Chopra Appointed America’s First Technology Advisor
On Saturday, President Obama announced that the Harvard graduate, Indian-American Aneesh Chopra will be the United State’s first Chief Technology Advisor ““ an appointment highly anticipated by industry leaders in the Silicon Valley.
As the first appointee of this newly created office, 36-year old Chopra will further the use of technology to “improve security, ensure transparency, and lower costs,” according to President Obama.
“In this role, Aneesh will promote technological innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities ““ from creating jobs and reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure,” said Obama in his weekly address to the nation.
The president also stated that Chopra would be collaborating closely with Vivek Kundra, the Chief Information Officer in charge of setting technology policy and writing the federal technology budget ““ a budget that usually averages in the $70 billion range.
Previously working in the field of health policy, Chopra also worked as secretary of technology for the state of Virginia and was most recently an executive at a hospital advising firm.
Discussion amongst industrial technology experts revealed a bit of surprise at Chopra’s appointment however. Speculation in the industry as to who would fill the position had been inclining towards higher profile candidates. In an online poll conducted by the technology blog TechCrunch, potential contenders like Bill Gates of Microsoft, Eric Schmidt of Google and Jeff Bezos of Amazon were the top picks, while Chopra’s name did not even make the list.
After Obama’s campaign promise to create the office of Chief Technology Officer, many had expected it to be a cabinet-level position; an expectation that the president himself did not seem to have in mind.
In 2008 Obama’s team led the most hi-tech campaign ever seen in a U.S. presidential race. Supporters employed nearly every available form of media ““ from e-mail and television to text messaging and social networks like MySpace and Facebook ““ allowing him to reach millions of new voters and secure record levels of previously untapped financial resources.
Expectations that Obama would carry his technology momentum into the presidency to create an e-White House have been somewhat disappointed, as privacy restrictions and outdated government technology have stifled the progress of a presidential tech-revolution.
As Secretary of Technology for the state of Virginia under governor Tim Kaine, Chopra was charged with using technology to advance government reform, innovation and economic development. In 2007 Mr. Chopra was awarded the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s (HIMSS) State Leadership Advocacy Award for outstanding service to the state of Virginia.
Prior to accepting the presidential appointment last weekend, Chapra was employed as the managing director for the Advisory Board Company, a health care think tank providing management solutions to more than 2,500 health systems throughout the country.
Chapra graduated with a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1997 and earned a B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University in 1994.
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