AI for a Better World !

Global landmark event on Ethics and Governance of AI.

Press note 20 February 2019

Prime Minister of India  Shri Narendra Modi – Industry needs to be prepared for the important role played by Technological disruptions like AI, IoT and Robotics for the Nation.

 Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the buzzword ushering in the 4th Industrial Revolution.  AI is a wide-ranging tool that enables people to rethink how we integrate information, analyse data, and use the resulting insights to improve decision making—and is already transforming every walk of life.  Artificial Intelligence is also raising important questions for society, industry, commerce and economy, moral ethics and governance.

“Artificial intelligence technologies could increase global GDP by $15.7 trillion, a full 14%, by 2030.”  PWC

Rapid advancements in the fields of Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), super smart machines, cognitive informatics, cognitive robotics, soft computing, and related areas have aroused interest as well as concerns about the emerging interactive man-machine heterogeneous environment, where autonomous super intelligent machines/robot working solo or teaming with, can match and even surpass humans in speed and precision. No longer is this a matter of science fiction when Isaac Asimov in 1942 wrote three rules on robotics to protect humans in his short story ‘Runaround’.

“A.I. might prove to be either the best, or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity" Stephen Hawking

As computational resources, algorithms, design and engineering grow in complexity and range, it is important to anticipate, investigate, and to the extent possible, design and evaluate, how AI can be best deployed for good, aligned, and in harmony with human intelligence and ethical norms in the face of complex and demanding situations. However, alongside the growing interest in exploiting the potential for AI, there are also concerns, among others, about its possible unethical use, for example, in collecting data or its usage in decision making which is contrary to the human values and rights.

India’s NITI Aayog in the Discussion Paper on AI National Strategy highlights Ethics, Privacy and Security related concerns associated with AI implementations in various areas. It also mentions about remediation and regulatory measures to make AI: applications safe, secure and contributing towards better life of mankind.

UNESCO COMEST recommends a technology-based ethical framework for the two categories of AI systems viz. deterministic and cognitive. Deterministic, where results/actions are controlled by a set of algorithms whose actions can be predicted; and Cognitive computing where it can learn from experience, not only from human teachers, but also of its own, thereby developing an ability to deal with its environment on the basis of what has been learned. Compared to ‘traditional’ or deterministic robots, cognitive robots can make decisions in complex situations, decisions that cannot be predicted by a programmer.

The IEEE Global Initiative has evolved certain ethical guidelines for AI and autonomous systems. Its experts suggest that these models be programmed with consideration for widely accepted human norms and rules for behavior. AI algorithms need to take into account the importance of these norms, how norm conflict can be resolved, and ways these systems can be transparent about norm resolution. Software designs should be programmed for “nondeception” and “honesty,” according to ethics experts. When failures occur, there must be mitigation mechanisms to deal with the consequences. In particular, AI must be sensitive to problems such as bias, discrimination, and fairness.

To discuss the emerging issues and challenges in applications of AI systems, specially related to ethics and governance of such systems, a landmark global event is being organised by a group of concerned think tanks and non profit organisations in India. These include: CMS (www.cmsindia.org) - a research based think tank on development and governance;  Infocom Think Tank (infocomthinktank.com)  - deliberating  on technological, social and related issues aimed at national / global benefits; ITU-APT Foundation of India a registered not-for-profit Scientific Society and member of ITU-T and ITU-D.

The Colloquium

The International Colloquium on Ethics and Governance of Autonomous AI Systems will be held in the historic city of Delhi, capital of India, from 18 – 19 February 2019 at India International Centre located in the serene surroundings of the famous Lodhi Gardens in its newly constructed Kamaladevi Complex, Seminar Hall on 40 Max Mueller Road, New Delhi. We look forward to extending a very special Indian welcome and invite you to join us for a truly memorable event where all aspects of the AI technology and its societal impact shall be deliberated upon. The broad-reaching program holds great interest for industry, government, regulators, public/private sector executives, as well as researchers and academics interested in the latest developments, new standards, technical innovations, and first-hand experiences with commercial offerings.

In this Colloquium it is proposed to discuss AI's application across a variety of sectors, address issues in its development, and offer recommendations for getting the most out of AI while still protecting important human values. It will highlight the issues of need for transparency, accountability, awareness of misuse, well-being of environment in which the autonomous AI is operating and also ensuring that human rights are always protected.

Activity in AI is progressing rapidly in every sector. In order to ensure that the tempo of these activities embracing multi-disciplinary cyber-physical domain stays within appropriate limits, professionals of the various areas must get together in ‘brainstorming’ sessions towards ensuring an ethical base for AI. The deliberations are proposed to be covered under the following interactive thematic Panel Discussions:

  • > Technology Overview, Current Trends and Forecast
  • > Sectoral Applications, Case Studies
  • > Primary Concerns, Key Policy Issues
  • > Societal Need for alignment with Human Ethics and Values
  • > Principles, Guidelines, Technical Standards and Evaluation and Governance and Legislation

Eminent speakers who are working on these issues in academics and industry will provide their perspectives on the above issues.

All interested in AI related developments, challenges and opportunities, are invited to participate in this two-day colloquium. To register, log on to : www.cmsindia.org/aiforbetterworld

For more information or details contact – aiforbetterworld@cmsindia.org

The recommendations of the Colloquium in respect of the following factors shall lead to a Research project to develop an ethical governance mechanism for Autonomous/ AI Systems to be taken up as a multi-institutional initiative. The outcome of this international colloquium would be to identify policy and governance mechanisms that may be put in place that encourage – not inhibit -  technological development of AI for betterment of the society and environment and at the same time are adequate to safeguard human life and values. The colloquium will also aim at preparing an ethical framework for the various Stakeholders to take forward (Academia, Research bodies, Corporate, etc.).

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Speakers

Eminent speakers include :

Prof. K Vijay Raghavan

Principal Scientific Adviser to GoI

Prof. K. Vijay Raghavan is Principal Scientific Adviser to GoI. He is a renowned Biologist and a member of the Management Board of the ICTS-TIFR. The Principal Scientific Advisor is a key advisor to the Government for scientific policy, strategy, and innovation. Prof K. VijayRaghavan has made significant contributions to the field of Developmental Biology. He is a Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy, The World Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society of London and a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences. He is a recipient of the Bhatnagar Prize and the Infosys Prize in Life Sciences. He was conferred the Padma Shri in 2013 by the President of India.

He is a Distinguished Professor of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and former Director of the National Centre for Biological Sciences of TIFR. He served as the Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology between January 2013 and February 2018.

Dr. R. S. Sharma

Chairman, TRAI

Dr. R S Sharma is currently the Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). He has held this position since August 2015.
TRAI is the regulatory body for Telecom and Broadcasting sector in India. In his present job, he has led major reforms in the sector including the work in the area of Net Neutrality, data ownership, privacy and security.
Dr. Sharma, as a member of Indian Administrative Service has been working in the area of public administration since last forty years.
His earlier assignments include DG and Mission Director of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as a founding CEO for India’s ID project - Aadhaar - for four years (2009- 2013).
His other major assignments include working as Chief Secretary of Jharkhand (India), Principal Secretary of the Departments of Human Resources Development (HRD), Information Technology (IT) and Drinking water and Sanitation. He was also the Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs at Government of India looking after issues such as infrastructure financing and multilateral and bilateral economic cooperation.
He has been deeply involved in the areas of e-Governance since long. He is credited with introducing IT systems in the area of public service delivery such as Government Treasuries, Public Grievances, office automation, Land Reforms, Urban Governance, Tax reforms, Transport Systems and many more...
He holds a PhD from IIT Delhi (2018), Masters in Computer Science from UC Riverside (2002) and a Masters in Mathematics from IIT Kanpur (1976).

