At the invitation of Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl,Lenore Blum, professor of computer science and director of Project Olympus, joined other Pittsburghbusiness and development leaders in Washington, D.C., Tuesday afternoon fora meeting with Obama administration officials about economic development andjob creation.

Blum, a member of Ravenstahl's PowerUp Pittsburgh initiativefor increasing the region's innovation economy, said the meeting with the WhiteHouse Business Council included Mark Doms, chief economist for the U.S.Department of Commerce, and Todd Park, chief technology officer for the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services.

"The main take-away message was the Pittsburgh is very muchon the White House's radar in terms of high tech, manufacturing and health IT,"she said. In particular, the city is seen as a leader in health IT, which willplay an increasingly important role in implementing federal health carereform.

The meeting was one of a series with leaders from variouscities organized by the group BusinessForward. Project Olympus is part of Carnegie Mellon's Greenlighting Startups initiative.