Joi Ito

Joichi Ito is Vice President of international and mobility for Technorati (www.technorati.com) which indexes and monitors blogs and the Chairman of Six Apart Japan (http://www.sixapart.jp ) the weblog software company. He is on the board of Creative Commons (http://www.creativecommons.org ), a non-profit organization which proposes a middle way to rights management, rather than the extremes of the pure public domain or the reservation of all rights.

He will being a three year term as board member of Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for a three year term starting December 2004. He has created numerous Internet companies including PSINet Japan, Digital Garage and Infoseek Japan. In 1997 Time Magazine ranked him as a member of the CyberElite. In 2000 he was ranked among the "50 Stars of Asia" by Business Week and commended by the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications for supporting the advancement of IT.

In 2001 the World Economic Forum chose him as one of the 100 "Global Leaders of Tomorrow" for 2002. He has served and continues to serve on numerous Japanese central as well as local government committees and boards, advising the government on IT, privacy and computer security related issues. He is currently researching "The Sharing Economy" as a Doctor of Business Administration candidate at the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy at Hitotsubashi University in Japan. He maintains a weblog (http://joi.ito.com/) where he regularly shares his thoughts with the online community.

History

Education

1970 - Moved to U.S. with parents and educated mostly in the U.S.

1981-82 - Nishimachi International School - Jr. High School (Japan)

1982-84 - American School in Japan - High School (Japan)

1984-85 - Tufts University (USA)

1986-87 - University of Chicago (USA)

1990-91 - Associate to the Executive Producer of "Indian Runner" a motion picture (USA)

1994 - Established Eccosys, Ltd. (Japan)

1995 - Established Digital Garage, Inc. (Japan)

1995 - President of PSINet K.K. (Japan)

1996 - Jury of Interactive Media Festival '95 (USA)

1996 - Member of Ministry of Posts and Telecom study group on E-Money(Japan)

1996 - International Executive Board Member and Japan Committee Technical Producer of the Internet 1996 World Exposition

1997 - Headmaster of "Bithaus" Digital Media School (Japan)

1997 - Ranked by Time Magazine as member of Cyber Elite 1997 (USA)

1997-1998 - Member of Ministry of Posts and Telecom study groups on "International Policy Strategy", "Network Technology" and "Information Technology New Business Forum" (Japan)

1997-1998 - National Police Agency study groups, "Network Security Vision" and "Unauthorized Access Countermeasures" (Japan)

April 1998 - Established Bithaus Laboratory (Japan)

1998-1999 - Computers Freedom & Privacy '99 - Program Committee Member (USA)

1999-2000 - National Land Agency Study Group on Tokyo in the Context of Global Culture

June 24, 1999 - Established Infoseek Japan, K.K. Appointed Director and Chairman

December 1999 - Began incubation business @ Neoteny Co., Ltd

Recent

January 6, 2000 - Member of Economic Planning Agency Study Group on The Center of Intellectual Activity in the World

Prix Ars Electronica Jury Member 1995-2002, 2004 (missed 2001, 2003)

March 6, 2000 - Member of Ministry of International Trade & Industry Working Group on e-Trade

March 6, 2000 - Member of Science and Technology Agency Study Group on Information Security Technology

April 11, 2000 - Ministry of International Trade & Industry Study Group on Private Equity Finance

June 2000 - Commendation by Director General of Kanto Bureau of Telecommunications at Telecom Fair 2000/Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications

July 2000-January 3, 2001 - Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Study Group on e-Quality

December 2000-present - National Land Agency/Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Study Group on The Context of Global Culture

January 2001-present - Cabinet Office Study Group on Economic Society in the 21st Century and the IT Revolution

June 2001-present - National Police Agency Study Group on Malicious Programs

June 2001-present - Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Study Group on Disclosure Requirements for Listing Companies

October 2001-present - Cabinet Office National Survey on Lifestyle Preferences/Consumer Policy Committee Board Member

December 2001-present - National Police Agency Committee on General Security Measures

2001 - Chosen as World Economic Forum Global Leader for Tomorrow for 2002

March 2002-present - Ministry of Justice Study Group on Japan's Position for the UN Electronic Contracting Convention

June 26, 2002-present - Pia Corporation, Board Member

March 2002-December 2002 - New Business Conference / Chairman of New Business Forum Committee

2002-2003 - Cabinet Office Consumer Policy Committee / Committee Member

2002 -2003- National Tax Bureau study group on IT and Taxation / Study Group Member

2002 - 2003 - Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecom IT Venture Research Group / Member

2003 - Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Post and Telecom Government Issued Personal Digital Authentication System Technical Standards Inquiry Committee / Member

2004 - O'Reilly Emerging Technologies Conference Emergent Democracy Forum Program Committee Member / Speaker

2004 - Howard Dean Net Advisory Net / Member

2004 - Portal Business Companies of Rakuten Inc. / Advisory Board Member

Current Positions

Technorati / VP International and Mobility

Six Apart Japan / Chairman

Neoteny Co., Ltd / CEO

Pia Corporation / Board Member

Kula Co., Ltd / CEO

Socialtext / Board Member

Creative Commons / Board Member

ICANN / Board Member starting Dec 2004

Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy, Hitotsubashi University / Doctor of Business Administration candidate

WEF Global Leader for Tomorrow class of 2002

Internet Association Japan / Councilor

International Foundation for Information Technology / Councilor

Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) / Secretariat Member

Enjin01 - The Cultural Strategy Council / Vice Representative Secretariat Member

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility / Japan Chapter Treasurer

Prefectural Government of Nagano / Mentor

Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecom Study Group on Privacy / Study Group Member

Minsitry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecom Technical Oversight Committee for the Basic Residential Record Network System / Board Member

City of Yokohama Committee for the Protection of Identity Information / Committee Member

University of Tokyo Edge Capital Co., Ltd. / Venture Partner

Pacific Rim New Media Summit, San Jose 2006 / Co-Chair