Madanmohan Rao

Dr. Madanmohan Rao (http://twitter.com/MadanRao) is a consultant and author from Bangalore. He is the editor of five book series: “The Asia Pacific Internet Handbook”, “The Knowledge Management Chronicles,” “AfricaDotEdu,” “World of Proverbs,” and “Global Citizen.” He is a frequent speaker on the international conference circuit, and has given talks and lectures in over 75 countries around the world.

Madan is research project director of Mobile Monday, a global network of mobile and wireless communication professionals. He is co-founder of the Bangalore K-Community, a network of knowledge management professionals. He was world music editor for Rave magazine, RJ for world music at WorldSpace Radio, editor-at-large for Wireless World magazine, and contributor to the Poynter Institute blog on new media trends. He is also research director for the Indian Music Experience (www.IndianMusicExperience.org) and founder of the Indian Proverbs Project (http://IndianProverbs.in) (http://twitter.com/IndianProverbs).

Madan was formerly the communications director at the United Nations Inter Press Service bureau in New York, vice president at IndiaWorld Communications in Mumbai, group consultant at Microland in Bangalore, and research director at the Asian Media Information and Communication centre (AMIC) in Singapore. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, with an M.S. in computer science and a Ph.D. in communications.

Madan was on the nominating committee of ICANN (International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and was on the board of directors of CPSR (Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility). He has served on the board of editors of the journals Electronic Markets, Community Informatics, and Convergence, and for the book, Transforming e-Knowledge. He is adjunct faculty at IIIT-B and the International School of Information Management.

Madan has served as a juror for the Manthan South Asia e-Content Awards, mBillionth South Asia Mobile Content Awards, World Summit Awards Mobile, Mobile Monday Global Peer Awards, and Mobile Marketing Association Global Awards.

Osama Manzar

Osama Manzar is a convert social entrepreneur spearheading the mission to overcome the information barrier between India’s rural sector, and the so-called developed society, through Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) –– the not-for-profit organization founded to accomplish the mission; http://www.defindia.net. He is Member, Task Force on Growth of IT, ITES & Electronics HW Manufacturing Industry; Member Working Group – Internet Governance; Member Working Group – e-Governance, Ministry of Comm. & IT, Government of India.

He has recently initiated a regional movement on “How Mobile can Empower Masses” through mBillionth Award South Asia, recognising and mentoring Mobile Content, Application & Services; http://mbillionth.in.

In 2003 he launched India’s first ever award for choosing the best e-content practices in India and South Asia. Osama is the Chairman of the Manthan Award South Asia for “Digital Inclusion for Development”; http://www.manthanaward.org. Manthan Award has accumulated more than 1500 best e-content practices in its nomination bank.

He has authored titles like: “Development & Digital Inclusion – Cases from India & South Asia”, “e-Content: Voices from the Ground” (http://www.econtentworldwide.org) in 2 volumes in 2003 and 2005; “Internet Economy of India” in 2001.

Manzar is e-Content Expert for India for World Summit Award (WSA), Grand Jury Member and member of Board of Directors; http://www.wsis-award.org; In addition, Manzar has been Jury Anchor for the Dataquest e-Gov Champion Award, India, and for Bahrain e-Content Award, Sri Lanka’s e-Content Award & Bangladesh e-Content & ICTD Award.

He has been a part of the Professional Social Entrepreneurship Program by Social-Impact International; http://www.social-impact.org. He has worked through Computerworld as assistant editor, head of Interactive Media Division of Hindustan Times and started a software company 4Cplus, for media publishers and exited the same to get into social entrepreneurship through DEF in 2003.

He is a physics graduate and post graduate diploma in Journalism. He was awarded a joint Chevening/Young Indian IT Professional Programme 2002 Scholarship by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to study Advanced IT Management Programme at Manchester Business School, University of Manchester during 2001-2002.

Osama Manzar has been involved in the last 15 years in various level of research work, including resulted in publications/Reports like:
•    Educational Technology in India – 2005
•    Development & Digital Inclusion – Cases from South Asia
•    ICT in Education Toolkit
•    and several others.

Osama has a credit of covering at least 100 ICTD cases in India and South Asia, has traveled more than 1000 villages in India and South Asia, including 18 countries.

He can be contacted at +91-9810042862; osamam@gmail.com, osama@defindia.net
Some of the works of DEF could be seen at: www.localareaportal.org; www.gyanpedia.in; www.neerjaal.org; www.dcontent.in; www.epanchayat.in; www.engo.in;