Dr. K.R. Murali Mohan

Scientist G, Dept. of Science & Technology, India

Dr. Murali Mohan is serving the Department of Science and Technology (DST) from 1998 onwards and presently, Dr Mohan is Adviser/Scientist-G and Heading the Big Data initiatives Division. Prior to the current position, He was associated with Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) & National Spatial Data Infrastructure ( NSDI) Divisions of DST. He has developed a number of new R&D network based cluster initiatives. His multidisciplinary academic background coupled with multi-institutional scientific exposure spanning over 20 years provides.
His multidisciplinary academic background coupled with multi-institutional scientific exposure spanning over 20 years provides him an edge in identifying and in conceptualizing niche scientific areas of research. The programs he developed/ under development, synergizes the core concepts of Big Data, Geo-Sciences, Information & Communication Technologies (GeoICT) and brings in the fundamental and applied aspect of this emerging spectrum of Science. Identification of a burning national issues and scientific challenges which requires SxT interventions, development of scientific framework, institutional network/ arrangements, expertise driven holistic experimentation and core capacity building/ Critical mass creation, is the generic model followed in all his endeavors

Shri Gopalakrishnan S

Joint Secretary, MEITY

Shri S. Gopalakrishnan is presently working as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), Government of India, New Delhi. He is a 1991 Batch Officer from the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) from Tamil Nadu Cadre. He has worked at state and central government in areas such as transport, HR, commerce, census, food, IT, etc. At MeitY, his responsibilities include data protection framework, digital payments, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, startups and innovation.

Dr. Gulshan Rai

National Cyber Security Coordinator, Prime Minister’s Office, Government of India

Dr. Gulshan Rai holds a doctoral degree and M.Tech and has over 30 years of experience in different areas of Information Technology which include different aspects of e-Governance, cyber security, cyber laws and several related fields. At present, he is Chief Information Security Officer, Prime Minister’s Office. Prior to that he was National Cyber Security Coordinator, Government of India in the Office of Prime Minister. Earlier he was Director General, CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) and Group Coordinator of E-Security and Cyber Law Division in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
He has led the team to set up National Watch and Alert System in the country as part of cyber security initiative and Computer Emergency Team. Several international cooperation agreements have been entered under his leadership. He led a team from time to time to draft and bring out National Policies in the area of cyber security and cyber laws. Dr. Rai has been working since 1998 in the area of evolving legal framework to address issues arising out of cyberspace, which resulted in second Technology Legislation in the country i.e. Information Technology Act and recent amendments in the Act. He was Executive Director, ERNET India for over 7 years and was instrumental in setting up of the first large scale education and research network in close collaboration with the leading educational and research institutions in the country. During his tenure, the project of National Knowledge Network was evolved and designed. He has been leading team, designing and implementing IT solutions in the areas of Finance, Taxes and Law & Order. He has several publications in the area of Security. He has represented country in various official forums and bilateral discussions and negotiations in the area of Security and Internet related matters.

Dr. N. Bhaskara Rao

Chairman, Centre of Media Studies

A pioneer of social research in India and an eminent mass communication expert with 50 years of distinguished background, Dr. N. Bhaskara Rao is founder Chairman of well known independent Centre for Media Studies (CMS) (www.cmsindia.org), founder chairman of prestigious market research and forecasting outfit, Marketing & Development Research Associates (MDRA) (www.mdraonline.com), and also founder of Basic Research in Education and Development (BREAD) (www. www.breadsocietyindia.org).
Dr. Bhaskara Rao is known to different people differently: Dr. Rao is an independent analyst, strategic advisor on public policies, public opinion, reforms process, media trends within and across. He is known as a pioneer in social research and impact studies. To some around the country he is Social Audit expert having been the Convenor of India’s first Social Audit Panel (for the Ministry of Communication) and later the Ministry of Environment & Forests.
Dr. Rao is credited for giving fillip to Applied Social Science Research in India with his innumerable research studies of significance on a variety of subjects spanning well over four decades, starting with ORG, India’s first independent research outfit to which he was the President until 1989. He is credited for large-scale sample surveys in India. Dr. Rao had high academic credentials having three post-graduate degrees and a Ph.D from University of Iowa (1970), USA.
Dr. Rao made a mark on futures studies in India starting in 1975 with “India 2001” series sponsored by Resources for Futures of US, his work on India 2021 (1988) has provided the perspective for the second millennium studies. He initiated and lead Vision 2020 for Andhra Pradesh Government. His 1995 publication “Marketing Communication: Perspectives into Media Scene 2020” provided basis for convergence view of communication.
His several books/monographs/writings over the decades had profound impact on policies, programmes and perspectives of more than a couple of sectors. His recent books in 2018 include “Sustaining Good Governance” (Sage), “TRP Trick How Indian Television was Hijacked” (Vitasta), “Citizen Activisim in India” (Amazon Kindle)

Shri N. K. Mathur

Chairman, Infocom Think Tank, Former Adviser Operations Telecom Commission and Special Secretary GoI

Retired as Special Secretary & Adviser Telecom Commission of India. After a brilliant educational career, B Sc. and B Sc. Engineering, Banaras Hindu University; he has held several key positions in Government. With over 50 years of experience, he has pioneered transparency in several spheres of public functioning. He has had the acumen to coalesce governments policies and activities with societal benefits. He considers his good fortune to have been responsible for more than a dozen ‘first points’ for India’s progression in the ICT field including events like the first STD service, the first electronic telephone exchange and flawless arrangements showcasing India at international events. He has led Indian delegations in International platforms.
He is confident that AI is not going to be higher than Human Intelligence which shall always remain in command so as not harm humanity but work towards bestowing benefits to our universe and other universes - existence of which has been predicted by scientists. Even as a Senior Citizen, he wishes to keep learning and is presently Chairman Infocom Think Tank – a scientific body of professionals which works for National benefit. This Think Tank has brought to notice of Government and other relevant authorities significant issues like reaching telecom services to the entire rural geography of India, hazardous radiations, data residency, satellite communication for remote areas, data privacy, innovation in ICT field, digitalisation of TV and Radio transmission, amongst others.
He has won several recognitions and honours including by IETE and the Delhi Government for his efforts for Water Conservation. With special interest in social issues to benefit the coming generations he works relentlessly with the objective which he learnt in the Banaras Engineering College – “Work Is Worship” written at the entrance of every classroom of the College. Above everything, he envisions India as a World Power.

Dr. Shailendra K. Hajela

Former Head of ITU Regional Office for Asia-Pacific

Dr. Shailendra Kumar Hajela (born 1935), B.Sc., B.E. (IIT-R, India) and Dr. Ing. (TU-Ilmenau, Germany), after a brief stint as Lecturer at the University of Roorkee, served the Indian Telecommunication Administration, including the ITI Ltd. and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU, a specialized UN Agency) in Nepal and Thailand, spanning a total of almost 40 years (1959-1998) , the period marked by profound changes in Telecommunication technology from electro-mechanical to analog/digital circuitswitching to Packet-switching, Convergence of computer and communication, Internet, and equally important sector reform allowing private sector participation, which has led to exponential growth of mobile communication.
He is the recipient of Roll of Honours of Victoria College Gwalior, Gold Medal for Best Engineering Project Design and the Thomason Prize for being the most distinguished student at University of Roorkee (1957). In 1988, the IETE awarded him the SN Bose Prize for significant contribution to Power Electronics technology. IIT Roorkee conferred the status of Distinguished Alumnus in 2008 for outstanding achievements and contributions, and the Institution of Engineers India presented the scroll of Honour as Eminent Engineer in 2018.
He has been a Director on the Boards of Uptron Powertronics Ltd, Keltron Crystals Ltd., Punjab Communications Ltd., and Central Electronics Ltd. He is currently an independent non-executive Director of APLAB Ltd. and Chairman of Telecel Communications Pvt. Ltd., an ICT consultancy organization. He is a Life Fellow of IE (India), Life Fellow of IETE (India), Sr.Life Member of IEEE Inc. (USA), and founder member and Chairman Emeritus of ITU-APT Foundation of India - Sector member of ITU-D and ITU-T. He has been Consultant to UNDP, UNESCAP, ITU, APT, WB, ADB, TRAI, Government of India and Private sector industry. He has authored over 60 technical papers. His current area of interest is Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence.

