Dr N Seshagiri

Government's IT face




Narasimaiah Seshagiri has perhaps been the biggest influence in the 50 years of

Indian IT history from a non-corporate background. After a stint in TIFR, he

joined as director of Information, Planning and Analysis Group of the

Electronics Commission in 1971, where he founded NIC in 1975 and was its DG till

2000. His key contributions were the conceptualization and implementation of

NICNET (the first VSAT Network outside US with over 1,200 VSATs) and ERNET.

While simultaneously holding positions in DoE, the Planning Commission and

Ministry of IT since its formation, he drafted the first liberalized Computer

Hardware Policy in 1984, and the first liberalized Software Development, Export

and Training Policy in 1986. Under his guidance, computer centers were setup in

every department of the government.