On Tuesday, the Tysons Corner Ritz Carlton served as ground zero for the intersection of politics and technology, drawing hundreds of the area’s leading political and technology leaders. Through the hotel’s wood and glass doors and up to the 5th floor ballrooms streamed, among others, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, Jim Moran (D-VA), and congressional hopeful Gerry Connolly. They were joined by area technology executives and innovators such as Mark Ein and CES head Gary Shapiro.

With the Presidential Election just days away, the undercurrent of politics was certainly palpable, but the Potomac Officer’s Club (POC) lunch event panel discussion featuring Gov. Kaine, Rock Creek Partners Managing Director (and member of Obama’s high tech brain trust) Julius Genachowski and Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra, really focused on recognizing and honoring Northern Virginia’s emergence as one of the nation’s true business and technology success stories.

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This is National Health IT Week, an annual forum where public and private sector organizations unite to promote the common goal of interoperable health IT adoption. National Health IT Week brings together key healthcare constituents — information technology firms, healthcare providers, payers, pharmaceutical/biotech companies, government agencies, industry/professional associations, and consumer protection groups — in a unifying call for action.

In the following Q&A, Aneesh Chopra, Virginia’s Secretary of Technology, shares the latest on the importance of Health IT and why it’s so essential to ensuring Virginia’s future. In 2007, the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society awarded Secretary Chopra its 2007 State Leadership Advocacy Award for Virginia’s innovative approach to the topic.

You are serving as the Honorary National Co-Chairman for National Health IT Week. What does that entail?

Aneesh Chopra: This week, a broad coalition of public, private and non-profit leaders gathered in Washington, DC to bring focus to an important lever in our fight to improve our nation’s healthcare system – the transformative power of IT. I was humbled to serve as honorary co-chair and am pleased to report three advances in Governor Kaine’s Health IT strategy.

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Recently, Aneesh Chopra, Virginia’s Secretary of Technology, was named among the Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers by Government Technology Magazine. For the past seven years, the honor has recognized those who “help set the standard for using technology to improve the government.”

As in previous years, this year’s list cuts across jurisdictions and specialties. It includes technology executives, elected officials, law enforcement officers, emergency managers, and agency directors.

“We look for people who cut through the public sector’s infamous barriers to innovation — tight budgets, organizational inertia, politics as usual, etc. — to implement changes that reshaped government operations for the better,” said Steve Townes, staff writer for Government Technology.

Back in January 2006, Secretary Chopra was appointed as Virginia’s 4th Secretary of Technology by Governor Timothy Kaine. Before then, he served as Managing Director at The Advisory Board Company, a for-profit think tank serving the healthcare industry.

“I am honored to be among such a prestigious group of technology leaders,” said Chopra.  “Governor Kaine has assembled an incredibly talented team that embraces technology to transform public services.”