Ambassador A. R. Ghanashyam

IFS (Retd.), Former, Ambassdor GOI

Qualified with a Post Graduate degree in Physics and another in Business Management A.R. (Ajjampur Rangaiah) Ghanashyam spent two and a half years in the Indian Petroleum Industry and a similar duration in the Indian Shipping industry prior to joining the IFS (Indian Foreign Service) in 1982. During his time in industry, important assignments undertaken by Ghanashyam include (i) merger of two Oil majors - Hindustan Petroleum (Former Standard Oil) and CALTEX Oil, (ii) Planning, production, bottling and distribution systems for LPG for industrial and residential consumers, (iii) designing optimal crude affreightment Program for safe and efficient transportation of West Asian crude oil to India’s coastal refineries.
In his tenure in the Diplomatic Corps of three and a half decades, Ghanashyam has worked in Syria, Nepal, Belgium & Luxembourg, European Union, Pakistan and United States (New York). He was India’s Envoy to eight countries headquartered in Luanda (Angola) and Abuja (Nigeria). Ghanashyam has also been involved in negotiating a large number of bilateral, regional and international Agreements on investment, trade, environment, cultural and consular matters, borders and boundaries, sharing of water and electricity and more. He revamped the Indian Passport & Visa system and streamlined the Hajj management system introducing innovations and bringing in much needed transparency and efficiency.
During the course of his career, Ghanashyam has addressed many national, foreign and international audiences on several subjects. Few recently addressed audiences in India include Defence Training Institutions, Management Institutes, National and Regional Chambers of Commerce & Industries, Universities and NGOs. Audiences addressed abroad include US Universities - Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Boston, MIT, Tufts, Asia Society (New York), Council on Foreign Relations (New York) apart from Non-Governmental Think Tanks and Apex Business Bodies in Nepal, Pakistan, USA, Belgium, Angola and Nigeria.
After his diplomatic tour of duty, Ghanashyam works in and advises on the Health, Education and Technology sectors and writes and speaks on international affairs.

Shri Arun Kumar M

EDR - R&D , ITI Ltd.

Sri. M. Arun Kumar did his graduation in Engineering in Electronics & Communication from Mysore University in 1975. He has done Management Development course in Indian Institute of Management Bangalore in 1997.
After graduation he worked as Internee in Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangalore and later joined ITI Limited, Bangalore as Assistant Executive Engineer. He spent his entire career of almost 34 Years in ITI working in R&D.
He is Professional with over 30 years’ experience as Designer, Project Leader, Team Leader and head of Core R&D team in ITI Limited. He was instrumental in developing the first Indigenous Crypto system for Indian Army. Since then has worked extensively in design & development of different Crypto systems vital for securing the communication networks of Indian Defence forces.
He has wide experience in design of Networks involving wide range of Communication Systems from different OEMs. He successfully designed, commissioned Static Communication network for the Indian Defence force which is currently operational.
He has presented several Technical papers in various National Technical seminars.
Later, he worked as Director and Officer on Special Duty with Govt, of India in National Technical Research Organisation, New Delhi for five years. He also Conducted conferences with National and International Experts in area of Cryptology and was General chair of International Conference SPACE 2016.
Currently he is working as Executive Director R&D. He has served as member of various prestigious committees of Govt. of India.

Shri Ashutosh Chadha

Group Director Government Affairs and Public Policy, Microsoft India Pvt Ltd.

Ashutosh is currently responsible for the Government Affairs , Policy and Regulatory affairs at Microsoft India. In his role, he works closely with key audiences in the Government, Academia, Industry as well as Multilaterals.
In his career spanning 30 years, Ashutosh has worked at Wipro Ltd, Intel India, Shell India Pvt Ltd, NIIT and the National Dairy Development Board. He has had extensive experience in New Business Development, Channel Management, Strategic Planning, Government Relations and Policy Advocacy as well as Sales and Marketing.
Ashutosh is a regular speaker at National and International fora on topics ranging from Corporate Affairs, Public Policy, Trade, Education, CSR, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He has spoken at events hosted by WB, WTO, UNICEF, UNESCO as well as National and International Academic Institutions.
Ashutosh is passionate about advocating the use of technology for socio economic development and improving lives through education, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Involved in mentoring start ups, coaching students and executives – Ashutosh is also a certified Level 2 NS-NLP Executive and Corporate Coach.

Dr. C Rao Kasarbada

Former C&MD, ECIL

Dr Kasarabada obtained his B Sc From Andhra University in 1962, BE Electrical Engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 1965 and PhD from University of Minnesota (USA) in Digital Signal Processing in 1974. He taught at the University of Vermont, Burlington Vermont USA during 1974-75..Subsequently returning to India he worked in ITI Naini rising to be the head of R&D, then heading ITI Mankapur during the initial stages of setting up the 500KL switching Unit with the collaboration of Alcatel. Subsequently he was the head of Electronics Research Center (ER&DC) at Trivandrum as its Director (1988-932). He was the Chairman & Managing Director of ECIL Hyderabad during 1992-98. During 1999-2014 he was the Group Chairman of United Telecoms Ltd, having been associated with many path breaking initiatives in e-Governance as well as development of indigenous DWDM successfully competing with Chinese companies.
Dr Kasarabada is a Senior member IEEE ( USA), Fellow of IETE, and Former Council member of IETE, Editor of IETE Book Series on Power Electronics along with Prof Dube of IIT Kanpur, Dr Kasarabada has a number of publications Dr Kasarabada is also member of several prestigious committees appointed by Govt of India, most notably the technical committee appointed to review Electronics Voting Machine, ( 1996) CDOT review Committees in 85-88., National Hardware Task Force 1998. He was also member of the many technology working Groups of the Dept of Information Technology of Govt India .
Dr Kasarabada’s areas of interests includes Telecom solutions, Strategic Electronics, e- Governance, IT infrastructure and solutions including AI.

Prof. C Patvardhan

Professor in Electrical Engineering and Dean (South), Dayalbagh Educational Institute

C. Patvardhan obtained his B.Sc.(Engg.) degree from Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra in 1987, M. Tech. (Computer Science) from I.I.Sc., Bangalore in 1989 and Ph.D. (Graph Algorithms) from Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra in 1994. He is working in the Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra since 1989 where he is currently Professor in Electrical Engineering and Dean (South).
He has published nearly 300 papers Journals and Proceedings of Conferences. He has also published one book and has been an Editor of three proceedings. He has been awarded more than 20 best paper awards and other recognition for his research work. He has supervised 11 PhDs and about 30 Master’s Theses. He has been a PI /co-PI of 15 funded R&D projects including two Indo-German Projects.
He has been on Project Review Committees of R&D projects of Ministry of Communications and IT, Member of Screening Committee of DST and nominated by AICTE as Expert for Skill Courses related to Computer Science.
He has been a Training Consultant for Cadence Design Systems, NOIDA and Atrenta Communications, NOIDA for Advanced Algorithms. He has also completed a Consultancy Project for Cadence Design Systems on Test case Optimization for Large Software.
He has an ongoing collaboration with Christian Albrechts Univeristat zu Kiel, Kiel where he has been visiting almost every year from year 2008. He was invited to participate in an Indo-German workshop on Algorithms during June, 2010 in Bonn, Germany and was a Guest of Honor at KIT, Germany in the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Indo-German Society also in 2010. He has been invited participant in two meetings of Algorithm Engineering Cluster in Germany.
His main areas of interest are Quantum and Soft Computing, Machine Intelligence and Image Processing.

