The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) has announced that  R. Chandrashekhar, former Secretary – Telecom, Government of India, who was recently appointed as the President of NASSCOM has taken over in his new role from January 6. He succeeds  Som Mittal, who served as the President of NASSCOM from 2007-13.
Speaking on the occasion, R Chandrashekhar said, “I feel privileged and look forward to lead NASSCOM in its next journey of achieving the vision and aspiration of USD 300 bn revenues by 2020. The opportunities are very vast at this particular juncture and exciting times lie ahead for the industry. The future looks positive as the Indian IT-BPM industry is evolving dramatically in terms of scale, complexity and innovation. Going forward, enabling radical transformation of key sectors in India through the use of ICT to increase access, enhance efficiency and enable innovation in the sector are going to be some of our priority focus areas. The rapidly accelerating trend of innovation and entrepreneurship in the ICT sector impacts several domains and provides clear indicators that the journey has begun.â€
NASSCOM will continue to leverage international and domestic expertise to catalyze innovation and transformation in the Indian IT-BPM sector. The industry is increasingly prioritizing domains based on potential size, possible impact, readiness of leadership and role of government. Changing models will bring compelling business innovations with greater breadth and specialization across key verticals- BFSI, telecom, healthcare, education and social entrepreneurship.
“It has been a great pleasure to lead the industry as President of NASSCOM for the last six years. I feel proud to have witnessed the sector transforming from technology providers to being strategic business partners. In spite of huge turbulence in the last six years, the industry has steered itself back on to the growth trajectory. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to work on many issues faced by the industry and be of help in facilitating continued growth. The way forward is exciting and NASSCOM will continue to play a dynamic role in leveraging new opportunities for the industry,†said  Som Mittal, Former President, NASSCOM.
The Indian IT-BPM industry is at an inflexion point as business models shift from traditional labour-based onsite-offshore model to cloud-based and off–premise solutions. The sector has impacted India through job creation, foreign exchange, exports and positioned India as global IT-BPM destination.
R. Chandrashekhar’s Biography
Chandrashekhar was the Chairman, Telecom Commission and Secretary, Department of Telecommunication till March 2013. During his career in Government, he held a wide variety of key assignments many of them relating to the ICT sector, both in the Government of India and the State Government of Andhra Pradesh.
He has extensive experience of formulating and implementing policies, strategies and action plans to foster the growth of the IT industry covering the entire enabling eco-system including infrastructure, Human Resource Development, e-governance and establishing Public Private Partnerships. He has a deep understanding of the issues and problems related to ICT project implementation in Government.
As Secretary, DOT, he was responsible for all aspects of policy formulation for the telecom sector and driving several key policies and strategies covering licensing, spectrum management, National Broadband Plan, Convergence, Manufacturing, Investment, security, R&D and the National Telecom Policy 2012.
As Secretary of the Department of Information Technology, he steered the formulation of national policies for the IT sector, promoting Electronic System Design and Manufacturing and R&D in the Electronics and IT sector and designing the National e-Governance Plan.
Earlier, he established the first Department of Information Technology in the country in the state of Andhra Pradesh and was Secretary of the Department from June, 1997 to December, 1999. The policies and strategies he formulated catapulted the state to the forefront of the country in the sector and became a role model for several states and countries.
Mr. Chandrashekhar received a M.Sc. degree in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and a M.S. degree in Computer Science from the Pennsylvania State University, USA. He was conferred the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2007-08. He has been conferred several awards including Data Quest Path Breaker of the Year Award in 2005 and Distinguished Alumnus award of IIT-Mumbai in 2010.