Speakers

Rajendra S Pawar

Rajendra S Pawar Chairman & Co-Founder, NIIT Ltd.
& Founder, NIIT University


Mr Rajendra S Pawar is the Chairman and Co-Founder of NIIT Limited, a global leader in skills and talent development, and founder of NIIT University.

Under his leadership, NIIT has played a key role in shaping the growth of the Indian IT sector, by creating skilled manpower to drive its momentum. Having revolutionized the IT Training industry, he is now involved in establishing an innovative model in Higher Education, the not-for-profit NIIT University.

Acknowledging Mr Pawar’s contribution to the IT industry in India, he has been awarded the country’s prestigious civilian honour, Padma Bhushan, by the President of India in 2011. Actively involved in India’s key Chambers of Commerce, he has also led several ICT industry initiatives including NASSCOM (2011-12) as its Chairman. Currently Mr Pawar is the Chairman of NASSCOM Cyber Security Task Force that has been set up in response to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to see India emerge as a global hub of Cyber Security products and services. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Data Security Council of India.

Mr Pawar served as a member on the Prime Minister's National Council on Skill Development (2009-2014) and has also been a part of the PM's National Taskforce (1998), commissioned to develop India into an IT Superpower. He is a Fellow of the Computer Society of India and is a Distinguished Fellow of Institution of Electronics and Telecommunications Engineers.

Mr Pawar's contributions have been widely acknowledged and he has been conferred prestigious awards like- Distinguished Alumnus Award at IIT Delhi in 1995; The 'IT man of the Year' by IT industry journal, Dataquest in 1998; 'Master Entrepreneur of the Year' by Ernst & Young in 1999; Madhav Award in 1999 at the Scindia School, Gwalior.

Known for promoting industry-academia alliances, Mr Pawar has been working closely with the country's well-known educational institutions. He is on the Board of Governors of India's premier institutions- the Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad and the Scindia School. He has also served on the boards of IIT Delhi, IIM Bangalore, IIM Udaipur and has been a member of the University Court of Delhi University.



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