Long-form story about Harshad and Code-Innovation goes here. This page uses the About template — edit content here, hero/credentials are pulled from the Customizer.
// about
The story behind Code-Innovation
A one-person studio that grew into a small, focused team — building production-grade software for organisations across Fiji and the Pacific.
// founder
Harshad Shiva Chand
B.Software Engineering · M.Computer Science · ICT Professional
B.Software Engineering (USP)
M.Computer Science (USP)
ICT Professional
USP & UniFiji Lecturer
PhD Researcher (XAI)
// expertise
What I work on day-to-day
Backend engineering
ASP.NET Core, MSSQL, PostgreSQL, REST APIs, SignalR. Building the systems that power web and mobile apps for government and banking.
Mobile development
Flutter apps for iOS and Android. Built Fiji Development Bank's first-ever mobile application.
Applied AI
RAG chatbots, vector search, explainable AI for medical imaging — currently active PhD research in this space.
WordPress & plugins
Custom WordPress themes, plugins, and WooCommerce — including payment gateway integration with M-PAiSA, ANZ MPGS, Stripe.
Teaching
Part-time lecturer at University of the South Pacific and University of Fiji — IS221 Information Security, CS111 Programming, IS333 Project Management.
Research
PhD work on Vision Transformer explainability for melanoma detection. Published in Springer LNCS. ViT-B16: 88.84% accuracy, 0.902 AUC.
// track record
Five years of public-sector engineering, in order.
Every role on this list is a real position with shipped software. Promotions came from the work, not from titles handed out.
05
May 2024 → Present
Software Engineer
Digital Government Transformation Office
Building cross-ministry digital infrastructure. Delivered eAuth + SmartPay integration into standalone apps. Upgraded BDM system for Post Fiji to enable Death & Marriage Certificate reprinting. Collaborated with Ministry of Health on PATIS-DXP integration. Lead developer on the government-wide AI chatbot platform now in testing.
04
Nov 2023 → May 2024
Programmer
Fijian Elections Office
Fixed a long-standing bug in IAMS (Inventory & Asset Management System) that multiple developers had failed to resolve. Built the automatic Ballot Paper & Candidate List Generator — now usable by schools, universities, and any organisation running one-person-one-vote elections.
03
Feb 2023 → Nov 2023
Assistant Programmer
Fiji Development Bank
Promoted from temporary role. Developed customer-facing web and mobile apps for viewing loan details. Built loan application portals for the Women Entrepreneurs Loan, Sugarcane Farmers Special Loan, and Ginger Loan Facility. Combined multiple small systems into one unified application using ASP.NET areas.
02
Sep 2021 → Feb 2023
Temporary Assistant Programmer
Fiji Development Bank
Started one week after the internship. Custom dashboards, the e-Statement portal, the bank's first Flutter mobile app, the Marketing Helpdesk, employee creation portal, recruitment portal. Coached interns and new hires.
01
Apr 2019 → Dec 2021
PASS Leader (Peer Mentor)
University of the South Pacific
Awarded Outstanding PASS Leader of the Year 2020. Built reading incentive programs that lifted student grade averages 65–70%. Introduced peer-assisted learning techniques across multiple cohorts.
// recognition
Track record of academic and professional achievement
A pattern that started young and continues today — research papers, leadership roles, and software shipped.
2020
Outstanding PASS Leader of the Year
University of the South Pacific
Awarded for exceptional peer-assisted study session leadership across multiple cohorts.
2017
Dux of Year 13
Naikavaki College
Top academic performer of the graduating cohort.
2017
Student of the Year
Naikavaki College
Awarded for academic and extracurricular excellence.
2016
Top 3 — Fiji Mathematics Competition
National Competition
One of three students nationwide to score overall highest in the Fiji Mathematics Competition.
2017
Head Boy
Naikavaki College
Senior student leadership position.
2012
Dux of Year 8
Vunivau Sanatan Dharam Primary
Top academic performer of the primary graduating class.
// outside of code
Beyond the screen
Things that don't fit in a CV but probably matter to you.
Mentorship
Three years as a PASS Leader and eMentor at USP, helping fellow students hit 65–70% grade improvements. Outstanding PASS Leader of the Year, 2020.
Pacific tech community
Co-founder of Dev Pulse — a small Fiji developer collective. Believer in growing the regional tech ecosystem from inside, not waiting for it to arrive.
Outside the laptop
Chess (the kind you actually finish), soccer, volleyball. Family roots in Vunivau, Bua. Hindi and English speaker. Sanatan Dharma background.
// let's talk
Got an idea? Let's build it properly.
Free 30-minute consultation. No sales pitch, just a real conversation about your project.