William Saito
Encyclopedia
William Hiroyuki Saito is an entrepreneur
, venture capitalist and educator who has founded start-ups, managed public corporations and worked on global information security policy over the past two decades. He holds multiple patents in the U.S. and Japan based on his work in information and data security, particularly the field of biometrics. Ernst & Young
, NASDAQ
and USA Today
named Saito Entrepreneur of the Year in 1998, and he was inducted into the Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization Hall of Fame in 2001. He has won other awards and industry accolades as well as Congressional recognition.
In addition to being a public speaker and writer in English and Japanese, Saito is regularly quoted in the media on both sides of the Pacific. He has contributed time and expertise over the years to various charitable organizations, business groups and communities. Saito currently lives in Japan, where he runs InTecur—a consultancy that helps companies identify, develop and market innovative technologies.
At the 2011 World Economic Forum
, Saito was named a Young Global Leader, one of just 190 individuals from 65 countries chosen from nearly five thousand candidates worldwide this year. The selection committee was chaired by H.M. Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and was composed of respected international leaders from business, government and media. The honor recognizes leaders under forty years of age for their outstanding leadership, professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to shape the future of the world. The individuals named become part of a community known as the Forum of Young Global Leaders.
, California
. Both his father and mother—a chemist and veterinarian, respectively—stressed the value of acquiring math skills. Saito was solving college-level math problems by the time he finished primary school, and working on the school’s only computer. While still in junior high, he began performing coding jobs for Merrill Lynch
and other firms.
Saito and a like-minded high school classmate, Tas Dienes, later began doing business as I/O Software. Saito graduated a year early from high school in 1987, and went on to earn a degree in biomedical science from the University of California, Riverside
(UCR).
, and rapidly grew into a leading developer of highly flexible, scalable information security solutions based on advanced user authentication and encryption (e.g., biometrics
, smart cards, security tokens) utilized in digital certificates, public key infrastructure
(PKI) and e-commerce systems.
Saito made use of his bilingual upbringing in 1992 when Datastorm Technologies, Inc.
, intent on entering the Japanese market, asked I/O Software to localize Procomm Plus for NEC’s PC98 series of computers. After Symantec
acquired Datastorm, it made a similar request for Norton Utilities
. Saito performed those tasks and also devised methods for displaying Japanese characters on IBM-compatible machines and printing them on a PostScript
printer. This technology became a necessity when the more expensive PC98 machines were not always available and printing Japanese in the U.S. was still not feasible.
An influx of localization
and translation work for various software products and documentation bound for Japan followed, including market development related to the upcoming Windows platform. Saito and I/O also used their knowledge of Windows on behalf of a number of various Japanese peripheral manufacturers to develop device drivers for printers, scanners, cameras and other components.
In 1995, I/O Software's biggest customer, Toshiba
, developed a new standard for high-speed, high-resolution videocameras that used a ZV port. Saito and I/O Software developed a device driver optimized for this specification, helped Toshiba develop the hardware and created the first Windows-based videoconferencing
application.
Sony
wanted to resell the application. I/O Software's products subsequently became part of Sony’s successful videoconferencing system lineup. When Sony asked for suggestions on other practical applications for their cameras, Saito recommended developing a fingerprint
recognition system for the PC. Sony agreed, and I/O Software developed the related drivers, algorithms and software which later won numerous industry awards and accolades.
Saito realized the potential of a common platform for biometric devices that any manufacturer could adopt. The company built the platform initially for fingerprints and later for other technologies such as iris
, voice and facial recognition. They called this platform the BioAPI
or BAPI.
In May 2000, Saito negotiated an agreement with Microsoft Corporation to integrate the BAPI and I/O Software’s core authentication technology, SecureSuite, into the Windows operating system. The technology was eventually licensed to several dozen companies worldwide, including Intel and Sony. The BAPI platform became an ANSI
and ISO standard, and was later added to the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Technology Institute.
The Microsoft license and a high-profile investment by Sony created intense interest in I/O Software, culminating in a successful buyout at high valuation in December 2004.
and other governmental bodies sought Saito out as an advisor, drawing him deeper into the security realm. Groups he has worked with include the DoD’s Counter-Terrorism Task Force and Technical Support Working Group and the FBI’s Information Technology Study Group and InfraGard
. To date, he has been involved in efforts to increase information security and enhance travel and border security at the federal and international levels, including the use of biometrics
and advanced cryptography
.
