්නිදිග විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, தென்கிழக்குப் பல்கலைக்கழகம், இலங்� ...

University of Sri Jayewardenepura ''Vijja Uppattam Setta'' , mottoeng = Among all that arise, knowledge is the greatest , established = , undergrad = 14,750 , postgrad = 3560 , administrative_staff = 3950 , cit ...

* Uva-Wellassa University *

University of the Visual and Performing Arts University of the Visual and Performing Arts (UVPA) ( si, සෞන්දර්ය හා කලා විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, கட்புல, அரங்கேற்றக் கலைகள் பல்கலைக ...

Wayamba University Wayamba University of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා වයඹ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, இலங்கை வயம்ப பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is the thirteenth national university in ...

Bhiksu University of Sri Lanka Bhiksu University of Sri Lanka was founded in 1996 and is located in Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city loc ...

Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka The Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka is a Buddhist university in Homagama, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1981 and is organized in two faculties. Objectives The objectives that were fundamental to the establishment of the university in ...

Sri Palee Campus The Sri Palee Campus of the University of Colombo is located in Wewala, Horana, Sri Lanka. Established in 1996 it conducts undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the fields of performing arts and mass media. History The Sri Palee Campus ...

Gampaha Wickramarachchi University of Indigenous Medicine The Gampaha Wickramarachchi University of Indigenous Medicine ( si, ගම්පහ වික්‍රමාරච්චි දේශීය වෛද්‍ය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, கம்பஹா விக்கி ...

University of Vavuniya The University of Vavuniya ( ta, வவுனியாப் பல்கலைக்கழகம், translit=Vavuṉiyā Palkalaikkaḻakam; si, වවුනියා විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, translit=Vavuṉiyā Viśvavidy� ...

Research Institutes

Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies (ACCIMT) ( si, italic=yes, නවීන තාක්ෂණය පිළිබඳ ආතර් සී. ක්ලාක් මධ්‍යස්ථානය ''Navina Takshanaya Pilibanda Athar Si. ...

* Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) *

National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS) The National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS) ( si, ජාතික මූලික අධ්‍යන ආයතනය) is a government multidisciplinary research institute in Sri Lanka, established in 1981. The NIFS is the only Institute ...

* National Aquatic Resources Agency (NARA) *

National Science Foundation (NSF) The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

* National Engineering Research and Development Center (NERDC)

Postgraduate Institutes

* Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture (PGIA) * Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM) * Postgraduate Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences (PGIHS) * Vocational Training Institutes * Sri Lanka – German Training Institute (SLGTI) * Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE) * Informatics Institute of Technology

Members, but not having LEARN VPLS direct Connection

* National Centre for Advanced Studies in Humanities & Social Sciences *

Sri Lanka Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

* National Institute of Social Development *

University of Vocational Technology The University of Vocational Technology (UoVT) si, වෘත්තීය තාක්ෂණ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, இலங்கை வாழ்க்கைதொழில் தொழிநுட்பவியல� ...

* University College of Kuliyapitiya * University College of Anuradhapura * University College of Ratmalana * University College of Jaffna * Institute of Surveying and Mapping *

General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) ( Sinhala: ජෙනරාල් ශ්‍රිමත් ජෝන් කොතලාවල ආරක්ෂක විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය ''General Sir John Kotelawala'' ''Ar ...

Ocean University of Sri Lanka Ocean University of Sri Lanka was established in 2014 by an act passed by the Parliament of Sri Lanka. It was earlier called the National Institute of Fisheries and Nautical Engineering. The objective of the university is to conduct academic and p ...

References

{{Reflist Internet in Sri Lanka National research and education networks