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About me Dr. Sabarish Karunakaran is the Chief Scientist (Scientist-G) at the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE). With a distinguished academic background in computer science and over 28 years of professional experience, he has established himself as a leader in digital transformation, cybersecurity, and e-governance innovation. He is a Certified Chief Data Protection Officer (CDPO, BCCS, UK), Certified AI Security Officer (CAISO, BCCS, UK), and TOGAF-certified Enterprise Architect, bringing rare expertise in combining secure digital infrastructure with sustainable development goals.Over the years, Dr. Sabarish has conceptualised and led pioneering projects such as the Mobile Governance Framework and DrSMS, which earned many National and International accolades which include the Computer world Honors Laureate Award (USA), National E-governance Award etc. He was instrumental in establishing CERT-K (Computer Emergency Response Team – Kerala), deploying AI-based enforcement automation for the Motor Vehicles Department, and directing the nationally recognised e-Governance transformation of the Kerala Public Service Commission. As Director of ICFOSS, Dr. Sabarish led not only technical innovation but also strategic visioning, financial planning, and operational oversight. His responsibilities included developing annual and multi-year budgets, allocating resources for labs, UAV stations, open hardware labs, and environmental monitoring deployments (e.g. LoRaWAN AWS in Kattakada), while ensuring both cost efficiency and impact. He collaborated with government, academic, and community stakeholders to define strategic goals and translate them into funded R&D programmes across FOSS, language computing, assistive technology, and drone-based ecological monitoring. In his role, he shaped governance processes, incubator infrastructure (such as Swatantra incubator space), and institutional policies that enabled ICFOSS to act as both an academic research centre and a service provider. While championing inclusive technology initiatives such as Women Hackathons, capacity-building programs, and back-to-work opportunities. These efforts earned ICFOSS international recognition as a finalist in the ITU’s Equals in Tech Awards from among 340 global nominations. His leadership not only helped bridge the gender divide in ICT but also positioned Kerala as a leader in FOSS-driven, citizen-centric innovation. Under his stewardship, ICFOSS scaled its operations, expanded its labs and incubation space (30,000 sq.ft. facility at Sports Hub), and drove high-impact pilot projects in open source language technologies, assistive devices, and environmental sensing, all aligned with ICFOSS’s mission and Kerala’s FOSS and sustainable development goals. His leadership has earned Kerala multiple recognitions, including Digital India Awards, National e-Governance Awards, NeSDA benchmarks, Web Ratna Awards, and the mBillionth South Asia Award. Internationally, he was a finalist for the SEARCC ICT Leadership Award (Colombo) and the Equals in Tech Award (ITU Geneva) for bridging the gender divide in ICT. At KSCSTE, he now steers the digitalisation of research governance and scientific services, ensuring alignment with open standards, cybersecurity, and innovation for public good. Name of Schemes & programmes (including external funded Programmes): DPPS – Digital Project Proposal Submission System (submit.kerala.gov.in) Online Recruitment portal for R&D centres of KSCSTE (recruit.kerala.gov.in) KSCSTE Digital Repository KSCSTE Library Management Digital Kerala – Enterprise Enabling the Government KSCSTE Research Fellowship Online Application and Examination Kerala Science Congress – Online Application and Event Management Video conferencing Smart Data Centre and Network and Security Infrastructure Facility Managent Academic Qualifications: PhD: Computer Applications (2017) – Noorul Islam University MBA- HR (1998) – IGNOU MCA (1993) – College of Engineering, Trivandrum , University of Kerala B.Sc. (1990) – Physics, University of Kerala Professional Experience/ Academic Positions: 2018 – Present Chief Scientist (Scientist–G) & Head, Information Systems Division Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) Deputations: Director – ICFOSS (Chief Scientist, KSCSTE- on Deputation), International Center for Free and Open Source Software (Jun 2020 – Dec 2020) Head, E-Governance – KSITM (Chief Scientist, KSCSTE -on Deputation), Kerala State IT Mission (Dec 2018 – Jun 2020) 2013 – 2018 Scientist–F (Senior Principal Scientist)& Head, Information Systems Division Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) 2010 – 2013 Scientist–E2 (Principal Scientist) & Head, Information Systems Division Information Systems Division, Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) 2005 – 2010 Scientist–E1 (Senior Scientist) Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) Deputation: Mission Coordinator, Kerala State IT Mission (Aug 2008 – Oct 2012) 2000 – 2005 Scientist–C (Scientist) JN Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) Deputation: Systems Manager (Scientist–C), Kerala Public Service Commission (Dec 2001 – March 2006) 1995 – 2000 Scientist–B (Junior Scientist/Systems Analyst) JN Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) Digital Transformation and M/E-Governance Smart Cities, IoT, Blockchain, AI & Data Analytics Cybersecurity and Policy Development Quantum Computing Government Process Re-engineering (GPR) Mobile Governance Frameworks ICT Infrastructure & Service Delivery Models Ongoing/Completed Projects Conceptualized & implemented over 30+ ICT projects with wide citizen impact Drafted Kerala IT Policies, IT Security Policy, and Electronic Delivery of Service Rules (2010) Led projects like e-District Kerala, E-Treasury, e-Office, Digital Service Gateway, SmartCop, Dr. SMS, Dam Alerts, Enforcement Automation etc K, ICT Interventions in Landslide Prediction Runout Modelling, Mitigation and Early Warning, Informatics Studies. ISSN 2583-8954, Vol. 11, Issue 4 Fourth Quarterly Issue. October – December 2024. P 03-10 (https://www.informaticsstudies.org/index.php/informatics/article/view/709) Karunakaran, Sabarish and Rao, Seeram Sambasiva, A Comparative Study on E Governance Data Framework Implementation in Estonia, Republic of Korea & Singapore (2023). https://ssrn.com/abstract=4482708or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4482708 Karunakaran, Sabarish and Rao, Seeram Sambasiva, Case Study : Digital Government in Singapore: The Critical Success Factors (2018). https://ssrn.com/abstract=4451182or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4451182 Karunakaran, Sabarish and Rao, Seeram Sambasiva, Comparative Study of E-Governance Implementation in Estonia, Singapore and South Korea (May 24, 2018). : https://ssrn.com/abstract=4451165 K and Shaji R.S, A Mobile Governance Framework for Geo-Referenced Emergency Management System, Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, Springer, 2016. K and Shaji R.S, ‘SMARTCOP’ – Mobile Governance Framework for Law Enforcement, Asian Journal of Information Technology, Medwell Journals, 2016. K and Shaji R.S, “DAM ALERTS” m-Powering Farmers with Irrigation Information and Flood Alerts, Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 2016. K and Shaji R.S, A Scalable Cloud Enabled Mobile Governance Framework, IEEE Xplore, 2014. K, Mobile Governance: The Kerala Experience and Insights for a Comprehensive Strategy, European Journal of E-Practice, 2011. Other Publications & Compendium Contributions Geo-Referenced Electronic Mobile
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