IDENTITY India 2022

Dr. Sharma is an IAS officer of 1978 batch, with a distinguished career in the Government of India and State Governments, leading reforms and leveraging IT to simplify administrative processes. In the process, he has contributed to shaping India's Policies in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). He combines planning and execution skills to ensure that policies work at the ground. Has been involved in policies related to financing of big infrastructure projects in Railways, Ports, Airports and Highways.

Dr. Saurabh Garg is the Chief Executive Officer of Unique Identification Authority of India. He has worked in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, where he spearheaded the formation of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF); worked on improving the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policies; preparing the framework for digital payments; revamping of the gold sector policies and led the negotiations for the Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs).

Mr. Suresh Sethi has over three decades of diversified global experience in the financial services industry and works extensively in the financial inclusion space leveraging fintech and digital led innovation to make a difference. He is the Managing Director & CEO of Protean eGov Technologies Ltd. (formerly NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Ltd.). In his last role, as the Founder CEO & MD of India Post Payments Bank, he established the largest inter-operable banking infrastructure for public good at scale in India. Prior to India Post Payments Bank, as the Managing Director & CEO of Vodafone M-Pesa, he was responsible for defining and developing the M-Pesa business strategy for India and shaping the digital and mobile payments space in the country.

A highly regarded thought leader in the areas of digital financial services and digital infrastructure, Mr. Bansal has nearly three decades of global experience in designing digital IDs, electronic payment products, and cash transfers, to enable inclusive development in multiple Asian and African markets. Prior to joining RBIH, he was a senior adviser at Carnegie India, where he led the center’s Technology and Society program.

Shri T. Armstrong Changsan is a career diplomat with over two decades of experience in the Indian Foreign Service, having served in various capacities in Japan, Nigeria, South Africa including as Ambassador of India to Iceland, his last assignment. In India, he was in the United Nations, Economic and Social Division and also for around 4 years, he was the Regional Passport Officer looking after the North Eastern States. He joined in December 2021 as the Joint Secretary (PSP) & Chief Passport Officer in the Passport Seva Programme Division of Ministry of External Affairs that administers The Passports Act 1967 through the 36 Regional Passport Offices, 93 Passport Seva Kendras and 428 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras across India, as well as around 180 Missions/Posts abroad.

Shri Golok Kumar Simli is an award winning Government Technology Leader whose contribution towards eGovernance and Digital Governance is remarkable and has been associated from the conceptualization stage of National eGovernance Plan of India since 2005-06. Currently, Shri Golok is serving as the Chief Technology Officer, Passport Seva Programme, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. He carried a wide range of experience exceeding 28 years in ICT, starting with Private Sector, Public Sector Undertaking, Reserve Bank of India and more than 14 years with the Government. He is also advising the team for implementation of ePassport Project of External Affairs Ministry, Government of India.

Dr. Neeta Verma is the Former Director General of National Informatics Centre, a premier Technology organization of the Government of India. With a career spanning over three and a half decades, she has been instrumental in implementing high impact digital initiatives across the country.

Dr. R. K. Mishra is presently working as Deputy Director General (DDG) & HoD for MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) Division, with NIC, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. He is looking after Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of NIC. Started his career as Lecturer, Banasthali Deemed University and thereafter worked for a unit of Transport Corporation of India Ltd and National Fertilizers Ltd (a Government of India PSU).

RS Mani is working as Deputy Director General in National Informatics Centre Ministry of Communication and IT, Government of India. Graduated from Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani ( 1982-86) in the year 1986 and he joined the Electronics Commission in the year 1986 and started his career with Microprocessor Application Engineering Program ( UNDP and Government of India initiative). This was with the aim to promote the use of Microprocessors in various sectors of economy to increase the productivity. Application of automation in various sectors like Road research, Railways, Water treatment plants etc. were some of these technologies were used. In the year 1996 he moved on to the head quarters of NIC at CGO Complex to work on the Internet Services to the Government. Established first Direct Internet Gateway with KDD Japan. Since then he has been working in the area of Internet Protocols and services, Network design and Data Center design etc.

Matthias works as a Segment Marketing Manager for NXP Semiconductors’ secure identification and authentication solutions based in Hamburg, Germany. As a Marketing Manager, Matthias is responsible for the development and growth of the market segment, as well as to develop and deploy the segment strategy He started his career two years ago as a Junior Product Manager at NXP Semiconductors where he was responsible for secure microcontrollers used in EMV payment cards and eGovernment solutions. Matthias holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Information Technology and Business Management from the University of Kiel.

Ajesh has been a integral part of Major Global Semiconductor Companies India Team over 25 years . Ajesh is heading Business Development Vertical of NXP Semiconductors for India Region based out of India. His career graph spans from R&D, Product Design to Product Marketing to Sales and then to Overall General Management in Technology Domain. He started his career with Continental Device India Ltd and he has worked for major Global Semiconductor Companies - ST Microelectronics, National Semiconductors, Conexant (Formerly Rockwell), Samsung and now NXP Semiconductors. He belongs to New Delhi and did his Engineering and Masters from BITS, Pilani. Ajesh has a proven track record in creating new businesses in all major business verticals that are existing in India and SAARC Region which is well recognized by the Indian Electronic Industry and Semiconductor Community.

Kenny Ching is the Head of Sales, Asia Pacific for HID Global, and oversees strategy development and market growth for the Citizen Identity business. Over a span of 15 years, Kenny’s career has led him to be involved in every aspect of the identity value chain, from penetrating new markets to managing security and biometrics programs. Kenny prides himself as an avid public safety defender and is passionate about leveraging on technologies to protect and assure the identities of citizens, particularly in support of economic progress and social inclusion. He strongly believes that digital and mobile developments are the next wave of enabling technologies that will bring about an evolution in identity ecosystems.

