Vimal Wakhlu

Vice-President
ITU-APT Foundation of India

Vimal Wakhlu is the former Chairman & Managing Director of Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd.(TCIL),a Government of India Enterprise, Past President of The Telemedicine Society of India and the Ex-Board Member of ISfTeH (International Society for Telemedicine & e-Health). A Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) from National Institute of Technology, Srinagar 1977, and MBA Marketing from IGNOU, he has about 43 years of experience in the field of Telecom and Information Technology, including e-Networks, Mobile, etc. He has been instrumental in the successful implementation of the prestigious Government of India’s Pan African e-Network Project, a project envisioned by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the Former President of India, providing a platform to 48 nations in Africa to India for Education and Health Services, and also the SAARC e-Network.
Starting his career with NHPC in 1977, followed by Overseas Communications Services (later VSNL and now Tata Communications Ltd.) till 1983. As an officer of the Indian Telecommunications Service he held various positions in DOT (Department of Telecom) from 1983 to 2000 and BSNL from 2000 to 2006, including Director Satellite Maintenance, Western Telecom Region, and General Manager Mobile Services in Maharashtra and the North East Circles.He has been involved in TCIL in various capacities From December 2006 till January 2016, including Executive Director (Transmission) and Director (Technical) and Chairman & Managing Director. TCIL has scaled new heights during this phase, besides bagging some large value global and domestic projects. He has served as Director on the Boards of TTL (Tamil Telecommunications Limited) and TBL International, TCIL Saudi Ltd., Bharati Hexacom Limited. He is a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) of the Project Management Institute (PMI) of Pennsylvania, United States. A Life Fellow of IETE (Institution Of Electronics and Telecom Engineers),Member of TRAC committee. A Life Member of the ITU APT Foundation of India and its current Vice President. A Member of IEEE (Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), A Member of DCIF (Digital Communications India Forum) and its current Vice President.He has been a Visiting faculty on Business of Telecom Management in Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), and Advanced Mobile Communications, Satellite and Optical Fiber Communication in University of Mumbai, Pune University and Advanced Level Telecom Training Centre (ALTTC).He has been delivering lectures on how technologies can be leveraged for entrepreneurship.
He has been participating in panel discussions on various fora, on a wide variety of subjects, including Education, Health, Disaster Management, Financial inclusion, Environment,Energy Management, Security including Cyber Security, Governance, Telecommunication and Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things etc.His specialization is in leveraging technology for mitigating challenges faced by underprivileged people of developing nations.
Currently a freelance Consultant advising companies on Technology transfer, Capacity building, Project execution and some of the state governments on Project/Program Management. Director at Sustainable Smart Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
An Expert in Working Groups on United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC),an initiative of ITU (International Telecommunications Union)-UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission on Europe)
An Expert in Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence for Environmental Efficiency (FGAI4EE), of ITU (International Telecommunications Union)