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New Delhi : Narayana Murthy, Founder – Infosys Limited, will deliver Dr N Seshagiri Memorial Lecture in the presence of Minister for Law & Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of State for HRD, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology Sanjay Dhotre, and Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology Ajay Sawhney at Plenary Hall of Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on August 5, 2019, afternoon.
Dr N Seshagiri, Founder Director General of National Informatics Centre (NIC) and former Special Secretary to Government of India, a Visionary, an IT Technocrat ahead of times, a crusader of innovations, was born on May 10, 1940. An engineering graduate from University College of Engineering in Bangalore in 1961, with a Ph.D from IISc Bangalore in 1964, he started his career with Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, in 1966.
Dr Seshagiri aspired to bring in IT revolution at the grassroot level for the benefit of the common mass. He worked tirelessly to fulfill the mission to introduce Computer and Networks at all levels in the government, which led to the origin of first nationwide computer communication network – NICNET. He was instrumental in drafting various policies including hardware, software, and National IT policy that revolutionised Information Technology (IT) and transformed India into a global software power. He also set up the Software Technology Parks in India.
The outcome of his efforts during the decades of 80s and 90s, led to setting up of the DISNIC Programme in the country to usher in the ICT revolution in 520+districts. Dr Seshagiri’s optimism and enthusiasm inspired NIC to work for the origin of many technological benchmarks which included the Government’s first Data centre, first e-mail service for effective Government communication, VSAT network. The Public Private Partnership or PPP Model, synonymous with many e-Governance projects today in the country, was his brainchild.
Recognizing his immense contribution towards the growth of IT sector in India and its applications in governance, Dr Seshagiri was conferred with Padma Bhushan in 2005, Vikram Sarabhai Award, Asiad Jyoti Award, Karnataka Rajya-Utsav Jyoti Award, Dataquest Lifetime Achievement Award to name just a few.