Aakash Mehrotra

Manager

Aakash Mehrotra is a Manager in the Data and Innovation domain of MSC India. He is a Management and Development Research professional with experience in leading the market and consumer research studies in several countries.

Aakash Mehrotra is a Manager in MSC’s Data & Innovation Domain. He has been working in the research domain for over eight years with experience in designing formative research, impact evaluation studies, designing feasibility studies and undertaking long-term research studies. He has worked on projects with governments, think-tanks, funding agencies, development banks, commercial banks, and other financial service providers across Asia and Africa. In his current role, he plays an active role in leading policy research and advisory studies. Earlier he led multi-country research on agent networks and emerging financial inclusion models in ten countries in Asia and Africa. He has also led impact evaluations and policy research studies and worked as a technical consultant for a Vietnam bank trying to establish the mobile money and agency banking vertical. In addition, he has worked on consultancy assignments on market researches, value chain analysis, business estimations, designing forecasting models, designing scale-up plans for business and conducting business assessments. He is also well versed in evaluation technique - social returns on investment (SROI). Aakash has also led workshops on ‘impact evaluation’ and taken lectures in universities on the same. He is also a published author, and widely published travel blogger, and has written extensively on social and environmental issues on leading media portals, and has also led dialogues on ‘diversity and inclusion’ in various colleges, and social platforms.

Posts by Aakash Mehrotra

Awaaz.De: Mobile-based interventions for social change

Awaaz.De provides easy-to-use, cost-efficient, and time-saving mobile solutions for organizations and communities across multiple sectors—education, agriculture, health, and financial services. Its inclusive mobile solutions that use interactive voice response (IVR), SMS, mobile apps, and web, enable organizations to reach the last mile.

Frontier Markets: Building strong rural marketplaces

Frontier Markets, headquartered in Jaipur, Rajasthan, was founded in 2011 by Ajaita Shah as a last-mile distribution solution for green energy products. Since then, Frontier Markets has evolved from a high-touch to a high-tech digital platform that works with rural women influencers across multiple states in India, adding vital products based on market demand.

NFHS 5 calls for urgent action on child nutrition in India

The article highlights findings from the first round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 5, a large scale nationwide survey of households in India, released in Dec’20. The article primarily focuses on Five major indicators of child nutrition and compares the outcome of first round of NFHS 5, covering 54% of India’s population with previously conducted NFHS, 3 and 4 in the year 2005-06 and 2015-16 respectively.

“Respect the sentiment:” Using sentiment analysis to inform policy and regulation

This blog examines how text analytics and social media platforms can help policymakers quickly gauge public sentiment around different issues.

A paradigm shift for fintechs: Why a coherent data strategy has become a business necessity

This blog explores the critical role of data analytics and machine learning in helping business organizations utilize data for their operations.

Gender: The blind spot of the COVID-19 response in low- and middle-income countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges for governments and citizens around the world, straining health systems, economies, and the very social fabric of nations. This blog explores four potential fallouts of COVID-19 that will create lasting socio-economic impact on women in India and other LMI countries.

Philippines: Impact of COVID-19 on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)

The extended community quarantine imposed by the government to contain the spread of COVID-19 has adversely affected MSMEs in the Philippines. This report outlines the impact of the pandemic on MSMEs and provides recommendations for policymakers to support their recovery.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CICO agents- Uganda report

This report explores the impact of COVID-19 on CICO agents in Uganda. It also highlights the strategies agents adopted to stay afloat during the pandemic and provides recommendations for policymakers and financial service providers to support these agents better.