Since the inception of reform and opening-up thirty years ago, China has established a record of astonishing economic achievements and is, or will soon be, surpassing Japan as the world's second largest economy, something few people would have imagined three decades ago.

The information and communications technologies (ICT) industry is the backbone of the Chinese export driven growth strategy, which many argue as the primary driver of China's economic growth. Recent ICT policy initiatives demonstrate China's shifting strategy in pursuing a different path for the next phase of economic growth.

Promoting indigenous innovation and strengthening information security may be considered the two major thrusts of Chinese ICT policy initiatives. Technical standards, IPR treatments, government procurement, and special industry incentives are some examples of the former domain; internet filtering, compulsory certification of information security product, and encryption control are examples of the latter.

Many of these initiatives are controversial in the international trade arena. However, the real challenges of these policy initiatives concern whether they work to achieve the Chinese government's goal of maintaining sustainable growth. This presentation will attempt to evaluate these challenges.

Dr. John C. Chiang was appointed as Director of Global Innovation Research Center at Peking University in June 2008. He joined PKU in February 2006 as Professor in the Department of Management of Technology at the School of Software and Microelectronics. Dr. Chiang is also President of USITO, the organization representing five major US IT industry trade associations and close to 50 individual U.S. IT companies in China, a role he has held since October 2008.

Dr. Chiang came to China in 2000, joining Motorola China as Deputy GM of the infrastructure business unit, spearheading its post-WTO strategy. He then moved to Motorola China HQ, serving as Senior Director of Strategy and Business Development. In 2003, he served as Director of Motorola China R&D Institute, and in 2004, he became the founding president of Motorola (China) Technologies, Limited.

From October 2006 to September 2008, Dr. Chiang was a Partner in DragonBridge Capital, a U.S.-based merchant bank with China as its primary serving market.

Dr. Chiang was born in Beijing, raised in Taiwan, and received the Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1975. He received the EMBA from Georgia State University in 1989.

After his academic career, Dr. Chiang joined Bell Laboratories in 1979, and later held progressive technical and managerial positions at Racal-Milgo, Hayes, and GTE. He was Senior Vice President of Operations at KG Telecom and led the launch of the first private mobile services in Taiwan, during 1997-2000.

Dr. Chiang currently also serves as the Vice Chair of the China Association of Standards and as an Investment Advisor to the Beijing Municipal Government.

This conference will present and discuss new papers aimed at understanding the trends and dynamics of business and innovation in Japan through the lens of entrepreneurial companies, and institutions that affect those companies.

The papers, encompassing disciplines including economics, policital science and law, will be presented on four subject areas:

• New company formation
• Industry specific studies
• Innovation strategies
• Innovation and entrepreneurship in politics and law

» Presentations/Papers from the event

After a decade of economic institution reforms and consistent growth, the recent recession has sharply curtailed Japan's manufacturing and service activity, even though its banks have endured relatively unscathed. Many in Japan now look to entrepreneurship and innovation as an important part of the continued restructuring of its economy. This event will review data from a new 50,000 company database of recently incorporated Japanese firms to begin a dialogue on entrepreneurialism in Japan with policy makers, academics, and business leaders. The dialogue will be held simultaneously in Japan and the US over Cisco's TelePresence system.

Ambassador John V. Roos offers his informal off-the-record remarks on current and future U.S. - Japan Relations.

On May 27, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated John V. Roos to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Japan. He was confirmed by the Senate on August 7, 2009, and was sworn in on August 16, 2009. Prior to his appointment as ambassador, Mr. Roos served as Chief Executive Officer at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a law firm headquartered in Silicon Valley which is known for its representation of technology, life sciences, and growth companies. Mr. Roos had been a partner at the firm since 1988 and also served in a number of other senior leadership roles including the firm's Board of Directors.

Mr. Roos helped lead the firm during the waves of innovation in Silicon Valley, from the growth of software and communications, to the Internet Age and the emergence of biotechnology, to today's focus on clean technology and renewable energy. He was a leader in cultivating the firm's diversity initiatives. Mr. Roos has been active in local government and served on national political campaigns for President Obama, former Vice President Walter Mondale and Senator Bill Bradley, among others.

Mr. Roos grew up in San Francisco and graduated from Lowell High School in 1973 before attending college at Stanford University, from which he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with honors and distinction in 1977. He then went on to Stanford Law School, where he was a member of the Stanford Law Review and Order of the Coif, earning his Juris Doctor in 1980.