Members
Currently serving as a Senior Digital Development Specialist with the World Bank in New Delhi, Arun Sharma leads the organisation’s Digital Development portfolio in India. With over two decades of experience in the Indian civil services, he has worked across various ministries, including Finance, Housing & Urban Affairs, and the Cabinet Secretariat (part of the Prime Minister’s Office), where he served as Officer on Special Duty to the IT Minister. Arun played a pivotal role in establishing the Direct Benefits Mission, responsible for implementing the world’s largest identity-linked social benefits transfers.
He has also contributed to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in their Global Payments practice in South Asia. His professional interests include digitization, public financial management, government payment systems, digital ID, and financial inclusion. Arun holds an MBA from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and a Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi. In 2009, he attended the MGG program, which included participation in the International Futures program at the Federal Foreign Office in Germany. Outside of work, he enjoys reading, writing, and traveling.