Speaker

Former Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation
Founder and Former Chairman, India’s Telecom Commission
Founding Commissioner, United Nations Broadband Commission for Digital Development
Founding Chairman of five non-profit organizations including the India Food Bank, the Global Knowledge Initiative and the Institute of Transdisciplinary Health

Sam Pitroda is the Former Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation, with the rank of a Cabinet Minister. He served as the Chairman of the Smart Grid Task Force, as well as the committees to reform public broadcasting, modernize railways, deliver e-governance, and other developmental activities.

He is an internationally respected development thinker, policy maker, telecom inventor, and entrepreneur, who has spent 50 years in information and communications technology (ICT) and related global and national developments.

Pitroda helped revolutionize India’s development philosophies and policies with a focus on access to technology as the key to social change. Credited with having laid the foundation for India’s telecommunications and technology revolution of the 1980s, he has been a leading campaigner to help bridge the global digital divide. He is a Founding Chairman of five non-profit organizations including the India Food Bank, the Global Knowledge Initiative and the Institute of Transdisciplinary Health. https://www.sampitroda.com/about