As Secretary, DST, he was instrumental in operationalizing many transformative initiatives of the Government of India. This includes National Quantum Mission and Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF). He also operationalized Rs.1 Lakh Crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund for supporting cutting-edge R&D in private sectors and deep tech startups. During the tenure, several R&D programs and initiatives were launched in clean energy, green hydrogen, advanced materials, geospatial technologies, manufacturing, R&D infrastructure, technology incubation and international bilateral R&D programs.

His own research group has made some significant contributions towards AI driven Programmable Protocols for 6G. His earlier research has profound impact on starting the activities of two global IEEE standards in 5G. "IEEE 1930.1: SDN based Middleware for Control and Management of Networks" is the first IEEE standard coming out of Indian efforts led by him. The most notable impact of his research has been in the area of affordable broadband access which led to the formation of “Frugal 5G” working group in IEEE standards and another global standard- "IEEE 2061: Architecture for Low Mobility Energy Efficient Network for Affordable Broadband” under "IEEE's Standards Activities for 5G".

Shri Ritu Ranjan Mittar is an Indian Telecommunication Services Officer of 1985 Batch. With over 35 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Sh. Mittar has worked on various projects related to the development and deployment of the telecommunications network. He has contributed to policy making in Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. He has also been involved in the development of various technical standards and specifications for the telecommunications industry, including Quantum, 5G, IoT, and M2M technologies. He is actively participating in the meetings of standards development organizations, viz., ITU, ETSI, APT, WRC, etc. and also interacts with other international fora, viz., 3GPP, ETSI, IETF, One M2M, etc. He held the important leadership position from India as Chairman of International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) Study Group 11, which deals with the international standardization of “Signalling requirements, protocols, test specifications and combating counterfeit telecommunication/ICT devices”. He was Advisor and headed the Telecommunication Engineering Centre, the technical and standardization arm of Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. He also chaired the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA), 2024. At present, he is Member in Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Shri Naresh Kumar Bhola is the Wireless Advisor to the Government of India. He heads the Wireless Planning & Coordination (WPC) Wing under the DoT. He leads national spectrum planning, licensing, and international coordination. He actively represents India at the ITU and other global telecommunication forums. He currently chairs the National Preparatory Committee for the upcoming WRC-27. Previously, he strengthened spectrum capabilities as head of the WMO.

Jitendra Singh is working with Qualcomm since 2009. His responsibilities include interfacing with regulatory and policy making agencies in the region on behalf of Qualcomm. Jitendra has more than 30 years of experience in the field of communications management. Prior to his appointment at Qualcomm he served in the government. He has been actively involved in National Working Groups of the ITU-R in India and has been a key contributor in all the Standards related activities of the industry. This includes the advocacy and planning of identification of additional spectrum for IMT and mobile broadband at various forums – National as well as Global. He had been an active contributor by introducing a number of papers in ITUR on behalf of India. He plays a key role in APT region telecom industry coordination activities. He is part of many industry associations. He has created and submitted many spectrum policy related papers in ITU and APT on behalf of India. He also heads GSA India team.

Dr. Ravi Gandhi expert in Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs with a demonstrated career history in the telecommunications industry. Skilled in Business Management, Strategic Planning, Crossfunctional Team Leadership and Management

Ashish Garg has been promoted as Director - Policy and Spectrum Strategy at GSMA, stepping up from his previous role as Senior Manager - Spectrum & Policy for South Asia and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. He has been associated with GSMA for over four years, working closely with operators and regulators on spectrum access and mobile broadband policy in developing markets.

Bharat Bhatia is a global telecom leader with over five decades of experience in spectrum management, ICT policy, and regulation. He currently serves as President & CEO of IAFI, Vice Chairman of the Wireless World Research Forum (WWRF), and chairs key international groups at the ITU and APT, shaping global standards for 5G, 6G, satellites and Wi-Fi.

Previously, he led the international spectrum team at Motorola Solutions USA and played a pivotal role in opening India’s telecom sector, including the launch of the first GSM services and the development of India’s National Frequency Allocation Plan.

Internationally, he introduced the concept of Public Protection & Disaster Relief (PPDR) at the ITU and was instrumental in the adoption of ITU Resolution 646 on PPDR.

Mr. Bhatia is a Fellow of IETE, holds a BE from the University of Delhi, and has completed leadership programs at National University of Singapore and George Washington University, USA.

A sought-after speaker, he continues to guide global discussions on spectrum policy and next-generation technologies.