Joi Ito
Template:Short description Template:Infobox person Template:Nihongo is a Japanese entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He is the president of Chiba Institute of Technology.<ref name="chiba">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="bio-joi">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="company-chiba">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="dg-chiba-president">Template:Cite web</ref> He is on the Board of Directors for the Gelephu Mindfulness City in Bhutan where he is also the Chairman of the Gelephu Investment Development Corporation (GIDC).<ref name="bhutan-appointment">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="bhutan-appointment-travel1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="bhutan-appointment-travel2">Template:Cite web</ref> He is a former director of the MIT Media Lab, former professor of the practice of media arts and sciences at MIT, and a former visiting professor of practice at Harvard Law School.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Tracy" />
Ito has received recognition for his role as an entrepreneur focused on Internet and technology companies. He notably founded PSINet Japan, Infoseek Japan and Digital Garage of which he is Chief Architect and Board Member.<ref name="bio-joi" /><ref name="dg-chiba-president" /> Ito is founder and managing partner of Neoteny<ref name="neoteny">Template:Cite web</ref> and GMJP, an early-stage fund investing in web3 in Japan.<ref name="ito-gmjp">Template:Cite web</ref> He is former board member and CEO of Creative Commons, The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The New York Times Company, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Mozilla Foundation, The Open Source Initiative, and Sony Corporation,<ref name="bio-joi" /> and Common Crawl advisory board.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ito wrote<ref name="joi-wired-bio">Template:Cite web</ref> a monthly column in the Ideas section of Wired.
Following the exposure of his personal and professional financial ties to Jeffrey Epstein, Ito resigned from his roles at MIT, Harvard, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Knight Foundation, PureTech Health, and The New York Times Company on September 7, 2019.<ref name="Tracy">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Knight" /><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
Early life and education
Ito was born in Kyoto, Japan. His family moved to Canada and then to the United States, when Ito was about three, to a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, where his father became a research scientist<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> and his mother a secretary for Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., now Ovonics. The founder of his mother's company, Stanford R. Ovshinsky, was impressed with young Ito, whom he thought of almost as his son. Ovshinsky mentored the boy's interests in technology and social movements, and when Ito was 13, gave him work with scientists, saying, "He was not a child in the conventional sense."<ref name=Fisher>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="ecd-ovshinsky-joi">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ovshinsky-joi-flickr">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ovshinsky-joi-blog">Template:Cite web</ref>
Ito and his sister Mizuko Ito, called Mimi, spent summers in Japan with their grandmother, who taught them about traditional Japanese culture.<ref name=Kelly-Rheingold>Template:Cite journal</ref> At age 14, he returned to Japan, when his mother was promoted to president of Energy Conversion Devices Japan. He studied at the Nishimachi International School<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and, for high school, the American School in Japan in Tokyo.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In that phase of his life, Ito also learned "street language, street smarts, and computers". One of the few Japanese using modems before networking deregulation reached Japan, in 1985, Ito had found The Source and the original MUD by his teens (and by 26, was working on his own MUD).<ref name=Kelly-Rheingold />
Ito returned to the United States to attend Tufts University as a computer science major, where he met, among others, Pierre Omidyar, later founder of eBay.<ref name="Ericsson">Template:Cite web</ref> As he deemed his course work too rigid and believed that learning computer science in school was "stupid",<ref name=Ericsson /> Ito dropped out of Tufts to work briefly for Ovonics. Ovshinsky encouraged him to return to school. Ito enrolled at the University of Chicago in physics but later dropped out as the program was overly oriented towards producing practical engineers rather than teaching an intuitive understanding of physics.<ref name=Fisher /> In the fall of 1985, Ito became the first student to register for a pioneering program of online courses, offered by Connected Education, Inc., for undergraduate credit from The New School for Social Research. Ito also attended Hitotsubashi University, according to his essay in Japanese.<ref>https://joi.ito.com/jp/archives/2016/06/07/005598.html (Joi Ito：教授になります『Joiの日記』2016.06.07-04:49 UTC) Retrieved 2021-08-08.</ref>
Ito received a doctorate by thesis The Practice of Change from the Graduate School of Media and Governance of Keio University in 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Ito is one of Timothy Leary's godsons—a close, nontraditional familial relationship that Leary reportedly developed for a few of his friends' children.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Later, Ito served on the advisory board for the Timothy Leary Archives.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Ito's sister is Mizuko Ito, a cultural anthropologist studying media technology use.<ref name="ito-sister-mizuko">Template:Cite journal</ref> Ito's second cousin is musician Cornelius.<ref name="cornelius-joi-photo">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="cornelius-joi-blogging">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2008, Ito married Mizuka Kurogane, now addressed as Mizuka Ito.<ref name="joi-mizuka-married">Template:Cite web</ref>
