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I have worked in the fields of engineering, media and management consultancy for over 30 years, since my graduation from IIT Delhi in 1975.
Today, my focus lies in expanding the use of communication and computing for and by all people.
This builds from my original training in engineering and technology, gained at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, one of the finest institutions of its kind in Asia. I widened my outlook with a post-graduation at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta: again, one of Asia's premier institutions; in management studies. I followed this by working in and around industry in India for over twenty-five years, in various capacities.
After over fifteen years experience as an independent management and technology consultant, part of which time I also wrote extensively for journals, I spent five years as a deputy editor of Business India, India's largest and most widely read business magazine. My focus in the group was principally technology, while also writing about it in relation to business and management.
During the period I worked at the magazine, India was led by technology through significant changes, including the advent of the Internet for public access through the World Wide Web, and the arrival of computers as devices for ordinary people. This has created enormous impact in the field of law and public policy, which I witness till today at first hand.
I interacted personally with nearly every major figure in the world of IT, who chose this time to visit India, many for the first time, drawn by the potential of a nation of nearly a billion people, several tens of millions of whom are well-educated and technologically savvy, arguably the world's largest single concentration of such knowledge and skill.
Unfortunately, there is still a huge gap to be filled, before we can begin to feel that IT has made a serious and direct impact in the lives of most of India's population. This will involve more than just changes in technology, many of which are already happening.
Ensuring, also, that suitable and appropriate technologies are applied to spur economic growth and social development as rapidly as possible across India's far-flung reaches. Many things that happen in India may safely be said to apply to other emerging nations too, hence I don't think this is an isolationist viewpoint.
My effort is to ensure that technology be applied to leverage emerging growth in economic and social terms across as many social, economic and geographic boundaries as can be managed.
To this end, I have spent this past decade involved with several initiatives in data communication, software development, policy definition and education, particularly concerning persons with disabilities and the economically disaffected.
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Date
of birth
20th September 1951
Education
1977 Post Graduate Diploma
in Business Management, Indian Institute
of Management, Calcutta
1975 Graduate Degree in
Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology,
Delhi
1969 Indian School Certificate
of Education, St. Xavier's School, Delhi
Languages
English, Hindi
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1981 Corporate
Planning Administrative Staff College, Hyderabad
1997 Windows NT Administration
NIIT, Mumbai
1997 Lotus
Notes Administration Nexus Training, Mumbai
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1999 Presented a paper at the international workshop held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on "The Internet in South Asia — Opportunities and Realities" on the state of Indian telecom. I subsequently wrote an omnibus paper for the thinktank Economic and Political Weekly, presenting a holistic view of telecom regulation and its results in the Indian subcontinent, covering Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, which was published in its special edition on the Internet in November, 1999.
2001 Addressed an international conference on the disabled at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in India.
2001 Presented a paper on Technology and AAC at Silent Voices, an international conference on AAC, disabilities and human rights, held in Kolkata, in India. I also used this opportunity to run workshops at the Indian Institute for Cerebral Palsy, Kolkata and subsequently at Shishu Sarothi in Guwahati, on appreciating the role technology has to offer persons with disabilities.
2002 Co-wrote a paper, with Dr Arun Mehta, for the United Nations planning meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on the use of low cost FM technologies for community-centric engagement and upliftment. This was the precursor to the UN sponsored World Summit on Informations Systems in Tunisia the following year, which set the Millennium Development Goals.
2003 Assisted the programme organisers at the first Asian Social Forum in Hyderabad, India, to deploy simultaneous translation and public address systems using FM wireless technology, developed by Radiophony. Aside from demonstrating a pathbreaking innovation in communication techniques, it also showed a global audience that public address systems addressing large audiences works effectively at energy consumption levels of a few watts.
2005 Worked with other volunteers from across the globe at the World Social Forum, Mumbai, to deliver news and features from the Forum, online and on local FM, as Indymedia India.
2006 Conducted workshops in three cities, Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, Pakistan, for the Beaconhouse School System global conference, introducing parents and educators to the use of wireless communication technologies for open communications.
2006 Conducted workshops in two Universities in Karachi, Pakistan, the Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, and the SZAB Institute of Science and Technology, on the use of ICTs for development, with particular focus on the independent creation of solutions in the area of disabilities.
2006 Conducted a workshop at the Federal Urdu University in Karachi on New Media, looking at the redefining of journalism and ethics in the context of new forms of information dissemination, collectively called the New Media.
2007 Conducted workshops in New Media and Opportunities in ICT4D for the e-World Wide Group, Islamabad, in 3 cities, Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore, addressing students nominated from local Universities.
2007 Assisted Dr Arun Mehta in conducting a workshop at the Autism Society of India, Bangalore, for parents and caregivers, on the relevance and use of ICTs to develop personalised communication solutions for persons affected with Autism Spectrum issues.
