Divakar is a Manager in the Strategy & Operations practice of Deloitte Consulting and is a member of the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Industry Vertical at Deloitte.  Divakar has over 12 years of international experience in telecommunications, having worked on a variety of telecom policy, regulatory and mobile/digital convergence projects across the USA, Europe and the Asia Pacific. At his current work Divakar helps clients tap cross-industry convergence opportunities on the mobile platform, specifically related to business model innovation, ecosystem development and growth strategies. One such instance is in assisting the global expansion of a US card network’s mobile payments platform, by developing business and technology requirements, identifying implementation risks and assessing organizational preparedness.

Divakar was involved in LIRNEasia’s development from its inception in 2004, until May 2007, when he left to join Deloitte. During his time at LIRNEasia, he worked as a Director of Projects and Organisational Development and managed a number of ICT policy related research projects. One such project was the needs assessment and gap analysis of local capacity for ICT policy and regulation in Pacific Island countries. The project provided inputs for multilateral organizations to develop capacity-building initiatives in the ICT sector in these countries.  In another cross border project, Divakar was involved in measuring telecom sector and regulatory performance across the six countries of India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The scope of his work included writing the terms of reference, managing project plans and milestones, and ensuring implementation of deliverables. Divakar was also involved in a research on the ICT sector in Indonesia, which became one of  LIRNEasia’s most influential projects on ICT policy development.

Divakar says his current work environment is different when compared to LIRNEasia, but the work experiences and skills developed at LIRNEasia, continue to be useful.  “Compared to LIRNEasia, I now work in a much larger, more formal, transnational organization. However, I feel the concepts we developed at LIRNEasia, particularly with relation to cross border collaboration and virtual organization structures,  are still applicable to my current work,” says Divakar. “For instance, at LIRNEasia we developed systems of using ICTs to network and tap expertise from different parts of the world. This is applicable in my work even now, where we draw on expertise from across the globe for consultancy projects, but in a much larger scale than at LIRNEasia,” he explains.

Divakar says his work at LIRNEasia also helped him develop the management skills required to manage the types of complex, multi-component projects that he is currently working on. The telecommunications regulation and policy development exposure at LIRNEasia, says Divakar,  has enhanced his understating of cutting edge telecom policy, regulatory and business issues, which are important in his current area of specialization. Divakar says his research experiences at LIRNEasia have also contributed towards his work through the ability to drive research projects from ideation to publication.