Syed Nazakat

Syed Nazakat, India, is an award-winning journalist, media entrepreneur, founder and CEO of DataLEADS, a tech and digital media company he founded to promote open data and democratization of information at scale. He leads DataLEADS in New Delhi, as well as oversees its outreach across the world with different partners.

Nazakat has reported from over 30 countries and worked in senior positions at different media organizations. His work has earned him global recognition and awards. He has spearheaded one of the world’s biggest fact-checking, data journalism and media literacy training networks which has resulted in the launch of many fact-checking initiatives, in multiple languages, and has benefited hundreds of institutions and organizations across India.

He is a board member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network, representing Asia and leading the GIJN’s mandate and media activities across Asia. He is also a board member of The New Humanitarian (Geneva), an advisory member of the Asian Network of News & Information Educators (Hong Kong) and member of the WHO Expert Group on Ethical Consideration of Social Listening and Infodemic Management.

Nazakat was a jury member on Google’s COVID-19 Vaccine Counter-Misinformation Open Fund and served as an advisory member to Facebook's Global Health Expert Advisory Council during the COVID-19 outbreak. He holds a B.Sc degree from India and a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication from the Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines.