Speaker
 

Kiran Karnik
President, NASSCOM
 


As President, NASSCOM - the premier trade body and the chamber of commerce for the IT software and services industry in India- Mr. Karnik works closely with the industry, members and the Indian Central & State governments to formulate policies and strategies for the advancement of this sector locally as well as internationally. His key function is to build global brand equity for the Indian software and service industry

Mr. Karnik has been the guiding force for the Indian IT industry during the outsourcing backlash. By providing perspective and background information, Mr. Karnik has been instrumental in promoting India's technology strength to the world. To fuel growth in the domestic market, Mr. Karnik has lobbied with the government to announce tariff cuts on computer hardware.

Business Week recently named Mr. Karnik as one of the ‘Stars of Asia.’ He was also selected as Forbes magazine's 'Face of the Year 2003,’ for being a driving force behind India's offshoring wave.

Prior to joining NASSCOM, Mr. Karnik was the Managing Director at Discovery Networks in India where he spearheaded the launch of Discovery Channel in South Asia in August 1995 and Animal Planet (a Discovery – BBC joint venture) in 1999.

Mr. Karnik has worked for over 20 years at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), where he held various positions including that of a Founder-Director of ISRO’s Development and Educational Communicational Unit. In 1991, Mr. Karnik joined the Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC) as its first Director.

Mr. Karnik has also served as Special Assistant to the Secretary-General of UNISPACE 82 and has done an extended consulting assignment for UNESCO in Afghanistan. He has been a consultant for WHO, The World Bank, UN Institute for Disarmament Research and Ford Foundation.

Mr. Karnik has been involved with many government committees, including the Prasar Bharati Review Committee. He has a deep involvement with a number of NGOs in the areas of education and environment, and currently is Chairman of the National Foundation of India.

In his career spanning over three decades, Mr. Karnik has been conferred many awards and accolades. In 1998, The International Astronautical Federation awarded Mr. Karnik with the Frank Malina medal for Space Education. His deep involvement in the Kheda Communications Project, won wide national and international acclaim, including the first UNESCO-IPDC Prize for Rural Communication.

Mr. Karnik regularly contributes to various publications and has authored/edited a large number of publications. He occasionally lectures at major national institutes.

A post-graduate from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Mr. Karnik holds an Honours degree in Physics from Bombay University.