Saito also had roles in several industrial organizations, including ANSI, ISO, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST). In the academic realm, he was an adjunct professor at UCR in 2001.
In early 2006, Saito was named co-chairman and CEO of Giuliani Security and Safety Asia (GSSA), a subsidiary of Giuliani Partners
, as well as the group's chief technical officer
(CTO). Founded in 2002 by former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Giuliani Partners helps solve strategic security and safety issues worldwide. Saito developed innovative security consulting services in Asia for the company through the consolidation of physical, logical and operational services.
In July 2007, Saito established a consultancy called InTecur, which he still runs. InTecur assists companies with innovative technologies to identify and develop applications and markets in such areas as information and communication technologies
, IT security and product and global corporate strategy development. The company also helps corporations cope with economic changes by repositioning and revamping their technologies to fit profitable new markets and geographies.
in cooperation with the Tokyo government. He is also a visiting professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences.
He acts as an advisor to various other organizations as well. He is both a visiting researcher at the Research Center for Information Security and a start-up advisor at the Venture Support Center—-both part of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
, which in turn is under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Saito does similar work as an advisor at Industrial Growth Platform, Inc., an M&A restructuring and strategic consultant that counsels client firms and their principal stakeholders on the long-term risks associated with achieving sustainable growth in value.
To build entrepreneurial spirit in Japan, Saito also acts as CEO for the Innovation Platform Technology Fund (IPTF), a venture capital fund established by ex-Sony CEO Nobuyuki Idei
and Kazuhiko Toyama
, the former COO of the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan (IRCJ). The IPTF seeks to produce more successful global ventures in Japan by creating a genuine venture environment.
In addition, Saito has managed projects for the Mitoh “Super Creator” Program—-part of METI’s Information-Technology Promotion Agency (IPA)-—evaluating the originality of new technologies presented. He has guided projects related to ubiquitous network browsers, middleware
tools that connect cellular phones and computers, and home phone networks employing identity tokens. In March 2008, IPA and other managers, including Saito, organized a business presentation meeting in Silicon Valley for the selected few from their Exploratory Software Project. The new developers presented their technologies and business models to established venture capitalists in the effort to expand their businesses to the United States.
Saito has been a keynote speaker, panelist and moderator at the Milken Institute
Global Conference, Forbes Global CEO Conference, Kauffman Foundation, Comdex
and numerous academic conferences.
Saito served as a judge and chair of the Ernst & Young
Entrepreneur of the Year Award program in the U.S. between 1999 and 2004. He has also acted as a judge for the program in Japan since its inception, and was a judge at the 2007 world program in Monte Carlo
. He has performed the same function at numerous other entrepreneurial competitions worldwide.
He is currently a Global Agenda Council Member amongst the Young Global Leaders at the World Economic Forum
, as well as a founding curator for the Japan hub of the Global Shapers Community (GSC).
Recent activities as speaker or participant at world conferences include;
Saito was a panelist at the “Climate Change & Constructive Entrepreneurship,” Athgo Global Innovation Forum, World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C., August 10-12, 2011.
At the Australian Leadership Retreat, Australian Davos Connection in Hayman Island, August 26 – 28, 2011, Saito participated in two presentations on the topics of cyber security and the reconstruction of Japan as well as his own 'Conversation With William Saito'.
Saito was a discussion leader at the “A catalyst for Japan’s revival” Roundtable Japan, roundtable discussions in Tokyo from September 9-10, 2011.
As a panelist at the Young Global Leaders Annual Summit Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, People’s Republic of China from September 14-16, 2011, Saito joined three discussions. The topics were “New Perspectives on Growth,” "Press conference to announce BEYOND Tomorrow kids’ meeting with Sichuan orphans," and “Women Entrepreneurs: How are women changing entrepreneurship and driving growth?”
Saito was a speaker at the GITEX Technology Week Conferences in Dubai, October 9-13, 2011, the Banyan: Ideas for an Asian Century in Singapore on October 18, 2011 and the Asian Business and Management Conference, Osaka, November 12-13, 2011.
Most recently Saito participated at the World Innovation Summit for Education
(WISE) in Qatar, November 1-3, 2011 and the World Science Forum
in Budapest, Hungary, November 17-19, 2011.
, NHK
(Japan’s national broadcast network), and NPR
interview him frequently, and Saito is quoted regularly in publications such as Newsweek
and The Wall Street Journal
. Saito has also written regular columns for several IT publications.
