Washington, D.C. – The Center for American Progress announced today that Aneesh Chopra, former U.S. chief technology officer and assistant to the president, and Nish Acharya, the former director of innovation and entrepreneurship at the Department of Commerce will join the organization as Senior Fellows. Both Chopra and Acharya will be contributing to CAP’s innovation portfolio, developing policies that contribute to competitiveness and growth.
“We are excited to welcome Aneesh and Nish to the Center for American Progress as Senior Fellows,” said Carmel Martin, Executive Vice President of Policy at CAP. “Innovation is key to our national economic competitiveness, and Aneesh and Nish bring enormous experience to this critical policy area.”
In his previous role as U.S. chief technology officer, Aneesh Chopra designed the National Wireless Initiative, helped launch Startup America, and executed an “open innovation” strategy across the government built on private-sector collaboration—opening data to transform health, energy, and education markets; convening tech leaders to develop consensus standards; and sponsoring prizes, challenges, and competitions to tap into entrepreneurial problem solvers. Chopra previously served as Virginia’s secretary of technology and has returned as a senior advisor with The Advisory Board Company, a global research, consulting, and technology firm helping hospital executives to better serve patients, where he previously served as managing director. In 2011, Chopra was named to Modern Healthcare‘s list of the “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare,” and in 2008, to Government Technology magazine’s Top 25 in their “Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers” issue.
Nish Acharya recently left the Obama administration, where he was appointed by President Obama as the director of innovation and entrepreneurship and senior advisor to the secretary of commerce. In this capacity, he led the president’s efforts to nurture economic growth through innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization. As part of his work, Acharya managed the president’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship—a group of nationally known investors, entrepreneurs, and university presidents. Acharya also engaged with 26 federal agencies to provide more than $100 million in funds to universities, research centers, and companies to increase the commercialization of federally funded research. He engaged with more than 500 universities and colleges across the United States to boost their programs supporting innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization. Acharya is currently a principal at Equal Innovation, LLC, a strategy consulting and investment group working with universities, governments, foundations, and companies to assist them with innovation, entrepreneurship, and globalization strategies. He is also currently advising Northeastern University on its global education strategy.
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