Akshat Jiwan Sharma

After nearly 100 years British Columbia will form a conservative government. To say that this is a historic moment would be an understatement. As premier Eby exits the administration , BC finds itself at crossroads. Its relations with its neighbour and biggest trading partner are at an all time low. Its strategy for economic growth seems to be too heavily reliant on raw material export (natural gas and minerals including rare earths) putting it in direct competition with nations who can offer the same exports at a lower price.  Despite being a province that generates 98% of clean electrical energy, BC has remained a service based economy which not only limits its potential but also creates severe problems with differentiation especially in an era where service sectors are going to be impacted by AI.  A massive 29% of BC population is made up of immigrants that has caused the cost of living to go up. This was reflected in the elections as nearly 52% of the people didn't even bo...

The world tourism day was celebrated in El Salvador last week on September 27. AI took the centerstage as this year's theme was how AI could help transform the tourism industry.  On several occasions officers and leaders at the UN have emphasized the importance of technology serving humanity. AI has already demonstrated it's capability to outperform humans in several tasks. The debate at the event therefore revolved around how AI could best serve the travel industry and enable growth—focussing more on the positive aspects of technology.  A few suggestions stood out. First was how destinations can take advantage of increasing AI usage and help people recommend less crowded locations that can manage the flow and prevent over tourism. The other was how AI could become fairer and offer suggestions to tourists in a way that allows small businesses to remain competitive .  The underlying question,the subtext of the discussion was very simple but decisive. Who will s...

Over the past 5 years I have been advocating  unification and industrialisation of Africa. During this time I have had the pleasure of interacting with several African business and political leaders from Tanzania,Kenya,Nigeria, South Africa,Uganda,Egypt,Sudan,Malawi,Liberia and more who share this vision. Africa is one of the largest contiguous land masses on the planet,with one of the world's youngest populations, an immense coastline ,deserts, mineral resources and arable land.  Its location provides it with supreme geopolitical advantage that can potentially project it's influence over all of Asia and the EU. Yet historical factors combined with present economic conditions has not only prevented Africa from actualising its potential but has also made it entirely dependent upon developed nations to satisfy the demands of modern nation states.  Predictably what we have seen in Africa is a continuation of extractive economics where African states supply raw ma...

Being one of the fastest growing regions in the world, Asia Pacific’s stature in the scientific community is growing as is the region's ambition to play a greater role  in shaping research through science diplomacy. I have had the good fortune of connecting with delegates from Singapore and South Korea in conferences last year. Similarly I had the opportunity to engage virtually with researchers from Australia during Australian Academy of Science’s flagship event ‘ Science at the shine dome ’ in 2025.  A few days ago I attended the International Science Council’s ( Asia Pacific chapter) quarterly meeting. Three things that stood out during my interactions were : focus on workforce development, democratization of science for greater public participation and emphasis on sustainability.  All three issues are highly relevant but for Asia Pacific in particular workforce development takes special priority as STEM courses are often viewed as a path to a prosperous f...

Durán is on to something when he talks about the big tech authoritarian movement. The argument that big tech is replacing the government at local,national and international levels is compelling and definitely backed by evidence. However I don't agree with the conclusion he draws.  He seems to suggest that there is a government elected by people and a class of private corporations that are usurping them. That's not what's happening. The history of America has always been private. From its foundation to the present day.  But what's happening right now is something more sinister where state entities work with private corporations to create systems of control where they can't legislate. Private corps and government institutions are not two separate things.  They are part of the same ugly,twisted nightmare of the deep state. Unelected officials at the FBI,CIA and the Pentagon control the technological and political agenda. During America's founding there...

Happy to participate in a CSIS online event for a discussion on the implications of the NATO summit organised earlier this month in Ankara,Turkiye. Former PM of Netherlands,Mr.  Mark Rutte has been leading NATO as the Secretary General for an year now and at Ankara he presented his vision for “NATO 3.0”[1-2]  In his speech he highlighted NATO moving away from ‘planning’ to ‘implementation’ and his idea of NATO 3.0 was appealing because of his focus on ‘military-industrialisation’ rather than straightforward and frankly overly simplistic arms procurement deals. Clearly Secretary General Rutte has given a lot of thought to the problem of making the defense industry more sustainable and his vision seems to align with my own ideas which I applied to the space industry [3-4].  Both space and defense are funded by tax collection and neither of these industries have demonstrated the ability to sustain themselves economically if that funding dried up. Space in particular is extre...

Senator Chris Coons recently critiqued policies of president Trump by saying  "Trump promised to lower costs on day 1, and yet as prices keep rising on everything from gas to groceries to health care, he calls affordability a "hoax". It doesn’t need to be this way. Americans deserve leaders who care about affordability and are willing to do something about it." https://www.facebook.com/share/p/186KVFsrQ9/ He is right. Affordability has become a problem in the USA and the best way to improve affordability is to start manufacturing goods again instead of importing it from Asia. But there are several problems with that.  American consumers are not willing to pay increased costs of manufacturing due to rightful demands by workers to increase wages  This is understandable. The marketplace can be brutal that way. Especially in segments that are highly contested. This is why it is important to continue to build new industries that can sustain growth. The energy and power ...

I thank the American Center for inviting me to a panel discussion on USA’s engineering excellence that has made the USA the leader in deep space exploration. While NASA had its origin in Aeronautics, its pivot towards space exploration during the cold war era birthed the space industry.  Since then it has launched several lunar,mars,outerplanetary and deep space missions collecting invaluable data that has advanced humankind's understanding of the universe and essentially created astrophysics as a career option for some of the brightest minds in physics.  Missions like voyager which were originally intended for a tour of outer planets — jupiter,saturn,uranus,neptune have far gone beyond their intended expedition, travelled billions of kms and have sent data on heliosphere that has directly led to projects like the SHIELD being developed in Boston University [1]  Rockets often take the limelight in space projects but nearly every aspect of the program relies up...