In a February 2011 interview for the German edition of MIT’s Technology Review
magazine, Saito responded on topics such as security issues, including WikiLeaks
, and the specter of cyberwar. Saito, who advises the Japanese and U.S. governments as well as firms in the United States on matters of security, predicts that the Internet will influence future conflicts.
In March 2011, Saito participated in an Oxford-style debate sponsored by The Economist
about one of the tech world’s most divisive topics: whether the disruptive innovation model championed by the West is superior to the incremental innovation of Japan. In his opening remarks supporting the latter, Saito said: “Incremental innovation is like evolution: it may move slowly, but it may also produce what appear to be radically new, even disruptive events. On closer examination, though, we see that these disruptive forms grew out of the same creative gene pool as their predecessors.”
According to a March 2011 interview in The Japan Times
Saito believes that Japan has lacked the passion to execute ideas during the past decade or two, calling it the “last-mile problem,” despite having the universities, educated workforce and scientists needed for “converting raw innovation into products and globally recognized companies.”
In the same article, Saito noted that the declining numbers of Japanese students studying abroad “is hurting Japan in the long run. Japan doesn’t have enough global input because of its lack of people going overseas and learning different cultures, its reluctance to speak English, its reluctance to bring in foreigners to make it a more heterogeneous society, even at least in companies.” Despite that, he still firmly believes the Japanese system is capable of creating successful and innovative companies “if the right support is there.”
In April, speaking on the economic impact of the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami
and subsequent disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Saito told CNN
that radiation fears will affect consumer sentiment and buying habits, and that some industries and some companies will not survive.
In July, Saito wrote an opinion piece for the Nikkei
Weekly entitled "Entrepreneurs: Japan’s Hidden Resource" in which he advocated that the Japanese government change the spirit of business to allow greater innovation.
Saito also contributed a chapter to the book "Reimagining Japan: The Quest for a Future That Works" titled "Venture and Social Capital: A Vision for Japan." The book examines Japan's long-term challenges to rebuild following the triple disaster of March 11, 2011, with Saito discussing the need for a revitalization of the business sector.
Continuing his recommendation for the need for greater entrepreneurship in Japan, Saito gave a speech at the Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan on July 14 in which he said it was time for Japan to hit the "reset button" and restore the "Made in Japan" brand.
Saito was also interviewed by TV Tokyo
on July 18 for the show World Business Satellite, in which he discusses the potential of the knowledge base of 'digital natives,' a generation who have grown up on the internet with globally valuable skills. On July 29 he appeared on the BS11 TV show "Inside Out" about entrepreneurship in Japan.
, a nonprofit dedicated to aiding victims of child abuse
and neglect throughout the country. In addition, he was on the California board of governors of the Community Foundation, a public nonprofit created by and for the people of Riverside and San Bernardino counties that provides college scholarships and grants.
Saito has also contributed in various ways to his alma mater, UCR. From 1998 to 2005, he was on the board of trustees of the UC Riverside Foundation, a nonprofit corporation that raises, records and manages gifts from individuals, corporations, organizations and foundations for the benefit of the university. He and a fellow UCR graduate spearheaded a capital campaign to fund a new building at the university, Engineering II, which was completed in 2006.
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, venture capitalist and educator who has founded start-ups, managed public corporations and worked on global information security policy over the past two decades. He holds multiple patents in the U.S. and Japan based on his work in information and data security, particularly the field of biometrics. Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
, NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
named Saito Entrepreneur of the Year in 1998, and he was inducted into the Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization Hall of Fame in 2001. He has won other awards and industry accolades as well as Congressional recognition.
In addition to being a public speaker and writer in English and Japanese, Saito is regularly quoted in the media on both sides of the Pacific. He has contributed time and expertise over the years to various charitable organizations, business groups and communities. Saito currently lives in Japan, where he runs InTecur—a consultancy that helps companies identify, develop and market innovative technologies.
At the 2011 World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
, Saito was named a Young Global Leader, one of just 190 individuals from 65 countries chosen from nearly five thousand candidates worldwide this year. The selection committee was chaired by H.M. Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and was composed of respected international leaders from business, government and media. The honor recognizes leaders under forty years of age for their outstanding leadership, professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to shape the future of the world. The individuals named become part of a community known as the Forum of Young Global Leaders.
