Avinash Agarwal

Avinash Agarwal

Avinash Agarwal is an Indian Telecommunications Service (ITS) Officer with a 32-year career in Telecommunications, Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology, and Broadcasting. He has held various key positions within the Government of India. He brings deep multilateral experience and a proven track record of building consensus among Member States, with successful leadership roles in both APT preparatory groups and ITU, making him well-suited for leading APT preparations for the ITU Plenipotentiary process.

• Since November 2024, he heads the International Relations Wing of the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications. He also serves as India’s Focal Point for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
• From 2020 to 2024, he was with Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), India’s Standards Setting Organization, where he framed policies, standards, and test procedures for various technologies, including trustworthy artificial intelligence, multimedia, broadcasting, convergence, and other emerging technologies. He headed the Standardisation and Convergence & Broadcasting Divisions at TEC and served as the Nodal for Indian contributions to international Standards Organizations, including ITU and IEEE.
• From 2017 to 2020, as the Additional Director General (IT) at Prasar Bharati, India’s Public Sector Broadcaster, he led digital transformation initiatives for the twin networks of Doordarshan and All India Radio. His successful delivery of the Global Digital Platform and NewsOnAir Mobile App included live streaming of 230+ radio channels, live TV, text news in multiple languages, podcasts, and more.
• Between 2012 and 2017, he served as the State Head Haryana & Senior General Manager at Bharat Broadband Network Limited. He played a key role in leading the rollout of the BharatNet Project, providing Optical Fibre Cable connectivity to over 6000 Gram Panchayats in Haryana.
• From 2005 to 2011, he worked at BSNL Corporate Office in New Delhi, where his responsibilities included formulating procurement policies and overseeing the evaluation and procurement of various telecom equipment and turn-key projects, including cellular network equipment, CDMA, Broadband, and wire-line exchanges.
• Avinash Agarwal’s career includes roles in the Department of Telecommunications, India and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. from 1993 to 2004. During this period, he focused on telecom and IT network rollout, planning, procurement, and operations & maintenance.

ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor of Engineering (Electronics & Communication), University of Rajasthan, India,
• Master of Technology (Computer Science & Technology), IIT Roorkee, India,
• Perusing D. on Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, 2026 (expected).
• Certificate courses from University of Florida USA, IIM Ahmedabad India, World

ROLES IN APT:

• APT WTDC-25: Vice-Chair of APT Preparatory Group for ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference 2025.
• APT WTSA-24: Vice-Chair of Working Group-3 on “Regulatory/ Policy and Standardization Related Issues” under APT Preparatory Group for ITU World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly 2024.

ROLES IN ITU:

• ITU-T Study Group 21 [2025-2028] – Vice Chair
• ITU-R Study Group 5 [2024-2027] – Vice Chair
• ITU-T Q1/21 [2025-2028] – Rapporteur
• ITU-T Q11/9 [2022-2024] – Rapporteur
• ITU-T Q20/21 [2025-2028] – Associate rapporteur
• ITU-T Q3/9 [2022-2024] – Associate rapporteur
• ITU-T JCA-AHF, ITU-R WP6C, ITU-R WP6B [2025-2028] – Liaison officer (ITU-T SG21)
• ITU-T SG3 on Economic & policy issues [2022-2024] – Liaison officer (ITU-T SG9)
• Liaison officer to ITU-T SG9 [2022-2024] – Liaison officer (ITU-T SG3)
• ITU-T multiple work items – Editor
• ITU-T Joint Management Team for the proposed merger of ITU-T SG9 and SG16 –
• Successfully organized ITU-T SG3RG-AO meeting in New Delhi, India in August
• Successfully organized ITU-T SG9 meeting in Bengaluru, India in May
• Member of the Organizing Committee that successfully hosted the WTSA-24 in New
• Contributions: More than 50 contributions to various ITU Study Groups since

ROLES IN OTHER STANDARDS ORGANISATIONS

• IEEE: Chair of IEEE Industry Connections Program “Strengthening Telecom Standardization Activities in India”.
• IEEE: TEC Representative for IEEE Government Engagement Program on Standards (GEPS).
• Chair, National Working Group-9, Ministry of Communications, Government of India [2022-2024].
• Vice-Chair, National Working Group-3, Ministry of Communications, Government of India [2022-2024].
• Nodal for coordinating with National Working Groups mirroring the ITU-T

RECENT PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS

1. “A Five-Layer Framework for AI Governance: Integrating Regulation, Standards, and Certification”, Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 2025.
2. “Advancing Trustworthy AI: A Comparative Evaluation of AI Robustness Toolboxes”, SN Computer Science, Springer Nature, 2025.
3. “Enhancements for Developing a Comprehensive AI Fairness Assessment Standard”, IEEE COMSNETS 2025, Bengaluru, India, 2025.
4. “Standardizing Responsible AI in Telecom: Ensuring Fairness, Robustness and Trustworthiness”, Telecommunications Journal, Volume-62 Issue-4, 2024
5. “Standardised schema and taxonomy for AI incident databases in critical digital infrastructure”, IEEE PuneCon 2024, Pune, India, 2024- Best Paper Award.
6. “Addressing AI Risks in Critical Infrastructure: Formalising the AI Incident Reporting Process”, 2024 IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Computing and Communication Technologies (CONECCT), Bangalore, India, 2024. – Best Paper Award.
7. “Advancing Trustworthy AI for Sustainable Development: Recommendations for Standardising AI Incident Reporting”, ITU Kaleidoscope 2024.
8. “Accessibility evaluation of major assistive mobile applications available for the visually impaired”, ITU Journal on Future and Evolving Technologies, 2023.
9. “A seven-layer model with checklists for standardising fairness assessment throughout the AI lifecycle” AI and Ethics, Springer Nature, 2023. – 27 citations.
10. “Fairness Score and Process Standardization: Framework for Fairness Certification in Artificial Intelligence Systems”, AI and Ethics, Springer Nature, 2022 – 44 citations, also cited by the National Physical Laboratory, UK.
11. “Coexistence assessment and interference mitigation for 5G and Fixed Satellite Stations in C-band in India”, ArXiv, 2023.
12. “Rethinking Telecom Policy: Integrating AI Incident Reporting with Cybersecurity and Data Protection for Enhanced Trustworthiness”, ScienceDirect (under review).