Prime Minister's tech advisor Rohan Silva resigns
Rohan Silva, the Prime Minister's advisor for technology, has resigned and will leave his post this June.
The mind behind Tech City, a U.K. government initiative which aims to assist East London-based startups in getting off the ground, and pushing through projects including the Entrepreneur Visa, Silva has worked as PM David Cameron's technology advisor for a number of years.
Speaking to Tech City News, 32 year-old Silva said that he will leave No. 10 in June this year. He has been offered a place with a venture capital firm in order to focus on the possibilities online education has to offer, and plans to launch a business to improve online learning — with a particular slant towards developing countries.
Silva told the publication:
"Anyone that knows me knows I’ve been straining at the leash to have a go at my own business for a number of years now."
In addition, Silva said that his resignation has nothing to do with the current government, and that it was "a hard decision." The tech advisor hopes that he will be able to grow "a fantastic British business in Tech City," and has stated that "[He's] loved that [he's] been able to make a difference" in the time he has spent as the PM's advisor.
The Tech City Investment Organisation praised Silva for his contributions to the startup scene and technology, stating:
"When you have a passion for entrepreneurship like Rohan and spend as much time working with startups as he has in building Tech City, moving from championing those businesses to creating one is a natural next step.
We will continue to work closely with Rohan until his departure in June and we wish him a world of success."
No successor to the position has been chosen yet.