Subhash Bhatnagar (born on 12 February, 1947) graduated from IIT madras in 1968 and immediately joined the MBA program at IIMA. From May 1970 to January 1972, he worked as a Systems Analyst in the IIMA Computer Centre. He then joined the Doctoral Program at IIMA and on completion joined as a faculty in the P&QM Area in May 1975. He was recruited to strengthen IIMA’s academic programs in Information Systems. He piloted a proposal for the establishment of a separate group titled the Computers and Information Systems Group (CISG) which was created in 1980. In his 28 years tenure at IIM Ahmedabad (1975 to 2003), he held the CMC Chair Professorship in Information Technology for six years, served as the Dean for two years, and was also a member of the governing board.

He chaired the CISG for three two-year terms during the initial years, where he was also responsible for managing the IT infrastructure of the Institute which grew from an HP Time-shared System to PDP and VAX mini computers. In 1984, IIMA became a very early adopter of the Personal Computing environment. He coordinated IIMA’s first long term MDP (3-Months Computer Based Information Systems) which was subsequently offered for many years. He developed and taught many MBA elective courses such as MIS, Decision Support Systems, Planning & Implementing IT Strategy, Digital Inclusion for Development, E-Commerce and e-Governance.

He headed three large research initiatives at IIMA. He was Associate Coordinator (1985-87), and Coordinator of the UNDP CAM Project (1987-88). He raised a million dollar funding from CIDA for the Centre for Telecom Policy Studies which was established in 1997 in collaboration with McGill University. He was the first coordinator of the Centre for Electronic Governance set up at IIMA with the sponsorship of three large IT companies.

His research interests and publications were primarily in E-Governance, IT for development, MIS design frameworks, and Decision Support Systems. He has published more than 90 papers in international journals, in international conference proceedings, and edited books. He has authored four books, including Unlocking E-Government Potential-Concepts, Cases and Practical Insights, Sage, 2009. In addition he has edited four books. A doctoral thesis written under his guidance won the best dissertation award in ICIS 1998 in Helsinki. He won the Best Paper Award in an International Conference on ICT for Development in Doha in 2007 and he was invited to meet Mr. Bill Gates in a one-on-one meeting for half an hour on the sidelines of the conference. He was the Chief Editor of the International Journal of Information Technology and Development published by IOS press and was on the editorial boards of seven International Journals.

In 1986, he scripted and directed 9 video films (25-30 minutes each) on various topics related to IT which were telecast by IGNOU and the Government of Madhya Pradesh.

He has done consultancy projects in many different countries for United Nations Office for Project Services, UNDP, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Commonwealth Secretariat, UNESCO, Aid agencies of Germany(GTZ), Denmark, UNFPA, European Commission, ADB, LIRNEasia in Sri Lanka and the World Bank. He has also been a consultant for many projects for Indian corporate organizations.

He was a visiting professor at the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute, Tanzania in 1982-83, and later at Farleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey (1988-89). He was an Adjunct Faculty at New York University (88-89), and with School of Public Health, University of North Carolina in 1998-99.

From 2000 to 2002 he was on leave from IIMA, working in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit of the World Bank in Washington DC. He took voluntary retirement from IIMA in 2003 and worked with the Bank for a further period of four years. He was responsible for mainstreaming e-Government into the activities of the World Bank. He represented the Bank in various conferences, conducted training programs for the Bank staff, advised client countries on eGovernment strategies and supervised the creation of a new web site on eGovernment. He authored six papers in Bank- sponsored publications and authored two dozen case studies on e-Government applications in developing countries (featured on the World Bank e-Government website). From 2007 to 2012 he was a part time advisor to the National Institute for Smart Government (NISG), Hyderabad, during which period he was one of the key speakers for a leadership program for ministers and legislators. The program was offered in 14 different states.

He was an Adjunct Professor at the Institute from 2004 to 2018 during which time he taught MBA elective courses, chaired training programs for cabinet members and senior bureaucrats, and led a major research project funded by GOI to evaluate the impact of eGovernance in 10 States of India.

He has been associated with the advisory board of many educational institutions and has chaired a committee to select the Vice Chancellor of a State University. He was a member of the `Computer Science Board' set up by AICTE. He is currently on the Board of Navrachana University, Vadodara. He serves on the Boards of three NGOs and has been associated with four IT start ups.

He was an active professional contributing to Computer Society of India and globally within the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP). He was nominated to be a Fellow of the Computer Society of India in 1984. He founded a new Working Group in IFIP called Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries which he chaired for 6 years from 1989-95. He is a recipient of the IFIP Distinguished Service Award and the Silver Core Award.

He has served on many important committees of the GOI in the IT sector, such as the National Advisory Group on E-Governance, Chaired by the Minister of Information and Communication Technology(2006-2010); Steering Committee for the formulation of India’s 12th Five Year plan for the ICT sector chaired by the Minister of State for Planning; Empowered committee on Capacity Building; committee to select a center of excellence from forty national institutions to support the Digital India Initiative in 2017 and an Expert Advisory Group for preparing a draft national policy on e-government set up by the Department of Administrative Reforms. He was invited as an expert to a dialog organized in Dubai on March 7, 2017 by PILDAT, on Technology for better Governance, attended by members of parliament from India and Pakistan.

He has travelled widely to more than 60 countries, delivering keynote/invited speeches; attending meetings and workshops; chairing doctoral defense committees; conducting training programs and doing consulting work.

He delivered the annual ‘Pinkerton Memorial Lecture’ on ICT Use in Rural India: Innovations Bridge the Digital Chasm organised as an annual event by the Institution of Electrical Engineers, UK, in London on June 7, 2005. He delivered the Platinum Jubilee Lecture in Computer Science Stream in the Indian Science Congress held in Goa in January 1993. He has been quoted and his interviews featured in many business magazines and news papers in India and abroad including a 25 minute TV interview on eGovernment broadcast on Sri Lankan Business Channel in February 2008.

He continues to contribute to the advancement of eGovernance Program in India.
More details on http://faculty.iima.ac.in/~subhash/

(Bio provided by Subhash Chandra Bhatnagar in 2019)

Date of Birth: 12th February 1947