PolicyIndependent Director
A member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS 1978, Jharkhand cadre), Dr. Sharma has had a distinguished service record of more than four decades, leading reforms and leveraging IT to simplify administrative processes, thus, contributing to shaping India’s policies in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
As the founding Director General and Mission Director of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Dr. Sharma helped formulate and launch Aadhaar, India’s first and the world’s largest biometric identity system, an experience that eventual found expression in a process biography- ‘Making of Aadhaar: World’s largest Identity Platform’.
Dr. Kumar has been instrumental in boosting performance of Defence PSUs during 2018-2022 and promoting startups in the drone and space sector between 2020-2021. Dr. Kumar holds a B.Tech in electrical engineering, a Master’s degree in applied economics from the University of Minnesota and a PhD in business administration from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. On superannuation, Dr. Kumar assumed the position of Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Management Sciences and the Department of Economic Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