Early life
Saito’s parents emigrated from Japan to the United States in 1969, two years before William was born in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Both his father and mother—a chemist and veterinarian, respectively—stressed the value of acquiring math skills. Saito was solving college-level math problems by the time he finished primary school, and working on the school’s only computer. While still in junior high, he began performing coding jobs for Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
and other firms.
Saito and a like-minded high school classmate, Tas Dienes, later began doing business as I/O Software. Saito graduated a year early from high school in 1987, and went on to earn a degree in biomedical science from the University of California, Riverside
University of California, Riverside
The University of California, Riverside, commonly known as UCR or UC Riverside, is a public research university and one of the ten general campuses of the University of California system. UCR is consistently ranked as one of the most ethnically and economically diverse universities in the United...
(UCR).
U.S. business activities
Saito and Dienes formally incorporated I/O Software, Inc. in late 1991 while they were still in college, and began operating out of an industrial park in Rancho Cucamonga. The company eventually moving to Riverside, CaliforniaRiverside, California
Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...
, and rapidly grew into a leading developer of highly flexible, scalable information security solutions based on advanced user authentication and encryption (e.g., biometrics
Biometrics
Biometrics As Jain & Ross point out, "the term biometric authentication is perhaps more appropriate than biometrics since the latter has been historically used in the field of statistics to refer to the analysis of biological data [36]" . consists of methods...
, smart cards, security tokens) utilized in digital certificates, public key infrastructure
Public key infrastructure
Public Key Infrastructure is a set of hardware, software, people, policies, and procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store, and revoke digital certificates. In cryptography, a PKI is an arrangement that binds public keys with respective user identities by means of a certificate...
(PKI) and e-commerce systems.
Saito made use of his bilingual upbringing in 1992 when Datastorm Technologies, Inc.
Datastorm Technologies, Inc.
Datastorm was a computer software company that existed from 1986 until 1996. The company was founded by Bruce Barkelew and Thomas Smith.Datastorm and their software, ProComm, was prominent in a pre-TCP/IP world where computer-to-computer modem connections were common...
, intent on entering the Japanese market, asked I/O Software to localize Procomm Plus for NEC’s PC98 series of computers. After Symantec
Symantec
Symantec Corporation is the largest maker of security software for computers. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500 stock market index.-History:...
acquired Datastorm, it made a similar request for Norton Utilities
Norton Utilities
Norton Utilities is a utility software suite designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain the computer. The current version 15 of Norton Utilities Premier Edition for Windows XP/Vista/7 was released December 27, 2010....
. Saito performed those tasks and also devised methods for displaying Japanese characters on IBM-compatible machines and printing them on a PostScript
PostScript
PostScript is a dynamically typed concatenative programming language created by John Warnock and Charles Geschke in 1982. It is best known for its use as a page description language in the electronic and desktop publishing areas. Adobe PostScript 3 is also the worldwide printing and imaging...
printer. This technology became a necessity when the more expensive PC98 machines were not always available and printing Japanese in the U.S. was still not feasible.
An influx of localization
Internationalization and localization
In computing, internationalization and localization are means of adapting computer software to different languages, regional differences and technical requirements of a target market...
and translation work for various software products and documentation bound for Japan followed, including market development related to the upcoming Windows platform. Saito and I/O also used their knowledge of Windows on behalf of a number of various Japanese peripheral manufacturers to develop device drivers for printers, scanners, cameras and other components.
In 1995, I/O Software's biggest customer, Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
, developed a new standard for high-speed, high-resolution videocameras that used a ZV port. Saito and I/O Software developed a device driver optimized for this specification, helped Toshiba develop the hardware and created the first Windows-based videoconferencing
Videoconferencing
Videoconferencing is the conduct of a videoconference by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously...
application.
Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
wanted to resell the application. I/O Software's products subsequently became part of Sony’s successful videoconferencing system lineup. When Sony asked for suggestions on other practical applications for their cameras, Saito recommended developing a fingerprint
Fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
recognition system for the PC. Sony agreed, and I/O Software developed the related drivers, algorithms and software which later won numerous industry awards and accolades.
Saito realized the potential of a common platform for biometric devices that any manufacturer could adopt. The company built the platform initially for fingerprints and later for other technologies such as iris
Iris (anatomy)
The iris is a thin, circular structure in the eye, responsible for controlling the diameter and size of the pupils and thus the amount of light reaching the retina. "Eye color" is the color of the iris, which can be green, blue, or brown. In some cases it can be hazel , grey, violet, or even pink...
