Raj Shah
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- Milken Institute59 min
Bridging the Gap Between the Military and Silicon Valley
David Sanger, Eric Schmidt, Norton Schwartz, Raj Shah
Led by Raj Shah, the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx) successfully integrated commercial startup technologies like MIT-developed LiDAR quadcopters into military operations to bypass traditional acquisition cycles. Despite facing cultural barriers regarding risk aversion and bureaucratic compliance, the initiative has attracted significant venture capital investment while prompting recommendations for embedding computer science as a core DoD competency. Current leadership continues to pursue these structural reforms through iterative procurement models and data-driven soft power applications to maintain a strategic edge over global adversaries.
- Milken Institute1h 3m
Africa's Energy Landscape
Paul Hinks, Raj Shah, Jay Island, Kola Karim, President Kagame, Tony Elumelu
Launched by President Obama in 2013, the Power Africa initiative seeks to electrify the African continent by leveraging U.S. transactional advocacy to de-risk private sector investments aimed at closing a critical $50 billion to $100 billion energy gap. While the program faces significant hurdles including political instability, payment delays, and lengthy project timelines, it has already attracted substantial capital from global firms like General Electric and enabled local financial institutions to fund major infrastructure projects in priority nations such as Nigeria and Tanzania. By promoting an all-of-the-above energy strategy and accelerating regulatory reforms, the initiative targets the provision of reliable power to 600 million off-grid citizens to support the economic growth of a demographic with 60% of the population under age 25.