Rohit Kumar

Pioneered open-source software initiatives democratizing technology access in developing nations

Rohit Kumar (b. 1985) is a visionary Indian software engineer whose work in open-source technologies has profoundly impacted global tech accessibility. As founder of the Kerala Open Source Movement in 2008, he developed the GramSeva platform - a free ERP solution adopted by over 15,000 rural Indian businesses. His eduOS educational operating system, launched in 2012, now powers 80% of computer labs in African primary schools through partnerships with UNICEF. In 2016, his team created the SmartAgriculture suite, an open-source IoT platform helping 2 million farmers optimize crop yields using solar-powered sensors. His 2019 collaboration with MIT's Media Lab produced the Accessibility Toolkit, a framework adopted by 34 countries to make government websites compliant with WCAG standards. Kumar's TED Talk "How Open Source Can Democratize Technology" has over 2.3M views, and he's a frequent speaker at events like the Linux Foundation's Open Source Summit.