Dr. Sundeep Oberoi has 36 years of industry, research and entrepreneual experience in diverse areas of Information and Communication Technology. His experience covers a wide spectrum of experience in Delivery Management of large and critical programmes, technology development, product development, business development, system integration and management of research laboratories. He has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from IIT Bombay, an M.Tech in Computer Science from IIT Delhi and a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kanpur.
He was responsible for the establishment of the IIT Bombay – Tata Infotech Research Laboratory in 1997 and was its first head.
He retired from the Tata Group in November 2020 and prior to retirement served as the Global Head for the Cybersecurity Business Unit of Tata Consultancy Services and was recognized as #4 in the top 25 Cybersecurity Executives of 2020 – “The IT Services Report”.
He was responsible for security execution in several large Government of India projects like the AWAN project of Indian Army, Passport Seva Project, MCA-21, security of EVMs and many other important projects.
My research interests broadly fall into
• Digital Societies
• Technology and Society
And I am also interested in how sometimes technologies might create or mitigate
Structural Inequalities
There have been rapid advances in the field of Information Technology over the past few decades. The dramatic drop in price of computing power and the ubiquitous availability of communications has completely transformed how information technology is applied and deployed.
These advances are resulting in a phenomenon that may be termed “softwarization of everything”. While this is not a new phenomenon, it has significantly accelerated and percolated into almost every domain.
Simultaneously there is a significantly higher participation of the private sector in areas that used to be the preserve of Governments or Government owned corporations. The telecommunications sector is a good example of that.
These trends pose significant challenges to the policy maker. Firstly the rapid evolution of technology and the ability for it to be deployed instantly creates a situation where technology can be and is deployed before there is sufficient experience with its effects. Secondly software models are just very rough abstractions of systems and create possibilities that do not exist in the real world. Thirdly the fact that there is so much participation by the private sector in critical infrastructure makes it important that they are represented at the policy formulation table.
The first problem is how do we ensure that a technology does not have unintended negative consequences and if such consequences arise how are they to be dealt with. The second problem is how do we ensure that systems are trustworthy and meet the expectations of their stakeholders.
My current research interests broadly are:
• Policy aspects of technology deployment at scale
• Policy aspects of Data Governance and Management
• Standards as a vehicle for policy implementation
• Trustworthiness of systems and systems-of-systems
• Cybersecurity
Ph.D. in Computer Science, I.I.T Bombay
M.Tech in Computer Science from I.I.T. Delhi
B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from I.I.T. Kanpur
PS-632: Contemporary Challenges is Data Policy and Governance – Course Description
PS641 – Trustworthy Systems: A policy engagement – Course Description
Evaluation Pattern
Exams
o Mid semester exam – 20%
o End semester exam – 20%
Assignments
o 4 assignments – 15% each