Prof. Dharmendra Singh

Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Roorkee

Dharmendra Singh was born in Varanasi, U. P., India and he basically belongs to Jaunpur, U.P., India. He received his Ph. D degree in Electronics Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University) Varanasi, Varanasi, U.P., India. He is Senior Member of IEEE. He has more than 24 years of experience of teaching and research. He received various fellowships and awards by the national and international bodies mainly Monbusho Fellowship, Japan, UCAR Fellowship, USA, MERIT Fellowship, European Union, DAAD Fellowship, Germany, TWAS Fellowship, China, IFCAM Fellowship, France, TWAS Fellowship, Brazil and many others. He worked as Visiting Scientist/Post doc Fellow at Information Engineering Department, Niigata University, Japan, German Aerospace Center, Germany, Institute for National Research In Informatics and Automatique, France, Institute of Remote Sensing Application, Beijing, China, Karlsruhe University, Germany, UPC, Barcelona, Spain and visited several other laboratories in other countries. He has visited more than 20 countries for academic purpose and having strong collaborations with many of them. He received best innovation award in India Mobile Congress-2017 for development of Satellite Based Agriculture Information System. He has received the best Industrial Research award- 2017 by Institution of Engineers, Roorkee Chapter. He has received Dr. Ajit Singhvi Institute Chair Professors in June 2018.
Currently he is working as Professor in Electronics and Communication Engineering Department, and Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India. He is also the Coordinator of RailTel-IIT Roorkee Center of Excellence in Telecom.
He has also started a startup DIRGHADHI TECHNOLOGY PVT LTD.
He has guided 24 Ph.D students and 12 are pursuing their Ph.D and guided more than 60 M. Tech students. He has published more than 300 research papers in reputed international/national journals and conferences. He has developed a Ground Penetrating Radar and several other products. His main research interests involve ICT application, Computer Vision, Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Data Fusion, Satellite data application, electromagnetic wave interaction with various media, polarimetric and interferometric application of microwave data, microwave imaging like through wall imaging, ground penetrating radar and numerical modeling, radar absorbing materials, stealth application.

Shri D. S. Govindarajan

Director & President, Aniara Communications and Aniara SpaceCom

Govindarajan has over 25 years’ experience in Strategic Selling and Business Development in Satellite and leading edge Technology companies. He has held several senior technical and leadership roles with Hewllett-Packard where he was responsible for shaping and implementing growth strategies in the company. He also held the position of Executive Director at Loral Skynet responsible for business development in South Asia, Central Asia, and East Africa.
He is currently Director & President at Aniara Communications and Aniara SpaceCom. He is also on advisory board of a few technology start-up companies.

Prof. Lalit Mohan Patnaik

Adjunct Professor and INSA Senior Scientist, National Institute of Advanced Studies

Prof.L M Patnaik is currently an Adjunct Professor and INSA Senior Scientist with the National Institute of Advanced Studies. Prior to this, he was the Vice Chancellor of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune where he was solely responsible for initiating defence technology oriented academic and training programs; strong research programs and international collaboration in cybersecurity and nanotechnology applied to defence applications. His research areas are High Performance Computing, Soft Computing, Mobile Computing, Big Data, IoT, Computer Aided Design, Machine Intelligence and Consciousness, and Information Security. In these areas he has published over 1180 papers in refereed International Journals, and Conference Proceedings. He is a Fellow of the IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), USA;TWAS(The World Academy of Sciences), Italy; and all the four leading Science and Engineering Academies of India. One of his papers on Adaptive Genetic Algorithms has been cited over 3400 times and a survey article on Genetic Algorithms has been cited over 2100 times by Google Scholar. His research work has been recognized by over 30 International and National Awards. (www.lmpatnaik.in).

Dr. Lovneesh Chanana

Vice President - Government Relations, SAP India Private Limited

Experienced professional in Public policy, ICT in Government, business development, consulting and capacity building. Well verse with Government, Corporate and Government-Industry requirements by virtue of experience in both Government (13years) and IT Industry (10Years). Results - focused management professional equally aligned with academia to drive the passion of industry-academia collaboration and ensuring the transfer of industry knowledge to academia and vice versa. Worked with many academic Institutes including Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Indian Institute of Management Indore, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Malviya National Institute of Technology, Jindal global business school etc.
Specialties: Government relations, public policy, e-governance consulting, Government Process Reengineering, Technology Solutions and e-Governance applications, Business Development, Capacity building for e-governance, Government affairs, management education, academia, faculty.

Shri M. R. Vikram

Partner, M. Anandam & Co.

Vikram is a partner of M. Anandam & Co, Chartered Accountants, Secunderabad, since 1981. He has led teams as Central Statutory Auditor in five PSBs and also RBI. He was also Chartered Accountant Director and Chairman, Audit Committees in two PSBs and as a RBI nominee in a private Sector bank.
He is an expert on Forensic Audits with more than two decades experience.
He is also a Director in many companies including Facebook India, Chettinad Cements, ASM Technologies, GTN Industries and T.I.M.E.
He is the Secretary Trustee of MV Foundation, a leading NGO on issues of child literacy and mobilised more than a Million children to schools in nearly three decades of work.
He is the founder Trustee of Manthan, a leading platform for Public Discourse in Hyderabad.
He is a Former Chairman of the Hyderabad branch of ICAI and also on the Regional Council, SIRC.
He is a regular speaker on issues of Ethics, Governance, Fraud, Budgets & Economic issues. people living in Rural areas of the World.

Shri M. Ramakrishnan

Founder, Intello Labs

M Ramakrishnan is an Entrepreneur and experienced business leader. He is currently associated with Intello Labs – a firm that digitizes food quality assessment. He dons several hats in Intello Labs – involved across finance, fundraising, sales and marketing, HR and so on. He also advises budding start-ups on strategy and fundraising. In his previous life, he has incubated, scaled and managed large teams in analytics businesses. He has worked with large MNCs such as KPMG, Accenture as well as SMEs (e.g. Evalueserve). He started his career as a Consultant in PwC. In his spare time, he likes to read and blog.

Ms. Manjusha Madabushi

CTO, Mist Systems Inc

Manjusha Madabushi is an entrepreneur and technologist, passionate about building products that help change the game. She is the CTO and co-founder of Talentica Software and the India head for Mist systems. She has helped bootstrap multiple startups and scale them. She is curious about new technologies and has helped startups build key features using AI. Prior to Talentica Software, she was the India Engineering head for eGain Communications.
She has a master’s degree from Northwestern University, Chicago, IL and BTech degree from IIT Bombay.