, voice and facial recognition. They called this platform the BioAPI
BioAPI
BioAPI 'is a key part of the International Standards that support systems that perform biometric enrollment and verification...
or BAPI.
In May 2000, Saito negotiated an agreement with Microsoft Corporation to integrate the BAPI and I/O Software’s core authentication technology, SecureSuite, into the Windows operating system. The technology was eventually licensed to several dozen companies worldwide, including Intel and Sony. The BAPI platform became an ANSI
Ansi
Ansi is a village in Kaarma Parish, Saare County, on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia....
and ISO standard, and was later added to the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Technology Institute.
The Microsoft license and a high-profile investment by Sony created intense interest in I/O Software, culminating in a successful buyout at high valuation in December 2004.
Additional roles in the U.S.
After the September 11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Department of Defense, Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
and other governmental bodies sought Saito out as an advisor, drawing him deeper into the security realm. Groups he has worked with include the DoD’s Counter-Terrorism Task Force and Technical Support Working Group and the FBI’s Information Technology Study Group and InfraGard
InfraGard
InfraGard is a private non-profit organization serving as a public-private partnership between U.S. businesses and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The organization describes itself as an information sharing and analysis effort serving the interests and combining the knowledge base of a wide...
. To date, he has been involved in efforts to increase information security and enhance travel and border security at the federal and international levels, including the use of biometrics
Biometrics
Biometrics As Jain & Ross point out, "the term biometric authentication is perhaps more appropriate than biometrics since the latter has been historically used in the field of statistics to refer to the analysis of biological data [36]" . consists of methods...
and advanced cryptography
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
.
Saito also had roles in several industrial organizations, including ANSI, ISO, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...
(NIST). In the academic realm, he was an adjunct professor at UCR in 2001.
Japan-based activities
After selling I/O Software in 2004, Saito moved to Japan. From Tokyo, he focused on advising clients worldwide on business and technology issues and educating people about security and entrepreneurship.Professional history
In February 2005, Saito returned to the corporate world, accepting the position as executive vice president and chief technology officer of Forval Corporation in Tokyo. While there, he devised innovative Internet-based technologies and services and presented technical strategies to analysts, bankers and public stockholders. He later established Forval International, a Newport Beach, California-based subsidiary, and served as its chairman and CEO.In early 2006, Saito was named co-chairman and CEO of Giuliani Security and Safety Asia (GSSA), a subsidiary of Giuliani Partners
Giuliani Partners
Giuliani Partners LLC is a management consulting and security consulting business founded by former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in January 2002.-Structure:...
, as well as the group's chief technical officer
Chief technical officer
A chief technology officer is an executive-level position in a company or other entity whose occupant is focused on scientific and technological issues within an organization....
(CTO). Founded in 2002 by former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Giuliani Partners helps solve strategic security and safety issues worldwide. Saito developed innovative security consulting services in Asia for the company through the consolidation of physical, logical and operational services.
In July 2007, Saito established a consultancy called InTecur, which he still runs. InTecur assists companies with innovative technologies to identify and develop applications and markets in such areas as information and communication technologies
Information and communication technologies
Information and communications technology or information and communication technology, usually abbreviated as ICT, is often used as an extended synonym for information technology , but is usually a more general term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of...
, IT security and product and global corporate strategy development. The company also helps corporations cope with economic changes by repositioning and revamping their technologies to fit profitable new markets and geographies.
Additional roles in Japan
Saito maintains a strong connection to traditional academia and education. During his years at GSSA, for example, he helped develop an academic security and crisis management program at Tokyo Metropolitan UniversityTokyo Metropolitan University
Tokyo Metropolitan University is one of the largest public universities in Japan...
in cooperation with the Tokyo government. He is also a visiting professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
Established in 1949 as a national university, , nicknamed "Nōkōdai" or "TUAT", is a research-oriented national university with two campuses, one each located in the cities of Fuchū and Koganei, Tokyo....
in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences.
He acts as an advisor to various other organizations as well. He is both a visiting researcher at the Research Center for Information Security and a start-up advisor at the Venture Support Center—-both part of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
The , or AIST, is a Japanese research facility headquartered in Tokyo, and most of the workforce is located in Tsukuba Science City, Ibaraki, and in several cities throughout Japan. The institute is managed to integrate scientific and engineering knowledge to address socio-economic needs...
