Key Speakers

Ms. Karuna Gopal

Foundation for Future Cities

Ms. Karuna Gopal, is an Internationally acclaimed Thought Leader, Columnist, Keynote Speaker and Advisor on SMART CITIES. She is the Founder President of Foundation for Futuristic Cities, a Think Tank that has influenced Urban Transformation in India for over a decade.

Ms. Gopal contributed to the design of the 100 SMART CITIES MISSION of Government of India and has been an invited speaker at the launch of the mission. At the event, her innovation “CITIZENS for CITY – 2007” a disruptive tool to engage citizens in governance, has been showcased as a National Best Practice and her publication “SCULPT your CITY – 2009” has been reprinted distributed to all dignitaries at the launch of the Mission. It is a matter of pride that FFC’s central theme Co-Creation has found a prominent place in the Smart Cities Mission guidelines developed by the Union Urban Ministry. 

Ms Gopal was a member of the Speaker delegation representing the Union Ministry of Urban Development at COP21-United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), PARIS 2015. 

In the past, she served as an Urban Expert for The World Bank, DFID (Department for International Development, UK), USAID (United States Agency for International Development), BMGF (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) & ADB (Asian Development Bank). She was one of the urban experts engaged byADB to carry out a mid-course evaluation of the National Mission Program ‘SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN’ 

Ms. Gopal has also in the past served on the Chief Minister's Advisory Council of Andhra Pradesh (erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh) and was instrumental in forging a Sister State Partnership between Washington State, and Andhra Pradesh and was later the City Representative, India for Council on Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat (CTBUH, Illinois, USA) 

In 2011, Ms Gopal was invited to participate in IVLP (International Visitor Leadership Program) a flagship program of US Government for Foreign Leaders. As a part of the program on Sustainability, Ms Gopal contributed to roundtables with key officials of US Federal Departments and leaders from Sweden, UK, Finland, China, Singapore etc... 

Ms. Gopal been Interviewed widely both by National and International Media like the ECONOMIST, National Geographic and WEF (World Economic Forum) etc. Her articles have been incorporated into Parliamentary Documentation of Lok Sabha for their policy relevance. She chairs and addresses conferences around the world and is a special invitee to meetings of FII (Foreign Institutional Investors) exploring investments into India. 

She is also a sought after mentor for Tech fests, Business fests and Hackathons at institutes of higher learning like IITs and IIMs. She lectures senior IAS officers at India’s Premier Academy at (LBSNAA), Mussoorie on topics related to Smart Governance. 

Ms. Gopal regularly gets invited by Country Governments like Singapore, Philippines, Turkey, Israel, USA & UK to lend her expertise in Urban Transformation. Recently she was offered ‘Eminent Member’ position at RICS (Royal Society for Chartered Surveyors), UK. 

Currently under the theme SURGE (Smart Urbanization Reinventing Growth with Equity), FFC generated a report on ‘Smart Cities and Inclusion’ and in partnership with the Union Ministry of Labour & Employment; FFC is carrying a pan –India Women & EMPLOYABILITY series to help shape transformative policies. Ms Gopal has launched the country’s first ever MASTER CLASS on Smart Cities in Partnership with GAIA Smart cities, REMA (Real Estate Management Institute) & BSE Institute (Bombay Stock Exchange).