2007 Assisted members of the community wireless movement - WSFII - to conduct workshops on WiFi mesh technology planning and deployment at the AirJaldi Summit held in Dharamsala, India.
2007 Conducted a workshop for P@SHA, the Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT & ITES, a national industry body, on wireless mesh technologies for community networking, in Lahore, Pakistan.
2008 Conducted a workshop for The New School, part of the Beaconhouse School System, Pakistan, on appreciating the role of ICTs in education.
2008 Conducted a workshop at the National University for Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, on the role of ICT for disabilities.
2008 Conducted a workshop at the Institute for Behavioural Psychology, for teachers and caregivers of persons with learning difficulties, on the role of ICTs in addressing Autism Spectrum learning difficulties and challenges.
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| Corporate
2000
Chief Executive Net Radiophony India Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai
2000
Director inteliNET software pvt. ltd., Mumbai
1999 — 2000
Vice President, Content and Community netpilgrim.com India Pvt Ltd, Mumbai.
1995 — 1999
Vice President, Corporate Planning, The Business India Group, Mumbai.
1991 —1994
Managing Editor, Technocrat Magazine, Sterling Newspapers Ltd, Mumbai.
1982
Marketing Manager, Quarmatic Time Industries, Mumbai.
1981
Export Executive, Blue Star Ltd, Mumbai
1981
Materials Executive, International Power Semiconductors Ltd, Mumbai (on deputation from Grindwell).
1979 — 1981
Export Executive, Grindwell Norton Ltd, Mumbai.
Consulting
1983 — 2001
Founder consultant, Plata Engineering, Mumbai.
We undertake project feasibility studies and explore implementation solutions within a wide framework, from funding to infrastructure.
2000
ejourno.com pvt. ltd. (client)
Helped company develop its business plan and site (marketing and service front end).
1986
Mazda Industries Ltd (client)
Developed the feasibility studies for the company's original industrial venture in modular hydraulic systems, which enabled it to essay a successful public issue. |
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2001
Project Manager — The Hawking Communicator
This is an Open Source initiative to develop a speech synthesizer for physicist Professor Stephen Hawking, and extend this to a general application to be used by any persons for whom standard computer and communication interfaces are insufficient.
1997 — 1998
Magazine Publishing System
Designed and developed an enterprise-wide desktop based editorial and publishing system for the Business India Group, at a cost less than one-fourth of traditional dedicated systems.
1989
Modular Furniture
Designed and marketed a modular steel furniture system for offices. A modification in aluminium was also tested for Steelage Industries.
1987
TechNova (client)
Developed a packaging model for the company's high-technology offset printing plates, which were under pressure from imports.
1984
Indian Organic Chemicals Ltd (client)
Developed and implemented a model for home delivery of packaged groceries (branded Supic) which sold well for about six months. Ultimately the project was deemed to demand too high a payback period for support, although the capital cost was comparatively low. This was a precursor of the company's diversification into packaged pre-cooked potato chips, planned as a prime vendor to Pepsi Foods in India and abroad.
1985
Corn Products India Ltd (client)
Designed, developed and supplied a consumer display pack for fruit juice concentrate.
1983 — 1985
Colgate-Palmolive India Ltd (client)
Designed, developed and supplied a consumer display pack for the company that resulted in significant improvement of the brand and its presence in the field. Originally intended to be a promotion, it proved so popular that the company used it as a sales incentive for four years. |
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Networking
I have been an enthusiastic user of the Internet since early 1995. I have experienced for myself, and continue to promote, the use of lists, wikis, blogs and online collaborative tools to help people pool their talents and stay in touch, enhancing each other's productivity.
Public Fora
I was co-opted to head the Bombay Management Association's Communications Committee for two years, 1994 and 1995. Within the Business India Group, I continued to promote the activities of the Indian Management Association (the parent body) through its publication, the Indian Management Journal. I have been invited to chair and address various fora in management and technology over the years. |
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| Books
Performance, by Dr BK Modi, published by Tata-McGraw Hill, 1995.
I was Dr Modi's chief editorial consultant to prepare this overview of the growth and development of modern management methods within the traditional Indian framework
Windows 98, published by Tata-McGraw Hill, 2000.
The book was commissioned by Tata-McGraw Hill to provide Indian computer users with an introduction to the productive use of the desktop platform.
Articles
I have published dozens of articles on management and technology in newspapers magazines and the Internet since 1990. Some of the recent significant pieces include:
- Cover story in Business India on information technology in 1996, the first time this area was covered in depth in a major Indian business magazine.
- Cover story in Business India on Microsoft's promoter and chief Bill Gates in 1998, the first time the magazine ever featured a foreigner on its cover.
Blogs
I have contributed to public blogs over the years, and since 2007, write on business, technology and consumer issues at my blogs, We Blog and Communications-4-all.
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