Karuna Gopal

Karuna Gopal (born 21 August 1965) is an internationally acclaimed Thought Leader, Key Note Speaker, BJP Leader and an Advisor on SMART CITIES. She lives in Hyderabad, India and is the second daughter of late Sri V. Narayana Rao IAS (1956 Batch) and late Smt. Balatripura Sundari of Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh. She was inducted into BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) in March 2014 by Sri M.Venkaih Naidu, Union Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs (Former National President of BJP).
She is alumnus US Department of State (International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) - a Foreign Leaders Program of US Government). She serves on the International Jury that selects Smart Cities around the World (ICF, New York) and serves on the leadership of CTBUH (Council on Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat, Illinois, USA).
She was on the Chief Ministers Advisory Council of Andhra Pradesh and played a key role in forging a Sister State Partnership between Washington State, USA and Andhra Pradesh, India. She is widely interviewed both by Indian and International media- Her articles are incorporated into Parliamentary Documentation of Lok Sabha for their policy relevance.
Karuna teaches policy makers and senior IAS officers (Premier Civil Service of India) at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (Mussoorie). Lectures at ISB (Indian School of Business), IIM (Ahmedabad), IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), IIIT (International Institute of Information Technology) and BITS Pilani (Birla Institute of Technology & Science)etc.
Early life
Karuna was born in Machlipatnam, Andhra Pradesh. A National Merit Scholarship holder, she suffered a ‘Cardiac Arrest’ during a surgery, followed by post operative complications when she was just 14. Her medical record that speaks of a compromised heart was instrumental in shaping her education and career. She had to turn away from a grueling medical course and a dual degree in BITS Pilani due to her fragile health. Inspired by her maternal grandfather, Dr Kasturi Sitapati Rao who was a renowned Psychiatrist, Karuna chose to study BSc (Genetics) from Osmania University. She later forayed into Computer Software Development when her peers and professors told her that she is not the ‘ Labs‘ and ‘Mice‘ type but more of a ‘Computer’ and ‘Mouse’ type.
Career
In 1986 she started her career in Information Technology as a faculty at NIIT after topping their PG Diploma in Systems' Management course in Bangalore. Apart from teaching IIT graduates and CEOs in her executive classes she worked on relational databases (being one of the very few to have been trained in Oracle back in 1987) proposed and explored futuristic concepts like ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning) for SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises).
In 1991 she returned to India after a short stint in the US as a Rotary GSE scholar and In the year 1994, Karuna founded a Strategy consulting firm ‘The Confluence Consulting’ worked with marquee clients both home grown and MNCs on Vision, and Strategy. In year 2005, Karuna started a Not-for-Profit Urban Advisory ‘Foundation for Futuristic Cities’ to help shape Indian Urban Agenda.
Futuristic Cities
As President, Foundation for Futuristic Cities based in India, she introduced innovative platforms “SCULPT your CITY”(Crowd Sourced, Scalable & Replicable) and “CORPORATES for CITIES” (Public Private People Partnership) to help achieve Good Governance in Indian Cities. She proposed ‘Service Level Benchmarks’, ‘Knowledge Management Framework’, ‘CITY BRANDING’ back in 2002, that became a part of the National Urban Renewal program eventually.
She contributed to City Development, renewal programs of DFID (UK), USAID and the World Bank.
Politics
Karuna joined BJP recently. BJP’s vision is to make India Economically Vibrant, aligns with her vision ‘Vibrant Cities for a Vibrant Economy’. As cities are the 'Economic Engines of Growth' of the Nation, contributing 70% of the GDP, she believes that cities have to be cherished and nurtured.
Current Focus
Karuna Gopal is now working on developing a ‘Smart City Framework’ for Indian Cities. As advisor for a few IT companies on BIGDATA Analytics, Urban Informatics & Crime Analytics, she is getting POCs (use cases) built in areas like Transportation, Water Supply and Citizen Engagement.
Her flagship effort in creating a “Global Urban Think Tank” comprising urban leaders from around the world is shaping up well and she hopes the Think Tank’s vast body of knowledge will influence Urban Transformation in India - Ushering Innovation, Economic Vitality & Good Governance into the Indian Urban landscape is her current focus.
Personal life
After returning from USA in 1991, Karuna married Gopal Krishna, son of late Sri V.P. Rama Rao IAS (who served as the Chief Secretary of AP under two Chief Ministers). They have a son Srinivas Vikram (born 1992) who is Autistic and Epileptic. Vikram is an artist and his paintings are sold in more than 5 countries.

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