The Health 2.0 conference kicked off this morning, amidst the booming call-to-action by the U.S. Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra during the Keynote Address.

Chopra assured the crowd that he was "deeply committed to the role entrepreneurs play (in the future of health care)".  Yet, he wondered whether companies were using all of the resources currently available to them, when he asked "How many companies are using Small Business Innovation Research grants (SBIR) to bring their products to market?".

According to Chopra, the U.S. government has new initiatives on the horizon, such as subsidizing 2/3 of the salaries of 40 postdocs who decide to enter industry.  That means an employer can pick up a new PhD hire at 1/3 of the cost!

Chopra concluded by addressing the current economic downturn with his "light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel" attitude by saying "the next round of Fortune 500 companies will be born in this era".

My take: it was a good introduction to the potential promise scattered throughout the room.