Sam Pitroda

Sam Pitroda was one of the few technocrats who actually
demonstrated true benefits of telecommunication to the Indian community in the
eigthties. He is currently the founder CEO of C-SAM and chairman of World Tel.

Born in Titlagarh, Orissa, Pitroda, after completing his Masters
in Physics from Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara, went to the US and
did his Masters in electrical engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology,
Chicago.

Pitroda returned to India in 1984 and founded the Center for
Development of Telematics (C-DOT) under the Indian government. In 1987, he along
with the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi started drafting India's
telecommunications policies. Under Pitroda, C-DoT's key contribution was the
RAX, or rural automatic exchange.

He was instrumental in the PCO revolution in India that enabled
people to make easy domestic and international calls. Along the way, this
crusader also notched up over 50 patents. On the m-commerce front, Pitroda has
10 patents to his credit and is currently working on an 'electronic wallet'.