Raja, Siddhartha

Siddhartha 'Sid' Raja has been a research assistant with PACTLab since August 2003, when he began his PhD with the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Illinois.

Sid has a BS in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Bombay in India (2002), and a MS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University (2003).

His research interests include, in the broadest terms, the politics of development. He is specifically interested in infrastructure development, communications technology, the social study of technology, communications law and policy, and the anthropology of regulation.

In 2005 and 2006, Siddhartha worked as a consultant with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which is the federal telecom regulator in India. During his time with TRAI, he co-authored the regulator's 3G and broadband wireless spectrum policy, consultation papers on mobile number portability and unsolicited commercial communications, and wrote speeches and press releases for senior staff and the agency. He has also worked as an intern with Reliance Infocomm India Ltd, which is India's second largest cellular service provider, in their Regulatory Affairs division.

Sid is currently working on his dissertation for his PhD, which is tentatively titled Regulation as Local Knowledge: Indian telecom regulation as a cultural activity. He plans to complete his PhD in May 2007.

You can learn more about Siddhartha on his website.