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Japan-America Society Interest Group
High Technology JASIG
Past Meetings
Risaburo Nezu, a Senior Executive Fellow at Fujitsu Research Institute and a Director at METI, the Ministry of Economy and Trade's Research Institute of Economy, Trade, and Industry (RIETI); Izumi Aizu, a Principal at Asia Network Research, the Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Internet Association (APIA), and a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Global Communications (GLOCOM); and Takashi Yamakawa, a senior executive at NTT DoCoMo, and until recently the Executive Director of the i-mode Business Division of NTT DoCoMo, provided an overview of digital network growth in Asia, particularly Japan, Korea, and China, in this High Tech JASIG program. Trends in the development and adoption of network technologies, such as integration of heterogeneous networks, were also examined. In discussing the successes and failures in the Asian market, our speakers also offered their thoughts about opportunities for U.S. firms in Asia as network usage grows. This program was supported by Perkins Coie LLP.
Tim Romero, formerly Executive Technology Officer and Head of the Strategic Research and Development Department of Digital Garage, one of Tokyo's leading web solution providers and business incubators, led a discussion on broadband and wireless issues in Japan on March 18 at a brown-bag lunch at the Seattle offices of the Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development.
This JASIG featured John Shay, President of MicroTether, who provided an in-depth
look at Ipv6, the key technology that will be the foundation of the pervasive Internet of the future.
Shay, formerly of RealNetworks and Sierra On-line, explained why the
logical competitive advantages of IPv6 grow exponentially as the mounting
technical limitations of current Internet protocol (IPv4), such as IP
address depletion, continue to adversely affect global business. Shay also discussed Ipv6’s ability to provide addresses in quantities making virtually
unlimited network expansion possible and touches upon IPv6
plug-and-play connectivity, reduced administration costs, automatic
security, and support for 3G wireless services.
This JASIG featured Dr. Yasuhisa Nakamura, Senior Vice President, NTT DoCoMo USA, speaking on The Latest Trends in Cellular Business and Technology. NTT DoCoMo chose Dr. Nakamura to lead the transfer of the highly-successful iMode technology to AT&T Wireless, in which DoCoMo recently invested $10 billion. A Ph.D. in Communications Engineering, he has been one of the core developers of both DoCoMo's innovations and the new business models that have made the company so profitable. His previous assignment was installing Brazil's nationwide cellular telephone system. He discussed bringing wireless voice together with internet services and looked at U.S. business applications for transfer back to Japan.
This JASIG featured Wistar Kay, Delegation Manager, and Delegates from the Japan-America Society 2001 IT Business Development Mission to Japan (May 13-16). Our mission included an intensive three-day itinerary in Tokyo to examine end-to-end systems that combine to make e-business successful for both new and transforming traditional companies. Among the companies the mission visited were NTT DoCoMo, Sony, Amazon.co.jp, Basis Technology, and others.
This High-Tech JASIG featured Katja Suletzki Director of Production Services for EnCompass Globalization, who discussed the many aspects of localizing your website to the unique Japan market, covering branding and the appropriateness of changing it in a Japanese context, levels of formality to use in translation, culturally sensitive issues, legal issues and address and telephone listings issues.
This High Technology JASIG featured Tom Bell and Dax Hansen, Attorneys at Perkins Coie LLP, who led a discussion of key legal issues impacting ecommerce businesses, including jurisdiction, consumer protection, data protection and ownership,and privacy, and contrast the approaches Japan and the U.S. take with respect to these legal issues.
This High-Technology Japan-America Society Industry Group (JASIG) featured selected mission participants of our recent e-commerce business and trade delegation to Tokyo discussing their trip and the latest happenings in Japan's e-business world.
The second High Technology JASIG took place on March 2 and featured Leslie Helm, Technology Reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Helm will led a discussion on the obstacles and opportunities of e-business and the Internet in Japan, as well as provide insight into the uniquely Japanese adaptations that are taking place. While e-business in Japan is widely expected to take off over the next few years, growth is
not likely to follow the same pattern as that of the United States. American high-tech companies looking to succeed in Japan cannot simply extrapolate from what they have learned in the U.S. market. Many differences in how the net is accepted and utilized in Japan are already apparent. One obvious example is the growing use of cell phones as tools for accessing the web in Japan. Helm, on leave as technology reporter for the Los Angeles Times, is currently conducting research on the Internet in Japan with the support of an Abe Fellowship. Helm has been with the Times for 9 years beginning with a 3-year stint as Tokyo correspondent for the paper. He also spent 7 years at Business Week, including four years at the magazine's Tokyo bureau.
In the first High Technology JASIG, two Seattle-area experts, Jim Ladd, President & CEO, and B.J. Lackland, E-Commerce Marketing Manager, both of EnCompass Globalization, led a discussion about the Japanese market's unique challenges and what it takes to overcome them. E-commerce growth in Japan, which has lagged considerably behind that of the United States, is expected to explode over the next few years. Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry estimates that by the year 2003, e-commerce revenues will approach $U.S. 600 billion dollars a year. The potential pay-off of entering and succeeding in this area is unquestioned--those companies that best take advantage of this untapped pool will benefit for years to come. Where the difficulty lies for U.S. companies is in overcoming the cultural and structural obstacles of the world's second largest e-commerce market.
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