Vishal R Soni is Senior leader & business strategist having over 19 years of insightful & relevant industry experience across South Asia , UAE and African markets. Over the years, he has gained a niche across diverse market verticals like Secure Identity & access management, e-GOV, IOT, BFSI, Payments, Security & authentication. As an Engineer and having studied at IIM-C, he has demonstrated expertise in strategic, analytical & operational execution of projects and businesses. Collaboration among cross-functional leadership, multi-cultural teams and channel partners to facilitate business growth has been some of his impact areas. He has led with start-ups and served as their mentor also. All such attributes would enable him for further scaling up the business and taking it to sustainable & profitable growth path

Laura is the “Regional Immigration and Border Management (IBM) Specialist" at the IOM Regional Office for Asia and Pacific, based in Bangkok, Thailand. She provides to IOM offices and Governmental counterparts expertise, planning and guidance in the development, coordination, and implementation of capacity building initiatives, in particular on border and migration management including Integrated Border Management and data collection and analysis. She assists IOM Country Offices and Governmental counterparts in developing, implementing and monitoring IOM's capacity building strategy and training activities, at national as well at regional level, undertaking, when requested, technical field assessments. She provides technical support for assessing, budgeting, installing and training on Border Management Information System (BMIS) and trains on various IBM topics.

Since 1990, Ronald Belser is Policy Officer at the Immigration and Naturalisation Service, and since 1994 he is a Senior Research and Development Adviser at the Ministry of Justice and Security. In this role, he is responsible for the process of development, production, personalisation and issuing of the residence permit and visa in The Netherlands, including the introduction of biometrics. He is a specialist in identity and travel documents and co-founder of the Investigation Unit of Civil Status Documents, in the Netherlands.

Laila Abdul Majid has been working at National Registration Department of Malaysia (NRD) since 1985 and involved in development of IT system from stand-alone system up to current online application system. NRD is responsible for civil registration management including issuance of identity cards, birth and death certificate. She is now the Head of Digital Tranformation in ICT Division of NRD and responsible for ICT related plans dan programs, supervises and leads a team of software developers and administrators who develop and maintain NRD’s core information systems including the identity card production system. Moreover, Laila is as well responsible for managing the development of integration system with other government agencies and now involve in National Digital Identity project.

Sanjay Jain is the chair of the technology board, for the Modular Open-Source Identity Platform. MOSIP helps user organizations such as Governments implement a digital, foundational ID in a cost-effective way, harnessing the power of open source, while embracing the best practices of scalability, security, and privacy. He is also a partner at the Bharat Innovation Fund, which invests in early-stage companies. During his career, Sanjay has been a part of for the development of many large scale, high impact systems, including Google Map Maker, Aadhaar, and UPI.

Ameya Bhagwat, TECH5 SVP Global Business Development & Sales, is a seasoned sales professional with over 15 years of experience in business development and sales, with a proven track record in working with system integrators, solution providers as well as end users in the government and private sectors selling biometric solutions for L-1 Identity Solutions, Idemia, Crossmatch and NEXT Biometrics. Ameya holds a degree in Electronic Engineering and a Master in Management Studies.

Rishant has extensive experience working with enterprise technology and blockchain startups. He is currently Manager, Ecosystem Partnerships, APAC for KILT Protocol, a blockchain identity protocol for issuing anonymous, verifiable credentials and decentralised identifiers based in Berlin, Germany. Rishant is responsible for partnerships that drive adoption of applications built on KILT, with a focus on the gaming sector. He has more than a decade of experience in managing global teams, previously at PricewaterhouseCoopers US as SAP Tech Lead for 7 years. Rishant started his career at Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL, Bangalore) as an Aircraft Design Engineer and later worked with Caterpillar Inc. and Tech Mahindra. He holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Visveswaraya Technical University.

Sridhar BHUPATHIRAJU is currently working as a Product Line Manager (Market Owner) for ID Document Solution and Services at Thales. In his current role, he is responsible for global marketing, and roadmap for solutions in the Identity, Resident Permit, Health Card and driving license market segments. He has over two decades of Industrial experience in marketing, architectural and leadership roles in Identity and Telecom domain with Thales and Nokia. Over the last 10 years, he is primarily working in the area of Identity, with expertise ranging from ID Card, Issuance, Security features, Cyber Security, Digital Identity among others. Born in India, Sridhar has been living in Finland for the past two decades and enjoys the fresh Finnish nature and happiness, along with cricket and movies.

Anoop Vasudevan, Mantra Softech, comes from a senior leadership position, possessing extraordinary skills at strategic and operational levels. Mr. Vasudevan is continually challenging conventional business processes and organizational strategies. His role has been critical in achieving significant financial progress for the company. With a farsighted vision, he has explored financial inclusion programs using biometrics and worked extensively to grow the IMEA BFSI business in Mantra Softech. Moreover, to add to his credentials, he has 16 years of expertise and a thorough understanding of biometric applications in various industries.

Paul Meyer is Executive Founder & President of The Commons Project, a nonprofit unlocking the full potential of technology and data for the common good. Paul began his career working on Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign and was one of President Clinton’s speechwriters. He was the first Chief Operating Officer of Endeavor, a non-profit supporting entrepreneurs globally. He then joined the International Rescue Committee, leading projects using technology to reunify refugees in the Sierra Leone and Kosovo wars. Paul co-founded IPKO, a wireless Internet provider serving the UN and humanitarian agencies that became Kosovo’s leading telecom, internet and cable TV company, and the IPKO Foundation, which has provided free technology education to a generation of Kosovar students. Then, Paul co-founded and served as CEO of Voxiva, which developed and deployed mobile health services across 17 countries, including the first nationwide digital disease surveillance systems in Peru and Rwanda.