Nayomi Kankanamge

Dr Nayomi Kankanamge is a lecturer and researcher specialised in urban analytics, disaster management, and digital technologies in urban planning. Currently a Lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC), Moreton Bay campus, Nayomi previously held a lecturer position at the University of Moratuwa (2021-2024) and worked as a Sessional Academic at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) from 2018 to 2021.

Nayomi’s academic journey includes a PhD in Built Environment from QUT, where she received both the Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award in 2021 and the High Achiever Award in 2020, honoring her significant research contributions. Her PhD thesis, “Opportunities and Challenges of and Perceptions on Digital Technology-Driven Innovative Disaster Management Approaches”, examines themes such as crowdsourcing, gamification, sentiment analysis, and resilience to natural disasters.

In addition to her teaching roles, Nayomi has held various research positions, including serving as a research assistant at QUT, a lead research assistant for the Asian Development Bank, and an intern with UN Habitat. Her work has earned multiple accolades, including the Best Individually Supervised Undergraduate Research Project and the Superior Academic Performance Award from the Institute of Town Planners in Sri Lanka.

Her research emphasises the integration of digital technology in urban disaster management and sustainable city planning. She co-authored “Urban Analytics with Social Media Data: Foundations, Applications and Platforms”, published by CRC Press in 2022 with Professor Tan Yigitcanlar. She also contributed to the report “Smart Cities Down Under: Performance of Australian Local Government Areas”, which evaluates the smart city performance of local governments in Australia.

Through her research and teaching, Nayomi aims to drive sustainable urban development and resilient city planning practices globally. She invites HDR students interested in topics such as Smart Technologies in Communities, Cities, and Urban Big Data, as well as Smart Technologies for Sustainability and Resilient Cities, to join her research endeavors.