My name is Siddharth Sarkar (SID), an Indian, pursued my bachelors in Electrical & Electronics Engineering, but always worked for organizations supporting IT or ITES. I have a short working experience of 3 years in organizations such as HP, IBM, prior to coming to Thailand. My work profile also included interaction with customers from Australia, New Zealand, the USA, and many countries from the European Union. Currently I am in the final stages of completion of my Master of Engineering in Computer Science & Information Technology at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok.

It has been a great honor for me to have worked as junior professional at the ITU Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand. I served the organization for 9 months, starting May, 2006. Few days after the commencement of my job, I was lucky enough to attend the conference and have a group photograph with then Secretary-General, UNO, H E Mr. Kofi Annan, during his visit to Bangkok on 26^th May, 2006.

 Apart from serving the Youth Program for ITU TELECOM World Youth Forum (Hong Kong, 4-8 December 2006), my work profile with the Office also included Digitalization of the Regional library, Evaluation of Technical Writings, Preparation of database of ICT Publications by the organizations like, OECD, World Bank, ADBI, APDIP, UNESCAP, European Union, OFCOM,  and FCC, for ITU, Bangkok office, Preparation of worldwide database of the CV’s of Telecom experts, Drafting country briefs for the Asia- Pacific region, and Assisting ICT Policy and Regulatory expert.

 The first lesson I learned was ‘Time Management’, balancing between my studies and the official work. First few days were hard for me and I was in dilemma whether to continue. Warm welcome, regular cooperation and guidance from my colleagues helped me overcome the dilemma and I started enjoying my work. Here I found a clear distinction between working with a private sector, with a headcount of 2000 under one roof and working with UN/ International organization such as ITU with few people working in the Regional Office. The learning curve is steeper in the later, due to the regular interactions and personal touch.

 My learning is not only restricted to the Asia-Pacific, but the global ICT industry. Regional workshops and seminars further enhanced my knowledge. Meeting the Experts on various ICT sector and from different countries gave me a global exposure. It was remarkable to see their professionalism, the depth of knowledge in their field and the ability to answer the most complicated queries. The workshops and seminars allowed me to comprehend the importance of ICT development in the developing countries. In other words, this is an excellent platform to make global contacts with the best of people in this industry.

 I would say that working here was the biggest opportunity for me, career-wise, out of all. These kinds of opportunities make a clear impression in ones CV.

 Regards,

Sid.