K M Baharul Islam
Quick Facts
Biography
Professor Dr K M Baharul Islam (অধ্যাপক ডঃ কে এম বাহারুল ইসলাম) is presently a Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, India. He works in the area of Educational Institutional Development, teaching & Research, ICT Policies and e-Government in Asia and Africa. Dr Islam holds the position of Professor and Chairperson of Communications Area at Indian Institute of Management Kashipur. He also serves as the Chairperson of the Center of Excellence in Public Policy and Government at the institute. He is a Fellow at the US India Policy Institute in Washington DC. He was selected as an International Fellow at the King Abdullah International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue in Vienna, popularly known as KAICIID Dialogue Centre for 2015-2016. He served as the Chairman and CEO of the South Asia Development Gateway set up by the Development Gateway from 2007 to 2012. He studied for his first BA and MA at the Aligarh Muslim University. He completed his 2nd and 3rd post-graduate bachelor's degrees in Education (BEd) and Law (LLB) from Assam University. He did his PhD on "New Technologies for English Language Classrooms" from Tezpur University, India]. He did LLM (IT & Telecom Law) at the Strathclyde Law School, University of Strathclyde with a UK Telecom Academy Fellowship. He did his post-doctoral studies on Internet-based instructions at Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. Dr Islam also completed his MBA from I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University and a second PhD in Transitional justice from Assam Don Bosco University, Guwahati.
Prof Islam is leading a major regional capacity building program called "Environmental Assessment Capacity Building in South Asia" funded by World Bank since 2014. Under the project he planned and successfully launched a Green MBA Specialization within the post-graduate program in management as Indian Institute of Management Kashipur. He is also the principal Investigator for the project on "Performance Indicators for Subordinate Courts and Suggestive Policy / Procedural Changes to Reduce Civil Case Pendency" funded by Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India project under research in Judicial reform scheme. Dr Islam is the Project Director for a Communication Strategy development for Disaster management in Uttarakhand state in India. Communication is one of the key issues during any emergency, pre-planning of communications is critical. Miscommunication can easily result in emergency events escalating unnecessarily. This is a major project funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research after the 2013 North India floods.
He started his career as a faculty in Humanities at National Institute of Technology, Silchar where he taught from 1994 to 2002. The institute was formerly known as Regional Engineering College, Silchar. He initiated and headed the Center for Educational Technology at the National Institute of Technology Silchar, India where he taught for eight years. He was part of the faculty during the initial years of development of Kigali Institute of Science, Technology & Management (KIST), Rwanda (2000–2001) which is now known as College of Science and Technology (Rwanda). In 2002–2003, Baharul Islam was seconded to the Addis Ababa University as an Associate Professor. Prof Islam also worked as a Reader at the National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi (2002). In order to serve the grassroots communities, Dr Islam initiated an NGO in Assam, India called PFI Foundation, and served as its Honorary Executive Director. While working for the Foundation, he received two Certificates of Recognition from World Bank Development Marketplace Award in 2003 and 2007 for his projects on the Education of Disabled Children in Ethiopia and Mobile Eye Care Clinic in Northeast India respectively.
Baharul Islam worked earlier as an ICT Policy & eGovernment Consultant at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Addis Ababa and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Bangkok. He has been involved in various UN projects in Asia and Africa in countries including Cambodia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, Egypt, Tanzania and Sierra Leone. His publications include e -Government Strategy for the Gambia (Published by UNECA) and a National ICT Policy called NICI Policy and Plans for The Gambia commissioned by UNECA. He wrote a chapter in the Digital Encyclopaedia on ICT & Economic Development. He was registered as an Advocate by the Bar Council of India in 2004 and enrolled as member of the Bar Association at the Gauhati High Court
Publications
- New Directions in Media (2015). Eds. K.M. Baharul Islam and Nandita Roy
- Issues in Women's Rights: A Practitioners' Resource Book (2014). K M Baharul Islam (Editor)
- Community based water resources management in North East India : lessons from a global context. Editors: C.K. Jain, K.M. Baharul Islam, Shikhar Sarma.
