The Japanese IT sector increasingly lags the U.S. IT sector in software innovation, contributing to the weakening competitiveness of Japanese firms. In this next installment of the Japan Society’s Big in Japan series, U.C. Berkeley’s Robert Cole will look at the factors contributing to Japan’s software weakness, including being slow to realize the transformational role of software and its value-creating potential, the structure of the software industry in Japan, lack of strategic emphasis on IT, a hardware-centric attitude, and slow adoption of enterprise software and state-of-the-art software development practices.
Please read more about Dr. Cole’s research here.

Robert E. Cole
Robert Cole is Emeritus Professor of Business and Sociology at University of California Berkeley, and Joint Researcher at the Institute of Technology, Enterprise and Competitiveness (ITEC) at Doshisha University in Kyoto. He holds a PhD in Sociology and an MA in Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois. His current research and interests include the software and automotive industries, the management of technology, Japanese organizations and organizational transformation. He spent two years in Japan while a student, part of the time working in two Japanese  factories in blue collar jobs which culminated in his first book, Japanese Blue Collar. Later he was a Fulbright Research Scholar at Keio and also a visiting scholar at Todai. More recently, he served as Omron Professor of Technology Management at Doshisha University.
To find out more about the professor, please visit here.

Schedule:

• 6:00 PM – 6:45 PM Networking/Registration
• 6:45 PM – 8:00 PM Presentation with audience Q&A
• 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM Networking & Reception

Light appetizers and drinks provided.

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• Online registration closes at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, February 15

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The event venue has been provided by generous support from: