 Prof Samaranayake played a major role in the development of IT and IT related education in Sri Lanka.He was at the time of his death the chairman of the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka and was the founding and former director of the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC).Samaranayake was born to Mr. and Mrs. V. W. Samaranayake on 22 May 1939.