, which in turn is under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Saito does similar work as an advisor at Industrial Growth Platform, Inc., an M&A restructuring and strategic consultant that counsels client firms and their principal stakeholders on the long-term risks associated with achieving sustainable growth in value.
To build entrepreneurial spirit in Japan, Saito also acts as CEO for the Innovation Platform Technology Fund (IPTF), a venture capital fund established by ex-Sony CEO Nobuyuki Idei
Nobuyuki Idei
Nobuyuki Idei was a former Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Sony Corporation until the 7th March 2005. He is also a director of General Motors, Accenture, Baidu, Yoshimoto Kogyo and Nestlé...
and Kazuhiko Toyama
Kazuhiko Toyama
is a Japanese composer. Toyama is notable for creating music for Bikkuriman, Cyber City Oedo 808 and New Cutie Honey. He is sometimes credited as Kazz Toyama.-Music works:*Ai to ken Camelot: Mangaka Marina Time Slip*A Wind Named Amnesia...
, the former COO of the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan (IRCJ). The IPTF seeks to produce more successful global ventures in Japan by creating a genuine venture environment.
In addition, Saito has managed projects for the Mitoh “Super Creator” Program—-part of METI’s Information-Technology Promotion Agency (IPA)-—evaluating the originality of new technologies presented. He has guided projects related to ubiquitous network browsers, middleware
Middleware
Middleware is computer software that connects software components or people and their applications. The software consists of a set of services that allows multiple processes running on one or more machines to interact...
tools that connect cellular phones and computers, and home phone networks employing identity tokens. In March 2008, IPA and other managers, including Saito, organized a business presentation meeting in Silicon Valley for the selected few from their Exploratory Software Project. The new developers presented their technologies and business models to established venture capitalists in the effort to expand their businesses to the United States.
Public roles
Saito is a frequent panelist, participant and commentator on business and entrepreneurship, technology, security and related matters.Saito has been a keynote speaker, panelist and moderator at the Milken Institute
Milken Institute
The Milken Institute is an independent economic think tank based in Santa Monica, California that publishes research and hosts conferences that apply market-based principles and financial innovations to a variety of societal issues in the US and internationally.The mission of the Institute, founded...
Global Conference, Forbes Global CEO Conference, Kauffman Foundation, Comdex
COMDEX
COMDEX was a computer expo held in Las Vegas, Nevada, each November from 1979 to 2003. It was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world, usually second only to the German CeBIT, and by many accounts one of the largest trade shows in any industry sector...
and numerous academic conferences.
Saito served as a judge and chair of the Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
Entrepreneur of the Year Award program in the U.S. between 1999 and 2004. He has also acted as a judge for the program in Japan since its inception, and was a judge at the 2007 world program in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
. He has performed the same function at numerous other entrepreneurial competitions worldwide.
He is currently a Global Agenda Council Member amongst the Young Global Leaders at the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
, as well as a founding curator for the Japan hub of the Global Shapers Community (GSC).
Recent activities as speaker or participant at world conferences include;
Saito was a panelist at the “Climate Change & Constructive Entrepreneurship,” Athgo Global Innovation Forum, World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C., August 10-12, 2011.
At the Australian Leadership Retreat, Australian Davos Connection in Hayman Island, August 26 – 28, 2011, Saito participated in two presentations on the topics of cyber security and the reconstruction of Japan as well as his own 'Conversation With William Saito'.
Saito was a discussion leader at the “A catalyst for Japan’s revival” Roundtable Japan, roundtable discussions in Tokyo from September 9-10, 2011.
As a panelist at the Young Global Leaders Annual Summit Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, People’s Republic of China from September 14-16, 2011, Saito joined three discussions. The topics were “New Perspectives on Growth,” "Press conference to announce BEYOND Tomorrow kids’ meeting with Sichuan orphans," and “Women Entrepreneurs: How are women changing entrepreneurship and driving growth?”
Saito was a speaker at the GITEX Technology Week Conferences in Dubai, October 9-13, 2011, the Banyan: Ideas for an Asian Century in Singapore on October 18, 2011 and the Asian Business and Management Conference, Osaka, November 12-13, 2011.
Most recently Saito participated at the World Innovation Summit for Education
World Innovation Summit for Education
The World Innovation Summit for Education aims to transform education by fostering innovation and linking education to global issues and leading fields of development....
(WISE) in Qatar, November 1-3, 2011 and the World Science Forum
World Science Forum
World Science Forum is an international conference series on global science policy. Since 2003, it is being organized biannually in Budapest, Hungary....
in Budapest, Hungary, November 17-19, 2011.
