| World Development Foundation | INDIA
Ms. Aprajita Srivastava is an accomplished information technology specialist, cloud engineer, published researcher, and international development strategist with extensive expertise in data-driven agricultural innovation and sustainable development. She is currently serving as Senior Technical Solutions Engineer at Databricks (November 2025–Present), where she manages high-priority customer escalations and drives performance optimization for complex cloud and data workloads across AWS, Azure and GCP. She is also the Honorary Director of the World Development Foundation (WDF), where she directs research, educational initiatives and development projects aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Previously, she served as Cloud Engineer II and Subject Matter Expert for AWS OpenSearch at Amazon Web Services (July 2022–October 2025), providing advanced technical support and handling high-level troubleshooting for complex cloud infrastructure and analytics services. Before that, she was a Software Engineer at Tata Consultancy Services (July 2019–May 2022), where she led enterprise-scale big-data ETL pipelines and global inventory migration projects for major retail accounts. She has also held the position of Honorary Executive Director at the World Development Foundation (2015–Present), overseeing international development projects and establishing digital infrastructure and educational platforms across multiple continents.
Research & Publications
Ms. Srivastava has developed a multidisciplinary research profile spanning data-driven agriculture, sustainable development, AI and machine learning, cloud computing, and ICT for social development. Her research output includes 12 peer-reviewed journal articles, 2 conference papers and 1 other scholarly contribution, with her work cited 50+ times across international journals. Her publications appear in prestigious journals including the Global Journal of Science Frontier Research, European Journal of Applied Sciences, African-Asian Journal of Rural Development, International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, and journals published by IEEE and Springer. Key research themes include the paradigm shift from precision to knowledge agriculture for eradicating hunger, data-driven approaches to enhancing farm productivity and global food security, sustainable development goals, and technology-assisted agricultural extension for poverty alleviation. She is recognized as a Recipient of the Best Researcher Award 2018 for outstanding research contribution in Knowledge Agriculture.
Patents, Books & Scholarly Contributions
Ms. Srivastava is the inventor and trademark holder of Knowledge Agriculture®, a data-driven agricultural framework trademarked by the Government of India under Scientific & Technological Innovation. This framework integrates IoT sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), AI and machine learning, greenhouse systems, robotics, satellite systems and cloud computing with traditional agricultural wisdom and ethics. She has authored 2 books: Smart Farming Meets Ancient Wisdom: Cultivating Knowledge Agriculture® for Global Hunger Solution (2026, Universal Publishers) and Mass Media and ICT for Agriculture Extension (2018, LAP Lambert Academic Publishing). She holds peer review credentials for scientific journals and has served as a reviewer for publications on data-driven precision agriculture and journals in media, ICT and sustainable development.
Research Projects & Institutional Contributions
Ms. Srivastava has led significant development and research projects with international scope. For the World Development Foundation, she directed the Ethiopian Community Radio Infrastructure Project (2015) for the Government of Ethiopia's Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, filing international bids, procuring all equipment and delivering seven community radio stations across remote regions of Ethiopia within twelve months, benefiting over one million rural listeners with localized content. This project received media coverage by the Embassy of India in Ethiopia and Africabiz. She negotiated and executed a global media partnership, securing the marketing distribution agreement for India with Brightcove Inc. (USA) for video cloud services and integrating enterprise-level video streaming into WDF's educational channels, expanding reach to 40+ countries. She is the architect and subject-matter expert for the WDF Universe platform, which offers free, multilingual, self-paced, mobile-accessible livelihood-generation courses aligned with UN SDG 2030, delivered in video, audio and text formats with built-in translation capabilities and completion certificates. Her knowledge agriculture initiatives deployed smart-zone seeding pipelines in pilot regions, increasing crop-yield resilience by approximately 20% in test zones. She conducted long-term, technology-assisted Knowledge Agriculture and skill-development projects in parts of India and Ethiopia, documenting encouraging changes in farmers' willingness to adopt new technology.
