America's CTO Aneesh Chopra Challenges Tech Sector

Silicon Valley, like the country's other business hubs, has been hammered by the world's financial panic and ensuing recession. But a large group of the high-tech sector's leading lights ­ investors, bankers, entrepreneurs and business owners ­ were heartened Saturday by talk of the coming "national cyber leap-year." Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra reminded them the government has a mandate to apply emerging technologies to the country's most pressing challenges. Silicon Valley and other tech hot-spots, Chopra said, have a direct pipeline to the White House that did not exist even six months ago. "I challenge the academics, the private sector and government agencies to come back to me with game-changing ideas we can initiate now, in the next 90 days" Chopra said. If new technology can help with hot-button issues like improving health care and government transparency, providing wider access to data, making a more secure Internet, reducing energy waste or creating a better school system, it stands a good chance of being fast-tracked to deployment, new partnerships or new funding, Chopra said.