Ito lives and works in Tokyo, Japan.<ref name="bio-joi" />
Career
Ito became a disc jockey working in nightclubs in Chicago such as the Limelight and Smart Bar, also working with Metasystems Design Group to start a virtual community in Tokyo.<ref name=Kelly-Rheingold /> Later, Ito ran a nightclub in Roppongi, Japan, called XY Relax, with help from Joe Shanahan of Metro Chicago/Smart Bar. He helped bring industrial music from Chicago (Wax Trax) and later the rave scene, managing a DJ team and visual artists, including importing Anarchic Adjustment to Japan.<ref name="anarchic-adjustment-joi">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="anarchic-adjustment-joi-sk8">Template:Cite web</ref>
Ito was the Chairman of the Board of Creative Commons from December 2006 until 2012. He was on the board of Culture Convenience Club (CCC),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Tucows,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and EPIC,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was on the advisory boards of Creative Commons and WITNESS. In October 2004, he was named to the board of ICANN for a three-year term starting December 2004. In August 2005, he joined the board of the Mozilla Foundation,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> until April 2016. He was on the board of the Open Source Initiative (OSI) from March 2005 until April 2007. He was a founding board member of Expression College for Digital Arts<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as the Zero One Art and Technology Network.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1999, he was the Associate to Mr. Mount (the executive producer) on the film The Indian Runner.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ito also was a board member of Energy Conversion Devices from 1995 to 2000.<ref name="ovshinsky-joi-blog" />
Ito is a venture capitalist and angel investor and was an early stage investor in Kickstarter,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Twitter,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Six Apart, Technorati, Flickr, Wikia,<ref>Joi Ito, "Wikia", JoiIto.com, March 29, 2006.</ref> SocialText, Dopplr, Last.fm, Rupture, Kongregate, Fotopedia, Diffbot, Formlabs, 3Dsolve and other Internet companies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="bio-joi" />
Journalism
Ito has written op-eds for the Asian Wall Street Journal<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and The New York Times<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and has published articles in numerous other magazines<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and newspapers. He has written regular columns in The Daily Yomiuri, Mac World Japan, Asahi Pasocom, Asahi Doors, and other media sources. His photographs have been used in The New York Times Online,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> BusinessWeek,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> American Heritage,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wired News,<ref name=Das>Template:Cite news</ref> Forbes,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and BBC News.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was on the early editorial mastheads of Wired and Mondo 2000. He has authored and co-authored a number of books including Dialog – Ryu Murakami X Joichi Ito with Ryu Murakami, and "Freesouls: Captured and Released" with Christopher Adams, a book of Ito's photographs that includes essays by several prominent figures in the free culture movement.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He has hosted televisions shows including The New Breed, SimTV and a TV show called "Super-Presentation" airing weekly in Japan on NHK.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Recognition and honors
Ito was listed by Time magazine as a member of the "Cyber-Elite" in 1997. He was also named one of the 50 "Stars of Asia" in the "Entrepreneurs and Dealmakers" category by BusinessWeek<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and commended by the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications for supporting the advancement of IT in 2000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was selected by the World Economic Forum in 2001 as one of the "Global Leaders for Tomorrow"<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> and chosen by Newsweek as a member of the "Leaders of The Pack (high technology industry)" in 2005,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and listed by Vanity Fair as a member of "The Next Establishment" in the October Issue, 2007<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and 2011.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ito was named by BusinessWeek as one of the 25 Most Influential People on the Web in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On July 22, 2011 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his role as one of the world's leading advocates of Internet freedom from the University of Oxford Internet Institute.<ref name="oxford-inst-lifetime">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2011, with Ethan Zuckerman, he was named by Foreign Policy magazine to its list of top global thinkers, in which he stated the Best idea is "Users controlling their own data".