Mediterranean Futures: Spain, Africa, and New Alliances 27 March 2026 A couple of weeks ago I had a chance to listen to Mr Juan Antonio March Pujol ,Ambassador of Spain to India at a conference in New Delhi where he advocated for growth of ties between India and Spain. About 70 thousand people of Indian origin live in Spain currently and spain is already among the most popular tourist destinations in the EU with nearly 2.6 lakh Indians visiting the nation in 2024.  Yet what Mr Juan seemed to be advocating was strengthening ties that go beyond tourism. A socio economic partnership that can create new opportunities for growth between the two nations. He highlighted improved aerial mobility which could be crucial because at present there are no direct flights between India and Spain.  India is rapidly moving towards upgrading its cities making infrastructure smarter,more suited to handle the needs of the future. Spain is no stranger to this. Barcelona is a prime examp...

I had great fun connecting with representatives from the Tourism Authority of Thailand promoting Thailand as a destination to travellers in India. Nearly 2 million Indian travellers visited Thailand in 2024 making India one of the top outbound markets for Thailand.  Ms Pattaraanong Na Chiangmai , the Deputy Governor for International Marketing (Asia and South Pacific) communicated the decision of the tourism authority of Thailand to position their nation as a ‘premium’ travel destination shifting the focus away from mass tourism that has dominated the Thai travel scene.  With a focus on wellness , destination weddings and cultural activities it seems like TAT might succeed in its goal, especially as Thailand shares deep cultural bonds with India through Buddhism, through the Thai language itself which has flavors of Sanskrit and Pali and of course through the fun festival of Songkran which is very similar to the wildly popular holi celebrations in India. The growin...

It was a great honor for me to connect today with the Uganda High commission promoting Uganda as a travel destination to the Indian outbound market. With direct air flights to India and a single visa (the East African Tourist Visa) that unlocks access to Rwanda & Kenya , Uganda offers a compelling value proposition to Indian travellers.  I had great fun discussing opportunities for expansion in Asian markets beyond India. Especially for wildlife enthusiasts (where Uganda shines) and for beach lovers ( where Kenya has some of the most stunning beaches that are slowly starting to offer luxury travel experiences)  More African countries would benefit from a Schengen-like single Visa system that would allow them to compete with the European market. Africa is definitely a destination for the more adventurous traveller. While Egypt, Tunisia & Morocco offer a rich history and Central Africa is famous for its safaris, coastal nations could become paradise for beach...

23 Feb 2026  I thank the LDES Council for organising a highly informative webinar on Accelerating Bankability for Long Duration Energy Storage, gathering several professionals in the energy storage sector.  Long-duration energy storage (LDES) is important because it allows energy to be stored for many hours, or even days, quite cheaply, helping balance electricity supply and demand over longer time periods. This is important because it supports renewable energy as both solar and wind power are variable; the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. LDES stores excess energy when production is high and releases it when production drops. By improving grid reliability it helps prevent blackouts by supplying power during extended outages, extreme weather, or periods of high demand. LDES provides an incredible variety of storage mechanisms that can store energy ,mechanically,chemically,electrically or thermally unlike traditional lithium ion batteries that are full...

  13 Feb 2026 At the International Conference on Composite Materials, Design and Engineering in IIT Delhi, it was a great privilege for me to be learning from scholars sharing their findings in the field of composite materials. More than 100 papers were presented over a period of 3 days making the conference one of the most productive ones that I have ever had the honor of attending.  Composite materials have already revolutionised the field of materials science. GFRPs are used everywhere from aerospace to circuit boards and sports equipment. Carbon fibers are being seen as promising future materials if the cost of production could be managed.  Under load composite materials differ significantly from metals. Generally they are quite strong if fibers are aligned along the direction of the load. However they are prone to failure if load is applied transverse to the fiber orientation. This means that for fiber composites careful engineering is required which makes them somew...

29 Jan 2026 President Von Der Leyen, Vice President Teresa Ribera , Director General Linsey McCallum and other dignitaries gathered together in Brussels to outline a clean, just and competitive vision for sustainable growth of the European economy. Europe is one of the leaders when it comes to research on cutting edge technologies however transformation of that research into a marketable product doesn't always happen in the EU as most EU organisations prefer to set up business in the USA due to favorable policies and tolerance for failure. It's a problem because the EU is not able to profit from its own research investment.  Since the establishment of the European single market in 1993, 27 EU nations have enjoyed free movement of goods,services and people. Despite this challenges remain in the form of slow bureaucratic processes and complex legislations. To make Europe competitive it will be essential to simplify the laws.  Legal costs have become so high that many upstarts ca...

9 Jan 2026 An year ago, in 2025, Bharat Climate Forum was established to position India as a leader in cleantech manufacturing enabling the nation to become self reliant in green technologies, as it steadily progresses towards the goal of net zero emissions by 2070, while keeping in mind the nation's ambition of achieving a fully developed status with a $10 Trillion Economy by 2047.  The challenge is ,as noted by several thought leaders on the stage and in the roundtable discussions, that India needs to set a global precedent of developing while using green technologies. This has not been achieved before. The industrial revolution in the European nations and in the USA was powered by fossil fuels.     Even today both EU and USA are significant Green house gas(GHG) emitters.  In 2023, EU27 fossil fuel-related GHG emissions totaled about 3.22 billion tonnes CO2 eq  US energy-related CO2 emissions stood at around 6 billion metric tons India's curre...