Overview
Dr. Manzul Kumar Hazarika participated in the Asia Pacific Digital Transformation Forum, organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in partnership with the Ministry of Finance of Japan, held at ADB Headquarters on 25 June 2025.
This inaugural forum, themed “Digital Technology for Transformation,” was designed to support emerging economies in harnessing the power of digital technologies to drive inclusive and sustainable development. By bringing together key stakeholders from across the region including government officials, industry leaders, development partners, and ADB staff the event aimed to foster cross-sectoral innovation, strategic partnerships, and practical solutions for digital transformation.
The forum aimed to showcase the potential of digital technologies such as AI, cybersecurity, and green data centers in advancing development outcomes. It also sought to facilitate ministerial and regional dialogues on key digital and technological issues, strengthen partnerships to encourage cross-sectoral collaboration and enhance project effectiveness, and promote technology adoption as a critical pathway toward achieving sustainable, high-quality, and impactful development.
GIC’s Role
As a speaker in the session titled “Geospatial Technologies for a Sustainable Future: Leveraging Satellites, IoT, and Cloud Processing,” Dr. Hazarika delivered a presentation on “Harnessing Cloud-Based Technologies and Earth Observation Data to Boost Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)”. The presentation emphasized the applications of Earth Observation (EO) data in supporting ADB’s strategic sectors, with specific regional case studies on its use in agriculture, infrastructure development, disaster risk assessment, and risk management. The session highlighted the value of EO and cloud computing in advancing digital public goods and enabling informed, data-driven development planning.