Prof. Marmar Mukhopadhyay

Chairman, Educational Technology and Management Academy

Former Director of NIEPA, Chairman of CABE Subcommittee on School Education; consulted by UNICEF, UNESCO, USAID, British Council, INTEL, Microsoft, etc. Marmar trained principals and teachers from India and abroad. His books on Leadership and TQM enjoy global readership

Dr. Mona Bhatia

Director & HoD, Department of Radiodiagnosis & Imaging, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi

Dr. Mona Bhatia’s experience spans over 30 years including 13 years internationally in India, UK, UAE, Turkey, Switzerland and USA. Dr. Bhatia completed her training in Radiodiagnosis from Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi and later held the position of faculty MAMC and LNJP Hospital, New Delhi. Subsequently, she worked as a consultant in different countries in large teaching and research hospitals. Dr Bhatia has an exceptionally wide and in depth experience and expertise in all imaging modalities with a special interest in Cardiac Imaging. Dr. Bhatia is Convener, Cardiac Imaging Subspecialty Council, for the prestigious Cardiological Society of India. Dr. Bhatia, also holds the distinguished position of Chair of the International Regional Committee of the Society of Cardiovascular CT, USA in India, in recognition of her outstanding contribution in cardiovascular diseases through cardiovascular tomography research, education and patient care. Dr. Bhatia is also faculty to the European Society of Cardiology.
In addition to her role as a clinician, Dr. Bhatia has exceptional educational, teaching, research, audit and management skills with many papers, publications, presentations, chapters and technical innovations to her credit in National and International journals and conferences. Dr. Bhatia is passionate about technological advancements and her multi-national experience and work with various industry partners in the field of diagnostic advancements , stresses on the need of clinical relevance of technology in the field of healthcare diagnostics.
She has been actively involved in driving research and technological innovations in medicine, quality and medical operating systems.

Prof. N. Viswanadham

Emeritus Professor & INSA Senior Scientist, Computer Science and Automation, Indian Institute of Science

N. Viswanadham is INSA Senior Scientist in the Computer Science and Automation at the Indian Institute of Science. From 1967-1998, he was faculty at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Professor Viswanadham was Professor and Executive Director for The Center of Excellence Global logistics and manufacturing strategies in the Indian school Of Business, during 2006-2011. He was Deputy Executive Director of The Logistics Institute-Asia Pacific and also Professor in Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering at the National University of Singapore during 1998-2005.
He is the recipient of the 1996 IISc Alumni award for excellence in research. He was conferred the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009 by IISc. He was awarded the 2012 Prof S K Mitra Memorial Award by the INAE. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Academy of Engineering, and Third World Academy of Sciences.
Professor Viswanadham has made significant contributions to the areas of manufacturing, logistics and global supply chain networks. He is the author of Four Textbooks, Nine Edited Volumes, over two hundred forty journal and top tier conference papers. His current research efforts are on use of new technologies for Future Supply chain network design using blockchains and smart contracts and design of Competitive Business Models.

Shri N. Bala Subramanyam, IPS

CEO , e-Pragati Authority, GoAP

Sri N. Bala Subramanyam - 1994 batch IPS is the CEO of e-Pragati Authority and Transport Commissioner for the State of Andhra Pradesh. Under his leadership, Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Department has been in the forefront of digital transformation and re-engineered all of it’s 80+ citizen services so that the citizens could access and do transactions online.
e-Pragati is a framework to provide integrated services to citizens through free flow of information and to usher in an era of good governance, characterised by efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, and foresight. It is a massive e-Governance programme covering 33 departments and 330+ agencies across the State and about 793 services.
Early adopters of technology, he introduced predictive analytics in tracking the naxals and terrorists during his tenure as Superintendent of Police (SP), Greyhounds department back in the year 2000. As Inspector General (IG) in the AP Intelligence department, he was known as a geek and extensively used big data analytics, identity resolutions techniques, data visualisation tools and technologies.

Shri Pavan Duggal

Advocate, Supreme Court of India

Head, Associates, President, CYBERLAWS.NET, President, MOBILELAW.NET

Dr. Pavan Duggal, is the Founder & Chairman of International Commission on Cyber Security Law. He is also the President of Cyberlaws.Net and has been working in the pioneering area of Cyber Law, Cyber Security Law & Mobile Law. While a practicing Advocate, Supreme Court of India, Dr. Pavan Duggal has made an immense impact with an international reputation as an Expert and Authority on Cyber Law, Cyber Security Law and E-commerce law. Dr. Duggal has been acknowledged as one of the top 4 Cyber Lawyers around the world. WDD [World Domain Day] recognises him as one of the top 10 Cyber Lawyers around the world.
His empanelment as a consultant to UNCTAD and UNESCAP on Cyber Law and Cyber Crime respectively, membership of the AFACT Legal Working Group of the UN / CEFAT, consulting as an expert with the Council Of Europe on Cyber Crime, inclusion in the Board of Experts of European Commission’s Dr. E-commerce and his work as an expert authority on a Cyber Law primer for E-ASEAN Task Force and as a reviewer for Asian Development Bank speaks volumes of his worldwide acceptance as an authority. Pavan is the President of Cyberlaw Asia, Asia’s pioneering organization committed to the passing of dynamic cyber laws in the Asian continent. Dr Duggal is also a member of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center Panel of Neutrals.
As an internationally renowned Cyber law and Cyber security subject expert, at the world stage during the High-Level Policy Statement delivered by him at the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) organized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), UNESCO, UNCTAD & UNDP in Geneva, Switzerland from 25th May – 29th May, 2015. Pavan Duggal has recommended the need for coming up with an International Convention on Cyberlaw & Cyber Security.
As a thought leader, Dr. Duggal has suggested that India requires a new legislation that is wholly dedicated to cyber security. As a subject expert on Artificial Intelligence legalities, Pavan was invited by the Council of Europe to address the Session on Artificial Intelligence Legal and Policy issues on the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Cybercrime during the Octopus Conference 2018 held at Strasbourg, France. Pavan has also authored his seminal Book entitled “Artificial Intelligence Law”, which examines the legal and policy issues concerning Artificial Intelligence. He has also authored another Book entitled “Cyber Security Law Thoughts On IoT, AI & Blockchain” examining the legalities concerning Artificial Intelligence. http://www.pavanduggal.com/ and http://www.linkedin.com/in/pavanduggal.

Dr. Prabhakar Dekhne

Technical Consultant, IT & Former Scientific Consultant to the PSA to the GOI & Former Associate Director,E&I Group, BARC

Currently he is serving as a Scientific Consultant to the Principle Scientific Adviser to Government of India and a Member, NKN project, after retiring from BARC as Associate Director, E&I Group, BARC, Mumbai. During his long tenure of over 35 years, he has made invaluable contributions in the field of High Performance/Distributed/Grid Computing and information security systems spanning more than three decades. He is renowned expert, nationally as well as internationally in HPC systems & high speed Networking. His major contributions include the design and development of various models of ANUPAM parallel processing systems, High resolution Tiled Graphics System, building layered and highly secure information architecture, establishment of worldwide LHC computing grid, EU-INDIA grid and DAE grid. He was Apex project coordinator of DAE project.

Shri Prashant Chugh

Vice-Chair, IEEE Communication Society Delhi Chapter and Group Leader, C-Dot

Prashant Chugh is a senior member of IEEE. He is currently Vice-Chair of IEEE Communication Society, Delhi Chapter. He has about 22 years of experience in Telecom R&D in C-DOT (Centre for Development of Telematics) where over the years he has worked in various capacities as Research Engineer, Senior Research Engineer, Team Leader and Group Leader. In his job role, he has worked and coordinated design, development and testing of various telecom systems. His current interests are Fault Tolerant Systems, Network Security and Quantum Safe Cryptography. Recent developments in Artificial Intelligence have also drawn his keen interest and he has started reading about intricacies involved in design of such systems. Prashant is a BTech in Electronics & Communications from NSIT and MTech in Computer Technology from IIT Delhi.

Rear Admiral Sanjay Chaubey (Retd)

Chairman and Managing Director of Electronics Corporation of India Ltd. (ECIL)

Rear Admiral Sanjay Chaubey (Retd.) is currently the Chairman and Managing Director of Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL), a Hyderabad based Public Sector Undertaking under the Department of Atomic Energy. He is a graduate in electrical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela and a post graduate in Communication Engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
He was with Indian Navy for more than three decades and actively involved with the commissioning of Electrical, Electronic and Control Systems in the frontline warships. During his long career with Navy, he is associated with formulating apex level policies, indigenous technology development through R&D Centers, setting up infrastructure for Life cycle support systems, Quality Assurance Processes and eco-system for supply of defence electronic equipment. He is trained in contemporary international technologies and successfully handled assignments in Russia and Italy. He is associated with projects of strategic importance for the nation.

