He is the founding Director of the International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS), an autonomous academic/research institution of the Government of Kerala, India, where he worked from March 2011 [1] to September 2015.

[2][3][4] In October 2021, ICANN announced that it was honouring Satish Babu with the Dr Tarek Kemal Capacity Building Award.

SIFFS, under his leadership was one of the earliest organizations to utilize computers, especially for its commercial activities such as boat building and Outboard Motor programmes.

[8] In 1999, he, jointly with three other colleagues, founded InApp Information Technologies,[9] now an IT Services Company with offices in US, Japan and a development centre at Technopark, Trivandrum.

FishNet used the Waffle/UUCP BBS software on an MS-DOS PC, and provided free email services to anyone equipped with an acoustic modem.

As the founding Director of the International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS), he was involved in setting up and building the institution from 2011 through 2015.

He was elected as the Vice Chair of ICANN's Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands Regional At-Large Organization (APRALO)[17] in 2014 and was re-elected in 2015.

He was a co-founder of the India School on Internet Governance,[25] (31 Oct – 2 Nov 2016), the first edition of which was organized just prior to the ICANN57 Meeting at Hyderabad.

At the IGF, he has spoken on topics such as Free/Open Source Software;[32] Digital Divide, Access & Connectivity Issues;[33] Internet Governance; and the Blockchain, particularly for humanitarian and social uses.

[34][35] Satish has been an advocate of social uses of cryptocurrencies and the Blockchain, particularly for financial inclusion, grant transfers, identity management, traceability and governance.

SEARCC is a regional grouping of national computer societies in Asia-Pacific, with seven full members (Australia, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan) and six observer states.

"[48] As the Chair of the first Chapter in the country, he was instrumental in bringing the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) to India.

[50] The HAC, set up to achieve IEEE's vision of "Advancing Technology for Humanity", oversees the funding and monitoring of technology-driven humanitarian and sustainable development projects.

He is presently associated in an Advisory Capacity with BEDROC, Nagapattinam, and continues to be involved in the development and use of technology for Disaster Risk Reduction and Response.

Satish Babu studied at Sainik School, Kazhakuttam, Kerala, passing out of the All-India Higher Secondary Examination in 1977.