SAS appoints Neena Gill as VP of Corporate Affairs for Europe and Asia Pacific

New position will drive SAS® analytics into governments seeking to transform their IT infrastructure 

Mumbai, India  (Oct. 06, 2010)  –  To encourage global public sector organizations to better capitalize on their most valuable asset – their data – SAS, the leader in business analytics software and services – has appointed Neena Gill as the Vice President of Corporate Affairs for the European and Asia Pacific regions. In this role, Gill will help the national governments in these regions identify innovative ways to transform their IT systems with SAS Business Analytics.

Gill joins SAS after spending the past 10 years as a member of European Parliament including three years as the President of the European Parliament delegation for relations with India, five years as the President of the South Asia delegation and two years as a member of The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). While in the European Parliament, Gill steered legislation activities that focused on information technologies and was an active member of the Budget, Legal and Industry committees.  She will report directly to Mikael Hagström, Executive Vice President for SAS Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, and will initially spend the majority of her time in New Delhi, India. Prior to becoming a member of the European Parliament, she served as a chief executive in public housing for 13 years. Gill maintains a strong interest in public policy issues.

“Innovative information and communication technology programs, and analytic applications in particular, are more critical than ever to enable governments across the world to achieve ambitious targets ranging from employment to the Millennium Development Goals outlined by the UN,” said Hagström.  “For example, India is focused on revamping its technology infrastructure so that it can improve the quality of life for its citizens.  Part of this transformation will require better managing, analyzing and reporting on the vast amounts of valuable data that will help drive strategies and key programs for fostering technological innovation and collaboration throughout the country. As VP of Corporate Affairs, Neena will have an integral role in positioning SAS within this transformation to help global governments understand how to use business analytics as a competitive differentiator.”  

“With the current challenges of the global economy, I am excited to promote the value SAS can bring to the public sector," Gill said.  “In my role, I will help national government agencies in EMEA and Asia Pacific understand how analytics can enable them to not only participate, but in some cases pioneer, social transformation initiatives for the new digital age.  I look forward to applying my knowledge of European public policy and my passion for key issues such as healthcare, education and the environment to support public sector groups ready for change.”

SAS has been in India since 1997 and has two wholly owned subsidiaries in the country:  SAS Institute (India) Pvt. Ltd. and SAS Research & Development. With a team of more than 600 technology and domain experts, SAS India operations are headquartered in Mumbai with regional offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and Pune. Various government organizations in India namely Department of Economics & Statistics (DES), Ministry of Health, NACO, Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC), among others, are using SAS Analytics to stay agile, move beyond reactive decision making to pro-active decision making and to make better and faster strategic decisions.

“Analytics is emerging as a strategic area of investment in the government space in India,” said Sudipta Sen, Regional Director - South East Asia  & CEO & Managing Director - SAS India. “We believe that the combination of SAS’ suite of analytical offerings for the government domain and the rich experience of Neena will bring in significant value to the government organizations in India.”

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