Shri P M Sasi

Senior Director and Centre Head, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)

Currently working as Senior Director and Centre Head, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), Premier R&D organization of Ministry of Electronics & IT, Government of India. Recipient of IEEE Communications society award for Public services in telecommunications; Recipient of IEEE R10 Outstanding Volunteer award, 2013. Member, Technical Advisory Committee, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Government of India (2016 onwards).
Member, Expert Committee, Kerala Startup Mission (2016 onwards); Member, Committee for formulating IT plan for Kerala for 13th Five-year plan (2016); Member, Governing Council, International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS) (2010 onwards).
Member, Strategic Planning Committee, IEEE Communications society (2012-2013). Vice Chair, Conference Activities, IEEE Communications Society Asia Pacific (2014). Vice Chair, Technical Activities, IEEE Communications society Asia Pacific (2012-2013). Member, Board of studies in Engineering, University of Kerala (2011-2014). Member, E-Governance Sectional Committee, Bureau of Indian Standards (2011- 13). Member, Governing Body and Executive Committee, Kerala State IT Mission, Government of Kerala (2009-2010). Chair, IEEE Kerala section (2010, 2009). Board member, Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment (SPACE) (2006-2011). Member, Computer Hardware Committee, Bureau of Indian Standards (2006 – 2008). Review Chair, IT Policy of Government of Kerala (2006). Member, Committee for formulating IT plan for Kerala for 11th Five-year plan (2006). Founding Mission Coordinator, Kerala State IT Mission (2000) Technical contributions Leads several teams working on development of Indian Microprocessor, Cyber security & cyber forensic products, Intelligent transportation systems, strategic systems, MRI development, early cancer detection systems, telemedicine systems.
Developed a multi standard wireless base station with TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) and WiMAX capabilities (2010). Designed and implemented Mobile Telemedicine Facility to extend the super specialty facility to the doorsteps of the rural population in Alleppey district of Kerala State, India, using a unique low-cost communication facility achieved through teaming of multiple WLL (Wireless in local loop) links (2009). Architected and implemented Kerala State Wide Area Network, an MPLS network with wireless last mile, connecting more than Government 1500 offices (2008). Architected and implemented the E-Governance Data Centre for Government of Kerala, currently hosting more than 120 applications (2006).
Architected and implemented Akshaya wireless WAN, providing blanket wireless coverage of 3500 sq km in Malappuram district of Kerala, India, first of its kind in the world (2004). Instrumental in standardization of Malayalam keyboard and character encoding (2000). Architected FRIENDS, the single window payment facility for utilities of Government of Kerala, first of its kind in India (2000). Designed and implemented simulation of Digital Flight Control Computer, Cockpit and Avionics systems for Light Combat Aircraft (1999). Developed an interface system for the weapon systems, SONAR and databus of INS Godavary class of ships (1990)

Prof. S K Manocha

Former CMD, ITI Limited

Satish Kumar Manocha is engaged more of the quality time in growth in Spirituality (above & away from religions) since last many years.
Most of earlier contribution was in Design, Development for hardware for Telecom equipment, and for Network integration, in a large Public Sector Undertaking in India. Had studied at IIT Delhi ( B. Tech) later in USA (SUNY Stony Brook , then at Columbia University, New York City. A Board member as Director (R& D) for 5 years and then the CMD of the PSU, contributed to updating and induction of new technologies required for the country, in addition to securing funds and large customers orders. I have interest in catching up in new growing technologies in telecom and I.T. , their applications for Civilian and Defence needs.
I had enjoyed teaching the first ever Masters course in Digital Communications at Roorkee Univ. U.P. during 1972 to 1973. Much later was full time Professor in Electronics & Communications at Amrita Univ. Bengaluru till year 2013 for over 7 years. I enjoy help, support initiatives taken by my few good senior experts for Conferences, Seminars in current topics.

Shri Satya N Gupta

Secretary General, ITU-APT Foundation of India

An International expert in NGN technologies, Regulation, Interconnection and Broadband with 38 years experience in all aspects of Telecom, including 25years with Govt. and Regulator, Satya N. Gupta is publicly recognized as an Analyst, Author, Advocate and Advisor on ICT related Policies, Projects and Business. After his post graduation from IISc. Bangalore, he joined ministry of Communication in 1981 and Ministry of railways in 1983. He is recipient of Minister of railways award for outstanding performance for the digitalisation project.
A triple master in Electronics Design Technology, IT Management and Telecom Policy and Regulation, he is globally known as “NGNguru” he is a trainer and coach for telecommunication technologies, policy and regulation and a Regulatory advocate. Author of “ Everything over IP- All you want to know about NGN”. He also authored a concept called “Job Factory- Converting Unemployment into Intraprenuership”. His recent research based work ,“Extra Mile- Walking the Talk on Rural Broadband Business”, brings out the innovative business models. He has also established and mentoring a consulting startup named SAAM Corpadvisors providing Govt. Affairs as Managed Service.
He is recently appointed as the Secretary General of ITU-APT Foundation of India. Additionally he is Vice- President and Trustee of PTCIF and Co-chairs BIF committee on Rural Digital Infrastructure. He founded NGN Forum in India to spread awareness and capacity building in the field of emerging technologies. As a member of Expert panel of Commonwealth Telecom Organisation, he conducts training programs in the areas of NGN Technologies, Broadband Policy and Regulation, Interconnection Costing in NGN Era, Spectrum Management, IPV6, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Blue-Ocean Strategy. Presently, he is heading Bluetown’s, India and Asia operations and “Making It Happen” its Vision of ‘’Connecting the Unconnected people in Rural areas of World”.

Shri Shivnath Thukral

Public Policy Director, Facebook

Shivnath Thukral in his earlier role was the managing director of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, India and set up the global think tank’s India office, leading operations and fundraising. Thukral spent the first fifteen years of his career as a journalist with New Delhi Television Limited, India’s premier TV news channel. He was the channel’s primetime presenter with special interest in business news and policy analysis. He later established the network’s business channel NDTV Profit in 2003, taking over as the managing editor. Prior to joining Carnegie, Thukral worked with an Indian corporation with a turnover of over $35 billion. He led its global marketing efforts, including strategic and digital communications for the group across the world. Thukral has been a speaker at global events such as the World Economic Forum and the Milken Institute conference, as well as Indian industry summits on issues ranging from India’s economic policies, domestic politics, and the impact of new digital technologies on society. Thukral interned in the U.S. Senate and was awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship in 2012.

Dr. Swarup Medasani

Director of Engineering, Mathworks, Inc

Dr. Swarup Medasani received his Ph.D degree in Computer Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Missouri in 1998. He joined Colorado School of Mines as a visiting scholar in 1997 and worked on fuzzy logic based information retrieval methods. Subsequently, he worked at HRL Laboratories in Malibu California from 1999-2012 on cutting edge projects in biologically-inspired algorithms, robots, and systems that employed computer vision, machine learning, pattern recognition, and information fusion. He has co-led the computer vision group for over 10 years focusing on active safety for vehicles, surveillance from terrestrial and aerial platforms, and real-time systems for scene understanding from multiple modalities. He has developed multiple image, video, SAR, and LIDAR-based recognition and learning algorithms for several companies including HRL Laboratories, GM, Raytheon, John Deere, Delphi, Volkswagen, Boeing, and DARPA. He was previously the Chief Technology Officer at Uurmi Systems a leading research and innovation company in India focusing on novel solutions and embedded systems in imaging and communications.
He is currently the Director of Engineering at Mathworks, Inc. He has published over 100 invited, journal, and conference papers and has been on the program committee for several leading IEEE conferences. He was the program chair for the 2014 IEEE conference on Vehicular Electronics and Safety and the general chair for the 2017 Embedded Vision Workshop at IEEE CVPR 2016. His recent cover page editorial on Self-driving cars appeared in the Dec 2017 issue of IEEE Computer.
He has over 60 issued patents. He is a senior member of IEEE.

Dr. Siddarth Ramji

Director-Professor, Department of Pediatrics & Neonatology

and
Former Dean Maulana Azad Medical College New Delhi
Prof. Siddarth Ramji is Director-Professor of Pediatrics and Neonatology and Former Dean at Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi. He has over three decades of experience as a medical teacher and researcher, and in the field of public health. He is Chair/member of several technical and advisory committees of the Ministry of Health (Government of India), Indian Council of Medical Research and Department of Health Research, Department of Biotechnology and the University Grants Commission. He has also been member on several bioethic committees.

Shri Subhankar Pal

Assistant Vice President (AVP), Altran

Subhankar Pal is Assistant Vice President (AVP), in the Research & Innovation team of Altran. Altran is world’s leading engineering and R&D services company. Subhankar has more than 18 years of professional experience in IT & Telecommunication industry. In Altran he leads “5G, Network Automation and AI” practice. His responsibilities include technology consulting, solution creation and service offering definition in the area of 5G, SDN, NFV, Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence for telecommunication market. Prior to joining Altran he worked at Nokia Networks and C-DOT. Subhankar has extensive experience in speaking at international conferences and presenting technical papers in various forums. He has blogs and whitepapers published in IEEE & other international forums in the areas of AI, Cloud, IoT & Unified Communication.

Shri Sudhanshu Mittal

Director – Industry 4.0 NASSCOM

Having spent 25+ years in technical roles in different companies like HCL, Agilent, Marvell, Freescale, Juniper among others, Sudhanshu comes from a strong technical background in embedded, IoT, Security etc. He also holds a patent in imaging area.
Sudhanshu completed his graduation in Electrical Engineering from IIT-BHU and is also certified Intellectual Property Rights professional from Indian Law Institute.
As “Director – Industry 4.0” with NASSCOM Center of Excellence for IoT, Sudhanshu has been leading the Industry4.0 program. The program aims to build thought leadership in the domain of Industry 4.0 and to promote Digital Transformation of Industrial Enterprise by bring together the users and solution providers on one platform.

Shri Tanuj Mohan

Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder, Enlighted, Inc.

Tanuj Mohan is CTO and co-founder of Enlighted, Inc. An award-winning, 20-year technology veteran with expertise in computer networking, security and software, Mohan oversees the company’s technical vision and strategic direction. He is responsible for many of Enlighted’s technology advancements and building the company into the world leader in advanced lighting control. Enlighted was acquired by Siemens in 2018.
Mohan’s passion is centered on helping businesses solve resource inefficiencies through the IoT. He continues to focus on the importance of gathering and analyzing data for actionable insights while balancing the need for human privacy. Prior to joining Enlighted, Mohan served as director at Tropos Networks, where he was responsible for solutions that managed the world’s largest WiFi mesh network. He has also held management and architectural positions at Cisco, Nevis, Novell and Hughes.
With more than 40 patents, Mohan is a recognized expert in IoT applications. In 2018 he was selected by Sapphire Awards as Illumineer of the Year for his contributions to smart buildings leveraging lighting technologies. Mohan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Prof. U B Desai

Director, IIT Hyderabad

Uday B. Desai received the B. Tech. degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India, in 1974, the M.S. degree from the State University of New York, Buffalo, in 1976, and the Ph.D. degree from The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, U.S.A., in 1979, all in Electrical Engineering. Since June 2009 he is the Director of IIT Hyderabad. He was the Mentor Director for IIT Bhilai and IIIT Chittoor.
Prof. Desai was an Assistant and then Associate Professor at Washington State University and Professor at IIT Bombay. He has also held Visiting Faculty position at Universities in US and Europe.
His research interest is in Cyber physical systems, Internet of things, artificial intelligence, wireless communication, and statistical signal processing. He has been a coauthor of 9 research monographs, and author of nearly 300 peered reviewed papers in international journals and international conferences. He is on the board of Tata Communications Limited. Dr. Desai is a Fellow of Indian National Science Academy, and a Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering. He is the recipient of J C Bose Fellowship. n 2015 he received the Outstanding Alumni award from University of Buffalo, and in 2016 the Distinguished Alumni Award from IIT Kanpur.

Prof. V. Sridhar

Professor, Centre for IT and Public Policy, Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B)

Dr. V. Sridhar is Professor at the Centre for IT and Public Policy at the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B), India. He has published many articles in peer-reviewed leading telecom and information systems journals. He is the author of two books published by the Oxford University Press: The Telecom Revolution in India: Technology, Regulation and Policy (2012), and The Dynamics of Spectrum Management: Legacy, Technology, and Economics (2014). He is authoring his third book titled Emerging ICT Policies and Regulation: Roadmap to Digital Economies in contract with Springer Nature publications. Dr. Sridhar has taught at many Institutions in the USA, Finland, New Zealand and India. He was also a visiting scholar at Aalto University, Finland and was the recipient of Nokia Visiting Fellowship. Prior to joining IIIT-B Dr. Sridhar was a Research Fellow at Sasken Technologies, India. He has been a member of Government of India committees on Telecom and IT. He has written more than 250 articles in prominent business newspapers and magazines relating to telecom regulation and policy in India. Dr. Sridhar is very active in organizing and chairing conferences on telecom regulation and policy and has received funding from different sources for his research projects.
Dr. Sridhar has a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, U.S.A., Masters’ in Industrial Engineering from the National Institute for Training in Industrial Engineering, Mumbai, India and B.E. from the University of Madras, India.
His work can be accessed at: http://www.vsridhar.info

Ms. Vinod Kotwal

DDG (FIPP), Department of Telecommunication, Ministry of Communications, Government of India

Ms. Vinod Kotwal is currently posted as DDG (FIPP) in the Department of Telecommunication, Ministry of Communications, Government of India. She is a 1994 batch officer of IP&TAFS with more than two decades of rich and diverse work experience in the Government of India and Regulatory Bodies spanning the areas of telecom, administration, economics, finance and regulatory affairs.
A Chevening scholar, she did the course “Women in Leadership and Management” from the University of Bradford, U.K. and holds a Masters degree in Botany and a MBA (Finance) from Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi. Recently, she has also completed Advance Professional Programme in Public Administration (APPPA) from the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi. She is currently pursuing PhD course from IIT, Delhi.
An avid reader with an eclectic taste Ms. Kotwal has also penned articles on diverse topics ranging from gender budgeting, potential of food processing in the country, e-waste to Open Data & Digital Identity: Lessons for Aadhaar. She has also authored a book on Codex Alimentarius Commission, a joint FAO-WHO body.
She is active in the work of International Telecommunication Union (ITU)-T Study Group 3 (SG3) and holds leadership positions there.

Dr. Vipin Tyagi

Executive Director, C-DOT, Government of India

Mr. Tyagi is heading C-DOT, which is engaged in development of various projects at the frontier of Telecom technology in the areas of Optical communications, Next Generation Networks and Wireless technologies. C-DOT is also playing important roles in ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ programs launched by Govt. of India, Department of Telecommunications. Digital communication infrastructure required for smart cities and smart buildings is also being innovated by C-DOT. Mr. Tyagi is an innovation and Business Leader from Information Technology and Telecommunication Industry for over 35 years. He had founded and led a Company out of New Delhi for 12 years as Board Member and Global CEO. He has headed global business in India, Japan, Australia, USA and Europe. He has actively worked towards Research and Development of large systems, Organizational Development and creation of high performance teams. In October 2009, Vipin decided to promote National level R&D and joined C-DOT. He has won several awards and recognitions.
He is Master of Technology (Computer Science and Engineering) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Delhi). Bachelor of Electronics & Communication Engineering and Post Graduate Diploma in Management (2 years, from AIMA).

