Economic Opportunity - Themes/Commissions

Commissioners / Chairs

		Satish Jha President, Digital Partners India Satish, is an information management professional who founded James Martin and Co. in India. He is a former editor of Dinamaan, The Times of India Group (1985-88), led the research bureau of The Financial Express (1980-83) and co-founded Jansatta, The Indian Express Group in 1983. He has also worked as the head of Global Information Management Systems for the vitamins division of Hoffman-La Roche in Switzerland. He has also been actively engaged in the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for enhancing the quality of life for the poor. Satish is one of the founders of Tarahaat that has been acknowledged as one of the pioneering models in using ICTs for Development. In 2001, he started the Baramati Initiatives with the support of M Kusakabe of The World Bank and Sharad Pawar, the former chief minister of Maharashtra who has demonstrated leadership in promoting the use of ICTs for the development of the underserved. Baramati Initiatives is an annul event that showcases exemplary ICT initiatives and is now jointly organized by Digital Partners India and Vidya Prathishthan's Institute of Information Technology (VIIT). He has studied Economics Jahawar Lal Nehru (JNU), development economics at The Fletcher School ( Tufts University ), Government of Science at The Kennedy School (Harvard), Development Policy at The Institute of Social Studies , The Hague , Foreign Policy Making Processes at The School of Public Affairs ( University of Maryland ) and also has an MBA from the Charter batch of Institute Theseus in Sophia Antipolis that was started as a collaboration between the MIT Sloan School, INSEAD and Politico de Milano to create the new managers for the digital age.

		Alok Gupta agupta@csom.umn.edu Alok Gupta is endowed Carlson School Professor of IDSc at Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, USA. He received his Ph.D. from University of Texas at Austin in 1996. His research interests are in the area of economics of information systems. His research has been published in several top journals such as Management Science, Information System Research and Decision Support Systems, among others. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals including Management Science and Information Systems Research. He has also served as an advisor to several Fortune 500 companies.

		Jackie Phahlamohlaka jphahla@hakuna.up.ac.za Jackie Phahlamohlaka, Pretoria, South Africa, completed an MSc in Computational and Applied Mathematics at Dalhousie University, Canada and a PhD in Information Technology from the University of Pretoria. He joined the Department of Informatics at the University of Pretoria in 1996, where he is currently a Senior Lecturer. His research interests are in IT and Socio-economic Development and Web-based Group Support Systems (GSS).

		David Kepaletswe gmi@it.bw David Kepaletswe, Gaborone, Botswana, completed his BSC Computer Science at University of Botswana. He is currently CEO of Global Media Incorporation(PTY)Ltd and serves on several boards of other companies and organisations. He specialises in Internet/E-business strategies and solutions inclusive of e-commerce and portal technologies as well as Business Process Consultancy/Re-engineering.

Members / Contributors