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ExecutiveBiz: Why did you accept the position of Secretary of Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia?
Aneesh Chopra:
First obviously, I fundamentally shared Governor-Elect Kaine's passion for his policy agenda. He stated some pretty big goals that I believe technology can play a pretty significant role in. The top among them for me is his desire to lower the uninsured rate in Virginia, lower health care costs, which will improve small businesses and access to health care, which will also hopefully do so in a way that is cost efficient across the government to use so we can actually make better use of the government dollar where appropriate. Those are the things that really drove me. His agenda resonated, and I thought that the technology piece would be a big factor in achieving those policy goals.
ExecutiveBiz: What is your background?
Aneesh Chopra:
Professionally, I am a managing director at a think tank with a focus for the health care industry, but a big portion of my professional background has been studying ways that technology can fundamentally transform the healthcare industry in particular. Also, I internally helped launched the Advisory Board's first software-based membership business. So not only have I been researching technology and how I can benefit the healthcare industry, I have been business development wise active in the use of technology to grow our own business.
ExecutiveBiz: Once you are in office, what will be your top priorities?
Aneesh Chopra:
It's a little premature to talk about priorities in the sense that we haven't sat down with the Governor and the rest of Cabinet has yet to be named, so priorities obviously come from a collective discussion across the whole group. There are three big themes that I hope to accomplish when I get down there. First, I want to keep pushing the VITA agenda forward. VITA is the Virginia Information Technology Agency. It is the entity Governor Warner created to consolidate IT spending and deployment. I would view them on just the first lap of a multi-mile race. They are just getting started, and there's a lot to be done. So my first priority would be to nurture the continued success of VITA. Second priority is to work very closely with my colleagues in the Cabinet to identify the most leveraged areas where technology could improve government service. Third, I want to continue to support the technology industry across the Commonwealth.
ExecutiveBiz: What is your view of your new job and its role in state government?
Aneesh Chopra:
First, I want to think about the leading edge technologies that are longer term that might translate into large business enterprises over the decade-- so nano technologies and bio technologies—areas where CIT has been active in identifying. So number one, pushing on the emerging technologies. Two, I want to ensure that the message of Virginia's technology-friendly economy is heard not just in the Commonwealth but across the country and the globe around to encourage business development activity in technology. Third, most important to me, I want to serve as a bridge between some of the broader government-identified problems in the way that the technology sector might be in the position to help.
ExecutiveBiz: What is your view on George Mason becoming a world class research institution?
Aneesh Chopra:
George Mason is one of the most innovative models of a distributed university in the world. Every campus is capable of serving as the leading center. Most universities have a mother ship and everything else is satellite. What that means is that they are so concerned with the mother ship that quality at the satellite is worst. If you're a biologist, where would you rather be: the Arlington campus, Prince William, or does it really matter? The beauty of GMU is that its developed a very creative distributive model. Personally, I think GMU is onto something that the world around is yet to fully understand is that universities of the future might need to take advantage of some of these capabilities especially the old bricks and mortar model where you have to come to the main campus. Who is thinking about world class universities in the distributive setting? GMU.
ExecutiveBiz: Where would GMU get the funding it needs to be a world class research institution?
Aneesh Chopra:
Well that's two areas of mechanics where GMU can get its funding. Already GMU has proven to be a close partner of all forms that you've described. Think about the new Howard Hughes Institute, the $500 million biotech hub. Where is that located? Across the street from GMU Prince William. So my point is that was done by design and not by mistake, right? Is that a private sector supporting GMU? Is it government? Is it federal? Is it state? It's a brilliant strategy that brings those brilliant minds together physically in a way that will likely lead to collaboration, and how that format looks like, what structures there are, that will be figured out over time. The more important thing is, the Howard Hughes faculty, will be right there across the street from GMU. I bet on GMU taking full advantage of that relationship.
ExecutiveBiz: How do you plan to stay in touch with the technology community in Virginia?
Aneesh Chopra:
One big thing is that I intend to work very closely with technology councils across all of Virginia, but including Northern Virginia. I very much look forward to getting to know the technology community and listen to their concerns to ensure that I can do all in my capabilities to address them.
ExecutiveBiz: Do you have any plans to run for a political office in the future?
Aneesh Chopra:
My number one goal in the future now is to deliver on the goals that the Governor has asked of me, so I'm 100% focus on ensuring that Virginia continues its number one position in the country. My number one goal is to build on that success, so that's the number one thing in my mind right now, to actually physically get the work done.
ExecutiveBiz: What was your biggest obstacle in your career?
Aneesh Chopra:
The biggest obstacle in my career was being asked to run the Advisory board's technology incubator in January of 2000, months before the dot com crash. It made it very difficult to perform, to achieve the goals set for me by advising board ventures. I assumed responsibility for advising board ventures months before the big crash on NASDAQ and the market essentially coiled up on healthcare. Despite the crash, there had to be ways that technology could support healthcare more efficiently. Several years later, 2003, we were able to successfully launch the advisory board's first software based business, exceeding all expectations. Now our firm is working on up to three new projects in technology because of the success of that patient approach on understanding how technology can best serve the healthcare community.
ExecutiveBiz: What is something most people don't know about you?
Aneesh Chopra:
We ran a venture capital fund, Avatar Capital, in the dot com hey day. I co-founded an $11 million venture capital network investment fund. It hasn't yet produced the results we would have liked it to.
For more information about
Virginia, visit
www.govelect.virginia.gov.
Interview with Aneesh Chopra conducted by JD Kathuria.
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