Unity is the secret of social progress, and service to society is the means to promote it, goes the popular saying. But to believe in the dictum as well as to strive for it, is probably the greatest courage men can show. Satish Jha, chairman, Digital Partners India, is one of those individuals who carry with him the conviction of a missionary convert when it comes to social service. That's the reason he chose to relinquish a high-profile career in a private company and joined a non-profit organization, which works for the poor and the needy.

A multi-faceted personality, Jha has been actively involved in various projects related to energy. While working in Switzerland, he was instrumental in founding FREND (Foundation for Renewable Energy Decentralized) and DESI (Decentralized Energy Systems Integrated) along with other Swiss professionals with interest in development issues. Later, FREND and DESI established DESI Power India in collaboration with Development Alternatives. Jha, who is a management consultant, also chairs James Martin & Co in India and is the Chairman of South Asian Initiatives of Digital Partners and Managing Trustee of Digital Partners India. A New Delhi-based NGO, Digital Partners taps the power of the digital economy to develop market-based solutions that benefit the poor.

With support from individual contributors, Digital Partners today is working to cultivate a world in which every person is able to reap the benefits of the Digital Revolution to improve the quality of their lives. In fact, no one but Satish Jha himself founded James Martin & Co in India, as a joint venture with James Martin Holdings Ltd. in 1993. And Satish Jha's experience in information technology and management, during his years of working, has stood him in a good stead.

It's no wonder that Jha played vital roles while working with Hoffmann-La Roche in Switzerland including as the head of global information systems and development coordination for its Vitamins Division. Jha is also one of the founders of Tarahaat that has been acknowledged as one of the pioneering models in using ICTs for Development. Later he started the Baramati Initiatives in 2001 with the support of Motoo Kusakabe of The World Bank and Sharad Pawar, the former chief minister of Maharashtra. Recently, another feather was added to Jha's cap when he was appointed as special advisor to the Kofi Annan Centre for Excellence in Advanced Information Technology Initiatives in Ghana.

He will be advising the centre which has been supported by the Government of India as well to become a key Centre of ICT4D initiatives in Ghana and neighbouring Africa and for the developing world. He will also support the Centre in developing partnerships between Ghanian and Indian companies and organisations to mutually gain from the experiences including in the area of capacity building, R&D policy, portfolio of doable projects, joint ventures, transfer of technology and developing a framework for social entrepreneurship. Playing such a diverse role doesn't come easily to everyone, but Jha probably is more than an individual; he is an institution in himself.