Teaching & Academic Engagement
Ms. Srivastava serves as a video educator for the WDF Universe platform, developing and delivering livelihood-generation courses on topics including seed quality, paddy cultivation, quail farming and UAV agriculture technology, available in multiple languages. She presented a keynote address at the National Conference on "ICT and Mass Media in Agriculture and Education for SDG2030" on 29 November 2019, delivering her presentation to an audience including Vice Chancellors, agriculture experts and government officials, with sessions broadcast live internationally; proceedings were published by Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany. She presented her Business and Entrepreneurship project on a Profitable Business Model for Knowledge Agriculture® at the University of Oxford in 2019, pitching to a potential-investor panel; the University endorsed the project for its strong potential for positive societal change.
Professional Certifications & Technical Expertise
Ms. Srivastava holds multiple advanced professional certifications, including Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, AWS Certified Data Analytics–Specialty, AWS Machine Learning certification, and AWS Certified AI Practitioner. She has earned additional Databricks accreditations in Fundamentals, AI Agents, and Platform Architecture across Azure, AWS and GCP. Her technical proficiencies span AWS OpenSearch, Databricks (AWS, Azure, GCP), Apache Spark, Kafka, Amazon MSK, AWS AppFlow, Kinesis, EC2, Lambda, IAM, DynamoDB, Ab Initio, Talend, Oracle, Linux, cloud architecture, data migration and ETL pipelines, ethical AI, smart agriculture and IoT applications. She was ranked among the top 5 developers in the world in the Brightcove cloud certification course.
Awards, Honours & Professional Memberships
Ms. Srivastava has received significant recognition for her research and development contributions. Her honours include the Best Researcher Award 2018 and IJURA Title Award Winner 2018 from the International Journal for Research Under Literal Access, with Idamas Learning and Training Centre, Malaysia, for outstanding research contribution in Knowledge Agriculture. She holds the Government of India Trademark for Knowledge Agriculture® under Scientific & Technological Innovation. The University of Oxford endorsed her data-driven farming business model in 2019 for its strong potential for positive societal change. She has received Certificates of Excellence in peer review for reviewing a book on data-driven precision agriculture and several scientific journal papers on data-driven applications. Her research has achieved international recognition and publication through AARDO (African-Asian Rural Development Organization) across 33 Afro-Asian countries. She was invited by the PULSUS Group to the World Congress on Advanced Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods in London, July 2019. Her work has been noted by Global Journals (USA), the Canadian Centre of Science and Education and the Macrothink Institute. She served as Advisory Board member of the World Research Council (2019–20). She is a member of international communication and ICT research associations.
Eligibility for Outstanding Scientist Award
Ms. Aprajita Srivastava demonstrates exceptional accomplishment across multiple dimensions of scientific and technological innovation. Her career integrates advanced expertise in cloud engineering and data science with cutting-edge agricultural research and international development. She has authored 12 peer-reviewed journal articles published in prestigious international venues, 2 books, and multiple conference papers, with 50+ research citations. She is the inventor and trademark holder of Knowledge Agriculture®, a government-recognized innovation combining IoT, drones, AI, robotics and cloud computing with traditional agricultural wisdom to address global food insecurity. Her research demonstrates measurable impact, including 20% improvement in crop-yield resilience in pilot zones. She holds multiple advanced technical certifications from Databricks and AWS, and has successfully led major international development projects including the establishment of seven community radio stations for the Government of Ethiopia and the creation of a global platform delivering free multilingual educational courses to learners in 40+ countries. Her work directly contributes to UN SDG-2 (Zero Hunger) and other sustainable development objectives. She has received the Best Researcher Award 2018 and secured endorsement from the University of Oxford for the commercial viability and societal impact of her innovations.
Based on the achievements and credentials provided, Ms. Aprajita Srivastava is eligible for consideration for the Outstanding Scientist Award in Scientific Laurels, particularly in recognition of her contributions to data-driven agricultural innovation, sustainable development research, cloud engineering excellence, and international development impact.