Dr. Ajai Kumar, currently Senior Director and HoD of Applied Artificial Intelligence Group & Graphic and Intelligence based Script Technology (GIST) group, C-DAC, Pune, has long-standing highly productive administrative acumen for project proposals submission to project completion and deployment, feasibility studies, requirement analysis, organization of Workshops, Seminars and Technical Exhibitions. As a seasoned business and technology leader with more than 20 years of experience, he is passionate about technology and IT application in business transformation. His research vision and contribution also encompass into many fields having published various technical papers on Speech Technologies, Search Technologies, Translation and Transliteration in IEEE, Scopus, Springer and other major publications/conferences besides attending various International and National level conferences.

With an overall experience of 17 plus years in the IP industry, Ritika specializes in patent prosecution, patent drafting and patent searching, analysis in the ICT/Computer science domain and provides legal opinions on various aspects such as infringement, FTO, validity and patentability. She regularly appears before the Indian Patent Office and the Intellectual Property Appellate Board/Delhi High Court. She is adept at managing voluminous patent portfolios of various top telecom giants of foreign countries like US and China. The hyperactive ICT segment keeps her engaged in practicing the firm’s unpatented but most effective strategy of “smart prosecution”. She supervises the patent drafting team in-house and outsourced both. She worked for nearly 8 years in the field of patents, prior to joining Anand and Anand and also served as the academic head/in-house Mentor with an Intellectual Property Rights Institute for 2 years in the past.

Ashok is a partner with Factum Law. He specialises in commercial dispute resolution, domestic and international. Ashok has extensive experience working with emerging technologies in the healthcare and pharma sector, information technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, aerospace, space and defense sectors on their intellectual property management and enforcement. He has also advised clients in these sectors on niche areas such as clinical trial regulations, risk management and allocation, cross border mergers and acquisitions and technology transfer.

Dr. Nalin K. Srivastava is handing innovation and entrepreneurial activities in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India as Joint Director. Dr. Srivastava is passionate about promoting startup-entrepreneurial ecosystem especially in the realm of emerging technologies in the country. He has recently evolved the contours of ‘MeitY Startup Hub’ - a dynamic, singular and collaborative platform for tech startup community towards building meaningful synergies in the Indian startup space. He has institutionalized several ‘Accelerators and Scale-up programme’ to further convert the emerging startups into next level.

R S Praveen Raj is a scientist and technology transfer expert. He is currently working as Senior Principal Scientist in CSIR's National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) in Thiruvananthapuram and is responsible for business development, intellectual property (IP) management and technology transfer. He also serves as honorary Professor (faculty of Engineering Sciences) in Academy of Scientific & Innovative Research (AcSIR). Mr. Praveen Raj started his career as an Electrical & Electronics Engineer and changed to R & D Management Profession later. Prior to joining Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), he worked as patent examiner in Indian Patent Office after his short stint in engineering job at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) under Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Mr. Raj played a key role in devising IPR Policy of Government of Kerala, which addresses the concerns on traditional knowledge protection. Further he inspired Dr. Shashi Tharoor (Member of Parliament) to introduce a private bill for 'Protection of Traditional Knowledge′ in Indian Parliament, which was tabled in Lok Sabha on 01.04.2022.

Mr. Umesh Vithalkar presently holds the position of Associate Director within the Graphic and Intelligence based Script Technology (GIST) group at C-DAC, Pune. With a dedicated focus on Research and Development (R&D) spanning over two decades, he specializes in Indian language and embedded system initiatives. His extensive expertise has led to the successful delivery of Indian language solutions across various mobile and printer platforms. Notably, Mr. Vithalkar has secured two patents, one in India and another in the US, for his ground-breaking work in Indian language text data compression and decompression. Beyond his inventive achievements, he plays a pivotal role in the Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Property (CoE-IP) and the Image Processing and Computer Vision (IPCV) group, actively contributing to several nationally significant projects and standards. Proficient in project planning and execution, he encompasses a broad spectrum of activities in his role, showcasing a comprehensive skill set.

Shweta Girish Patil has been a driving force in the development and management of the ICT IPR portal, showcasing resolute commitment and exceptional leadership. Her unwavering dedication is evident in her focus on IPR Query and invention analyses, which has made a substantial contribution to a deeper understanding of the technological landscape and the vital role of strategic insights in the industry. Shweta stands as a beacon, promoting understanding and recognition of the indispensable role of strategic insights in navigating the dynamic landscape of the technology industry.