Dr. Abhay Jere is currently the Vice-chairman, All India Council for Technical Education, New Delhi and also holds additional charge of ‘Chief Innovation Officer, Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell (MIC). Before joining AICTE as Vice Chairman, Dr. Jere served in Ministry of Education as its’ first Chief Innovation Officer. Previously, Dr. Jere also worked as Chief Scientist- Life Sciences and R&D Head for Persistent Systems Ltd.
He is the brain and driving force behind annual initiative ‘Smart India Hackathon’ which has now evolved as ‘World’s Biggest Hackathon and largest Open Innovation Model’. His efforts have established Hackathon culture in India. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has personally applauded these initiatives and now, Dr. Jere executes even organizes international hackathons for India like Singapore-India Hackathon, Africa-India Hackathon, etc.
Dr. Jere is instrumental in conceptualizing first-of-its’ kind ‘Atal Innovation Ranking framework (ARIIA)’ for ranking all education institutions in India on their innovation achievements.