Hyderabad: Ms Karuna Gopal, President, Foundation for Futuristic Cities, has been conferred the SKOCH CHALLENGER AWARD, a highly prestigious CIVILIAN HONOUR instituted by the Skoch group, today in Delhi. Her seminal work spanning more than two decades in the area of Urban Reforms & Urban Innovations has attracted the Skoch group.
Futurist Karuna Gopal has devoted a lifetime working on public policy and urban innovations for a New India wherein she has introduced several innovations in 2009 including “SCULPT your CITY°- Crowd Sourced Protocol for Co-Creation — that shaped the Smart City Mission design and guidelines as a National Best Practice. Founder of Foundation for Futuristic Cities and as an expert in climate change and urban habitats, World Bank, DFiD, USAID and ADB have leveraged her talent. Her work is at the intersection of Technology, Innovation, Future Cities.Her inputs on Smart Governance and Urban Development have been sought by governments like USA, Sweden, UK and Israel. She leads dialogues on Infrastructure, Urban Health, Smart Procurement and Smart Urbanization.
In the past the Award was conferred on eminent personalities including :
- ShriM Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India
- Dr. C Rangarajan, Former RBI governor
- Padma Bhushan Lord Meghnadh Desai, British Economist
- Shri Yashwant Sinha, Former Finance Minister
- Shri P Chidambaram, Former Finance Minister
- Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways & Shipping
- Shri Suresh Prabhu, Former Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation;
- Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Minister for Human Resource Development
- Shri Bibek Debroy, Chairman Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister
- LateShriTarunGogoi, Former Chief Minister of Assam
- Shri Kiran Karnic, Former President of NASSCOM
About SKOCH Challenger Awards & Selection criteria
Skoch Challenger Awards, instituted in 2003, salute people, projects and institutions that went the extra mile to make India a better nation. These Awards – the highest independently instituted civilian honours – have been conferred, the mighty and the ordinary have shared this platform for their extraordinary achievements in contributing to the society.
The Skoch Challenger Awards are coveted for their independence, primary research and a distinguished jury-based approach. The Skoch Challenger are distinctive for its approach of selection of awardees, which is not based on the nomination but on discovery. Additionally, the College of Lifetime Achievers is regularly consulted for expert identification, inputs and qualification of a project, person or institution to be considered for the Award. Further, documentary videos are produced after detailed research. These are then shared with the domain experts and larger audience groups of practitioners ahead of the Awards and are put in public domain for larger dissemination once the Award is conferred. No industry or government support or endorsement is either expected, accepted or solicited for these Challenger Awards and they remain independently instituted and conferred as a third-party perspective. The Roll of Honour of the Skoch Challenger Awards over the years is a testimony to this. The Skoch Challenger Awards not only acknowledge exceptional achievers but also spurs inspirational guidance and motivational leadership.