- National ICT Policies and Plans towards Poverty Reduction: Emerging Trends and Issues – Linking PRSP to the National ICT Policies and Plans: A Case Study. UNECA, 2004.[1]
- Woman Rights Education, Literacy Online Journal, Pennsylvania [2]
- National ICT Policy & Plans for Sierra Leone, UN-ECA, Addis Ababa (2006)[3]
- Regional e-Government Framework for East African Community, UNECA, Addis Ababa / EAC, Arusha, Tanzania Publication, 2006
- National ICT Policy & Plans for the Gambia, UN-ECA, Addis Ababa (2004)
- E-Government Strategy for The Gambia, UN-ECA, Addis Ababa (2004)
- Regional ICT Strategy for COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa), U”NECA/COMESA, 2004
- Social Justice & Other Issues (Ed), REC Silchar Publication; Silchar 1998
- English for Science & Technology: An Audio Visual Approach (Auth), Shaddhanjali Publications, Silchar, 1997
- e-Commerce: Laws and Cyber Crimes, In Road Map Towards a Cyber Crime Deterrent Mechanism (ed.) N. Deka. 2008. SAN, Guwahati India
- Regional Integrated Development in India, Economy Review (Dec 2007), IIPM, New Delhi
- ICT for Poverty Reduction: The African Perspective, Encyclopaedia of Digital Governance, 2006; Idea Group Inc., Hershey, PA 17033 USA
- ICT for Socio-Economic Development: ACTION Model, In African E-Markets. Eds Aida Opoku-Mensah & M. Salih. International Books & UN, The Netherlands, 2007
- The African Renaissance, Book Review published in The Ethiopian Review, Oct 2003 Issue.
- Problems, prospects and future of education for minorities in India: a case study of Madrassa education in Assam, Management of School Education in India (Ed. Neelam Sood) New Delhi, A.P.H., 2003.
- e-Governance: The Indian Experience, ICT Focus, Vol:2 Issue:3, Nov/03; Addis Ababa
- Access & Equity Issues in Crossing the Digital Divide through Open & Distance Learning, AAOU XV Conference Volume, 2002, IGNOU: New Delhi. Visit http://www.ignou.ac.in
- ICT for Education in Ethiopia, Ethiopian Herald, June 2003
- Making of an Outer Circle in Language: TEFL as an avenue for Gender Sensitisations, ILS Proceedings, 15thAnnual Conference, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa; 2003
- Computer Networks as Mass Media: Exploring Possibilities of Computer Initiatives in TEFL in Ethiopia (Co-auth: Demisse T.), ILS Proceedings, 15thAnnual Conference, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa; 2003
- Towards ESP In Ethiopia: A 3D English Language Needs Survey, Proceedings of 2ndInterdisciplinary Conference English Language Teaching, Unity University, Addis Ababa; April 2003
- Cultural Content and Foreign Language Acquisition: A Case for Paradigm Shift in Ethiopia, Annual OSSREA Conference, Organization for Social Sciences Research in Eastern and Southern Africa; Addis Ababa June 2003
- Woman Rights Education, Literacy Online Journal, Pennsylvania
- Open & Distance education for Displaced Persons : An Avenue to social Welfare, Open & Distance Education, Ed. Mukhopadhya, M & M. Parhar, New Delhi 1997
Major Projects Undertaken
- 2014-16: The World Bank: "Building Capacities in Environmental Assessment in South Asia” - Phase I
- 2015-17 : Ministry of Law, Government of India: “Performance Indicators for Subordinate Courts and Performance Indicators for Subordinate Courts and Policy / Procedural Changes For Reducing Civil Case Pendency”.
- 2014-16 : Indian Council of Social Science Research: “Mitigating Disasters and Promoting Development in Uttarakhand: A participatory Model for the State, Civil Society and Media.”
- 1997-99: Project Leader & Coordinator of project to set up the Center for Educational Technology for Teacher Training & Research on ICT and Development funded by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India under Thrust Area (TAPTECH) Scheme at National Institute of Technology Silchar,(Deemed University), India
- 1995-97: Project Coordinator & Head of the Lab, Establishment of a Audio-Visual and Multimedia Instruction Laboratory for Training & Research on ICT and Education funded Sanctioned by the Ministry of HRD, India under Modernization and Removal of Obsolescence (MODROBS) Scheme of Government of India at National Institute of Technology Silchar,(Deemed University), India
Major Courses Taught
Prof Islam teaches following courses under the Post Graduate (MBA), Executive Education and Doctoral programs:
- Corporate Communication Strategy
- Legal Aspect of Business
- Make in India: International Business Policies and Models
- Media & Entertainment Business Management
- Movies for Management
- Under Fellow Program
- Communication Theory
- Business Communication
- Communication, Media and the Public
- Ethics Of Communication