Participants
Venkataraman Balaji

Venkataraman Balaji
Head, Knowledge Management and Sharing
ICRISAT
Hyderabad, India

Venkataraman Balaji is a development research worker with an interest in the role of ICT-mediation in the empowerment of rural families.

He took his masters and doctoral degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology and from the University of Madras (India) with energy studies as his specialization. He worked for about 10 years in the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in India in many capacities. Balaji was the leader of the project on Village Knowledge Centers in the founding phase of the project (1997-2000) and has been with ICRISAT since 2001. His current interest is to explore the advantages of technology mediation to promote a novel paradigm of mass learning that will help rural families overcome the impact of drought in a better manner. He works with a wide range of partners in this effort. He is also involved in developing an architecture and standards for new KM processes in agricultural research, education and extension. He has published about 20 papers and have edited a volume on tourism, biodiversity and information, and received the World Technology Award in the education category in 2001.

"My name is Balaji – that’s my first name, and it is written last following a convention in South India where I was raised."