Dr. Manoj Varghese,Ph.D, MS, MBA, BE.

Senior Director - Global Partnerships, Advisory & Consulting - Connecta®, Adjunct Faculty - Assumption University, Former Global Director Technology & Risk Management - GEMS Education, Former CIO - Athena Education.

Dr. Manoj is a Senior Technology, Innovation, Education & Risk Management leader with over two decades of unmatched international experience and expertise. He is an EdTech researcher with strong knowledge of BYOD, STEM Education & 21st Century Learning skills

As Senior Director at Connecta®, he leads partnerships, advisory, consulting, strategy & publishing. Connecta® is a global innovation brand specialised in providing advisory, consulting and publishing services in Technology, Education & Management

As Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Athena Education, Manoj led Technology & Digital Strategy which comprises of Leadership, Strategy, New Technology Initiatives, IT Policy and Procedures, IT Enhancement, IT Budgets, IT Procurement, IT Operations, IT Security & Data Integrity, Enterprise IT Systems (ERP, SIS, VLE), Risk Management, IT Human Resource Management, Software Licensing, Web, Email, Portal Services, Vendor Relationships, User Feedback & Committees

He was the Global Director – Technology & Risk Management at GEMS Education led the Technology Strategy, Execution of Strategic Plans, Technology Budget, Technology Governance, Compliance, Security, Risk & Audit for over 250+ GEMS’ Global and Partner Schools, and related businesses in 10 countries. As a Project Director at GEMS, he led all aspects of Technology for over 45 International School projects in North America, UK, Europe, Africa, Middle East, India, Singapore, Malaysia & China, and two prestigious Higher Education projects in Dubai. He was the Project Director of GEMS’ SAP ERP project, where SAP was implemented over 180 schools. He was the Architect of GEMS’ proprietary ERP & VLE

He was a Former Regional Committee Member of Varkey Foundation which organizes world-famous Global Teacher Prize, an annual US $1 million award

Manoj is a world traveler and he loves nature photography. He had been to over 42 countries and keeps exploring more every year. Cross country drive through villages are his favorite. He also explored a wide range of K12 and Higher Education systems during his travel

He is an IT Engineering Graduate, has completed MBA program in Systems and has MS and PhD in E-Learning Methodology.