Media involvement
Broadcast media networks including CNNCNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
(Japan’s national broadcast network), and NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
interview him frequently, and Saito is quoted regularly in publications such as Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
and The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
. Saito has also written regular columns for several IT publications.
In a February 2011 interview for the German edition of MIT’s Technology Review
Technology Review
Technology Review is a magazine published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as "The Technology Review", and was re-launched without the "The" in its name on April 23, 1998 under then publisher R. Bruce Journey...
magazine, Saito responded on topics such as security issues, including WikiLeaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
, and the specter of cyberwar. Saito, who advises the Japanese and U.S. governments as well as firms in the United States on matters of security, predicts that the Internet will influence future conflicts.
In March 2011, Saito participated in an Oxford-style debate sponsored by The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
about one of the tech world’s most divisive topics: whether the disruptive innovation model championed by the West is superior to the incremental innovation of Japan. In his opening remarks supporting the latter, Saito said: “Incremental innovation is like evolution: it may move slowly, but it may also produce what appear to be radically new, even disruptive events. On closer examination, though, we see that these disruptive forms grew out of the same creative gene pool as their predecessors.”
According to a March 2011 interview in The Japan Times
The Japan Times
The Japan Times is an English language newspaper published in Japan. Unlike its competitors, the Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, it is not affiliated with a Japanese language media organization...
Saito believes that Japan has lacked the passion to execute ideas during the past decade or two, calling it the “last-mile problem,” despite having the universities, educated workforce and scientists needed for “converting raw innovation into products and globally recognized companies.”
In the same article, Saito noted that the declining numbers of Japanese students studying abroad “is hurting Japan in the long run. Japan doesn’t have enough global input because of its lack of people going overseas and learning different cultures, its reluctance to speak English, its reluctance to bring in foreigners to make it a more heterogeneous society, even at least in companies.” Despite that, he still firmly believes the Japanese system is capable of creating successful and innovative companies “if the right support is there.”
In April, speaking on the economic impact of the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
and subsequent disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Saito told CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
that radiation fears will affect consumer sentiment and buying habits, and that some industries and some companies will not survive.
In July, Saito wrote an opinion piece for the Nikkei
Nikkei
Nikkei can refer to:, abbreviated 日経, Nikkei, a large media corporation in Japan, a Japanese stock market index, published by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, often simply Nikkei, people in the Japanese diaspora...
Weekly entitled "Entrepreneurs: Japan’s Hidden Resource" in which he advocated that the Japanese government change the spirit of business to allow greater innovation.
Saito also contributed a chapter to the book "Reimagining Japan: The Quest for a Future That Works" titled "Venture and Social Capital: A Vision for Japan." The book examines Japan's long-term challenges to rebuild following the triple disaster of March 11, 2011, with Saito discussing the need for a revitalization of the business sector.
Continuing his recommendation for the need for greater entrepreneurship in Japan, Saito gave a speech at the Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan on July 14 in which he said it was time for Japan to hit the "reset button" and restore the "Made in Japan" brand.
Saito was also interviewed by TV Tokyo
TV Tokyo
is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...
on July 18 for the show World Business Satellite, in which he discusses the potential of the knowledge base of 'digital natives,' a generation who have grown up on the internet with globally valuable skills. On July 29 he appeared on the BS11 TV show "Inside Out" about entrepreneurship in Japan.
Community service
Saito regularly supports charitable and community-based organizations. Starting in March 2003, he served for two years on California’s state board of directors for ChildhelpChildhelp
Childhelp is a national non-profit organization dedicated to helping victims of child abuse and neglect and at-risk children through advocacy, prevention, treatment and community outreach. Founded in 1959 by Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson, Childhelp is one of the largest non-profit child abuse...
, a nonprofit dedicated to aiding victims of child abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
and neglect throughout the country. In addition, he was on the California board of governors of the Community Foundation, a public nonprofit created by and for the people of Riverside and San Bernardino counties that provides college scholarships and grants.
Saito has also contributed in various ways to his alma mater, UCR. From 1998 to 2005, he was on the board of trustees of the UC Riverside Foundation, a nonprofit corporation that raises, records and manages gifts from individuals, corporations, organizations and foundations for the benefit of the university. He and a fellow UCR graduate spearheaded a capital campaign to fund a new building at the university, Engineering II, which was completed in 2006.