Aalok Kumar, Corporate Officer & Sr VP – Head of the Global Smart City Business, NEC Corporation, and President & CEO, NEC Corporation India, has been appointed as a member of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) High-level Advisory Group on Digital Technology for Development with effect from May 1, 2023. The eight-member group, consisting of global industry leaders in digital technology and academicians, is committed to further accelerating the utilization of ICT technology among ADB activities for developing countries.
Kumar takes on this role from Katsumi Emura, former NEC Corporation Fellow, one of the founding members of the group. Carrying Emura’s legacy forward, Kumar will leverage his decades of experience and wide range of knowledge in providing strategic counsel towards the optimal adoption of digital technologies for ADB to carry out its developmental work.
Commenting on the appointment, Kumar said, “I feel humbled to have been elected to represent NEC Corporation as part of Asian Development Bank’s High-level Advisory Group on Digital Technology. I look forward to the opportunity to work alongside this esteemed group of industry luminaries to help develop strong strategies for ADB to carry out critical developmental work in Asian countries, cutting across multiple focus areas.”
Asian Development Bank was established in 1966 as a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. This advisory group was founded in 2019, with a core purpose to help devise digital strategies on ADB’s operational priorities, as defined in “ADB Strategy 2030.” These priorities include addressing poverty, reducing inequality, mitigating climate change, bridging the gender gap, and making cities liveable.
These are in alignment with NEC’s own vision and priority areas for its work in the developing world, and in that regard, this appointment serves as an opportunity for NEC Corporation to accelerate and further cement its efforts towards solving the challenges of the developing world. “This accelerates NEC’s mission of ‘Orchestrating a brighter world’ – bringing immeasurable impact in societies leveraging the power of technology,” Kumar further added.
An alumnus of St. Stephens College, Delhi and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Aalok Kumar brings nearly three decades of experience in senior leadership roles in business transformation, performance improvement, and margin expansion. Prior to taking up the mantle as the President and CEO of NEC India in 2020, he served as the Senior Vice President of McKinsey & Company. He has also worked in companies that include GE Healthcare, GE Capital and ABN Amro Bank
