About Lanka Software Foundation
Lanka Software Foundation (LSF) was established in 2003 as a company limited by guarantee and as "not for profit" organization with the vision of positioning Sri Lanka as a “global Free and Open Source (FOSS) Research & Development hub”.
In keeping with our vision, we formulated the strategy of collaborating with leading Universities in Sri Lanka and internationally as well. Different sources contributed in the way of infrastructure and human resources as was appropriate in the furtherance of our vision, participating in global open-source projects with LSF as the driving force. We now operate research and development laboratories manned by software engineers, in two of our main universities - the University of Colombo and the University of Moratuwa, in Sri Lanka. We also have partnerships with private academia. Our projects, have been funded by global organizations such as SIDA, Google, IBM, Globus, and locally – ICT Agency.
Over the years, LSF has provided fellowships and internships to over 100 software developers and of that, around 25 are now following PhD programmes internationally.
We have successfully incubated global open source projects such as; Apache Axis 2 C++, Apache Axis2 Java; a Disaster Management System by the name of Sahana and we also contributed to Apache Geronimo. From the projects that we incubated, two commercial companies have been formed - WSO2 (www.wso2.com) and Respere (www.respere.com).
Our mission and objectives : -
- To support open source software developers and projects with infrastructure, funding, motivation, research, development, consultancy, training and other enabling facilities.
- To initiate, establish and implement open software projects.
- To undertake to provide open-source software services.
- To create an identity to the open-source software developer community and provide for worldwide interaction, co-operation and co-ordination of open source software developers.
- To liaise with external agencies and act as a medium to obtain and receive resources, facilities and funds for the development and enhancement of knowledge, education and research with respect to open source software and related fields.
- To organize and promote seminars, workshops, conferences and exhibitions for the purpose of training and dissemination of knowledge.
- To provide bursaries, scholarships, grants, financial assistance and other facilities to students, teachers and lecturers for academic and research studies with respect to open-source software and related fields.
With every project that we implement, LSF strives to create SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, EDUCATIONAL and INNOVATION value for the country.