Dr. V. V. Sadamate

Former Adviser Agriculture, Planning Commission, GoI

Dr. V. V. SADAMATE, Former Adviser Agriculture, Planning Commission(born 1st June,1953 at Deshing, Maharashtra, India), did his graduation from Pune Agriculture College (1973) and Masters / PhD programmes in Agricultural Extension Discipline from Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi in 1975 &1979 respectively. Pursued Post - Doc from Michigan State University, USA as a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar. Obtained advanced Extension Management training at Wisconsin, Cornell University and Royal Institute of Public Administration (RIPA) London, UK. Extensively travelled across the continents for extension studies, consultancies and training programmes.
Worked with ICAR as Junior Scientist (1978-1982) & with the Ministry of Agriculture (1982-2005) in various capacities including Director and Additional Commissioner (Extension) before joining Planning Commission as Adviser Agriculture (2006-2013). Retired from Ministry of Agriculture in May, 2013. Worked as Principal Consultant with Food &Agricultural Organization (FAO), New Delhi and developed their Country Programme Framework Document (2013). Was associated with the Ministry of Rural Development on their World Bank assisted Watershed project Neeranchal as Agricultural Convergence Expert (2013-15).
Keen student of Agricultural Extension over last four decades, had contributed significantly in developing and operating extension reforms. both Agricultural Technology Management Agency(ATMA)/Krishi Vigyan Kendra(KVK)approaches. Published over 50 research papers in national and international journals & guided MSc/ Ph.D.Scholars of various institutes, and guided management student conclaves of IIMs. He is an active professional on major extension networks within and abroad and associated with number of GO/NGO institutions in advisory capacities including National Council for Climate Change, Ahmedabad, & Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP), New Delhi. He is equally comfortable on academic and application part of agricultural extension. Dr.Sadamate served various high power professional committees of national institutes like GB ICAR, QRT Chair, KVK Awards Committee, MANAGE Cadre Review, TIFAC Vision Document, BODs of NABCONS & AFC, Technical Committees of SAUs/ICAR, and of international organizations like IWMI, CCAFS, ICRISAT, World Bank etc.
Attended COP-19 at Warsaw, Poland, COP-21 at Paris, France, COP-22 at Marrakech, Morocco, COP-24 Poland, GACSA 2017 FAO, Rome and Chaired SDG Conference 2018 at Kandy, Sri Lanka. Actively involved in follow up actions both within and overseas. Working as Independent Consultant on Agricultural Extension Reforms, Policy Advocacy, Agricultural HRD & also served as Adjunct Faculty, Extension Division of IARI, New Delhi since 2013 -14 to 2018.

Ms P N Vasanti

Director General, Centre for Media Studies

Ms PN Vasanti is the Director General of CMS and is responsible for overseeing all initiatives and management. She specializes in strategy development, designing, researching and evaluating development communication initiatives. Vasanti is a PhD scholar at JNU on media studies and has double Masters degrees in Psychology and Management. She often gives talks, lectures, writes on the current Media Scene and Trends in India. Use of Mass Communication in Development Programs; Role and Impact of Mass media; Communication Research; Behavior Change Communication and Entertainment Education Strategy. Vasanti has been an active advocate for more accountable media and been part of the Ministry Committee in drafting the Content Guidelines for the Broadcast Sector.

Ms Meera Mathur

Consultant

Meera Mathur is an MBA and a qualified Lead Assessor of quality systems and social accountability systems. She has a wide range experience in the Services sector, spanning over 28 years in management, operations, business development, and has developed innovative services. Meera has led core teams to successfully establish start-ups and mentoring and training teams. She also has experience in fundraising and brand tie-ups. She has steered teams for achieving international certifications, introduced as well as implemented CSR and sustainability initiatives.
Meera is presently a consultant and trainer in both corporate and the development sector.

About the Organisers

CMS is a reputed not for profit multi-disciplinary research organization, since 1991. It has to its repute numerous studies and publications on various issues, including on media and technologies. It has also organized number of national and international consultations, seminars and workshops with various stakeholders like policy makers, academia, media, researchers, corporations, film makers, etc. Details of work, expertise and experience of CMS is given on their website: www.cmsindia.org

Infocom Think Tank is a pioneering group established in 2004 at the point of time when there was a need for enhancing India's telecommunication & ICT sector and its contributions needed to be projected in the public eye with the objective of bestowing socio-economic benefits to the consumer and technological advancements reaching the end-user namely the citizen.

The Pioneer Members of this group are seasoned experts and independent professionals - who have held or are holding senior positions in private and public sector - working for the benefit and enhancement of the Nation. www.infocomthinktank.com



Steering Committee

  • Dr SK Hajela
  • Prof. L M Patnaik
  • Prof. Vishwanadham
  • Prof V Sridhar
  • Prof S K Manocha
  • Dr C Rao Kasarabada
  • Prof. Jaya Indiresan
  • S. N. Zindal
  • Manoj Arora
  • P N Vasanti - Convener

Organising Committee

  • N K Mathur
  • Dr N Bhaskara Rao
  • Dr S K Hajela
  • Satya N Gupta
  • P K Garg
  • Rajesh Mehrotra
  • R R Prasad
  • Dr Rakesh Mehrotra
  • Dinesh C Sharma
  • Meera Mathur - Convener

Partners

The Event is Supported By

sponsor

We invite you to showcase your organization, products, and services to a global audience of nearly 150, representing key government, industry decision makers, public sector administrators, and renowned researchers, creating the AI for Better World. Both sponsorship and exhibit opportunities are available. For further details for Sponsorship please contact -

Ms. P N Vasanti
DG CMS
Email: pnvasanti@cmsindia.org

Call for Papers

The International Colloquium on Ethics and Governance of Autonomous  AI Systems will be held in the historic city of Delhi, capital of India, from 18 – 19 February 2019 at India International Centre located in the serene surroundings of the famous Lodhi Gardens in its newly constructed Kamala Block Seminar Hall on 40 Max Mueller Road, New Delhi. We look forward to extending a very special Indian welcome and invite you to join us for a truly memorable event where all aspects of the AI technology and its societal impact shall be deliberated upon.

The broad-reaching program holds great interest for industry, government, regulators, public/private sector executives, as well as researchers and academics interested in the latest developments, new standards, technical innovations, and first-hand experiences with commercial offerings.

The recommendations of the Colloquium shall lead to a Research project, to be taken up as a multi-institutional initiative, to develop a governance mechanism for Autonomous/ AI Systems. The outcome of this international colloquium would be to identify technical standards of the governance mechanisms within the ambit of internationally stated principles that may be put in place that encourage – not inhibit -  technological development of AI for betterment of the society and environment and at the same time are adequate to safeguard human life and values. Accepted and presented technical papers will be published in the Colloquium proceedings. Papers can be submitted through email to aiforbetterworld@cmsindia.org.

Top Three Selected Papers will be Rewarded.

Important Dates

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Registration

Participants will gather to present research results, share visions and ideas, obtain updates on latest developments in AI technologies and expand professional and social networking. This 2-day event includes a diverse technical program for practitioners, policy makers, and executives delivered by distinguished experts from government, regulators, industry, academia and the public sector. All conducted in a relaxing environment accompanied by poster exhibition and display. All Participants are requested to register to ensure entrance.

Limited Seats



On the spot paid registration will be available as per seat availability.
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