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ito received the degree of Doctor of Literature, honoris causa, from The New School in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On March 11, 2014, Ito was inducted into the SXSW Interactive Festival Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was a TED speaker at the March 21, TED2014.<ref>Instead of futurists, let’s be now-ists: Joi Ito at TED2014</ref> In 2014, Ito was awarded the Golden Plate Award by the Academy of Achievement.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On May 17, 2015 Ito received a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, from Tufts University.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ito was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in April 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On May 11, 2017 Ito was awarded the IRI Medal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
MIT Media Lab (2011–2019)
In April 2011, Ito was named the director of the MIT Media Lab; he began in this role on September 1, 2011.<ref name=StartTweet>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=Kirsner>Template:Cite news</ref> His appointment was called an "unusual choice" since Ito studied at two colleges, but did not finish his degrees. "The choice is radical, but brilliant", said Larry Smarr, director of Calit2.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Nicholas Negroponte, Media Lab's co-founder and chairman emeritus, described the choice as bringing the media to "Joi's world".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In an interview with Asian Scientist Magazine, Ito discussed his vision for the MIT Media Lab, and how he liked the word "learning" better than the word "education".<ref name="Chan">Template:Cite news</ref>
In December 2011, Ito wrote an essay in the New York Times about the importance of open innovation and how less regulation promotes innovation.<ref name="nytimes-essay-open-2011">Template:Cite web</ref>
In June 2012, Ito publicly discussed in a Wired Magazine interview the coming chaos of tranformaation brought about by decreasing costs of innovation. Ito first highlights how Moore's Law has decreased the cost of innovation, colloboration and distribution. Next, because of these increases in innovation, massive societal transformation are under way in a chaotic and sometimes destructive fashion and Ito highlighted some principles for how to stay resilient in this accelerating transformation, one could perceive as unpredictable change. Ito notably outlined 9 principles of resilience.<ref name="wired-ito-chaos">Template:Cite web</ref>
In May 2013, Ito proposed, in an interview in Fast Company, a solution for urban renewal is for cities to get out of the way and make it easier for young people to innovate.<ref name="fastco-urban-weirdos">Template:Cite web</ref> May 1, 2013
In October 2013, Ito announced an MIT Media Lab partnership with an independent investment fund called "E14" to give MIT Media Lab students a six-month runway to launch a startup. Upon return on investments, the MIT Media Lab also receives money back to the institute.<ref name="mit-e14-announce">Template:Cite web</ref> As of 2025, E14 is still in operation and has backed more than 100 Media Lab companies and has organized event programming for the MIT Media Lab startup community.<ref name="mit-e14-spinoff">Template:Cite web</ref>
In May 2014, Wired interviewed Joi about the future of making being the fusing of technology with living matter.<ref name="wired-ito-bits">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
In July 2014, Ito and Template:Interlanguage link from IDEO held a conversation about the future of making at SXSW Interactive Festival.<ref name="ito-ideo-sxsw">Template:Cite web</ref>
In June 2015, Ito gave the keynote at Oreilly's Solid Conference titled, "Why Bio is the New Digital".<ref name="ito-solid-keynote">Template:Cite web</ref>
In December 2015, Ito and Media Lab co-founder Nicholas Negroponte discussed with Wired Magazine about the major transformative technologies that came from the Media Lab including e-Ink, touchscreens, GPS and wearables.<ref name="medialab-wired-innovations">Template:Cite web</ref>
In June 2016, Ito was appointed professor of the practice of media arts and sciences at MIT.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In June 2016, Ito wrote an essay about the future of work in the age of artificial intelligence after attending a meeting of technologists, economists and European philosophers and theologians includeing Andrew McAfee, Erik Brynjolfsson, Reid Hoffman, Sam Altman, and Template:Interlanguage link.<ref name="ito-age-of-artificial-intelligence">Template:Cite journal</ref>
In August 2016, Wired Magazine listed Joi Ito as #33 in a list of the Wired 100 people "making things happen" by shaping culture, technology economy, consumer behaviour, and scientific discovery.<ref name="wired-ito-33">Template:Cite web</ref>
In September 2016, Ito's work with Reid hoffman on Artificial Intelligence Ethics was discussed in a New York Times article by John Markoff. At the time, there were three groups working on Ai Ethics intensively, the MIT Media Lab effort spearheaded by Ito and Hoffman later unveiled in 2017, a Stanford project called the One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence which included Google’s parent company, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft. And then separately, Google's DeepMind decided to work on their own effort. The MIT Media Lab effort stated its aim was to "keep society in the loop." Ito, in particular, stated the importance of Artificial Intelligence Ethics is to make sure computer scientists are interacting with social scientists and philosophers.<ref name="ito-nytimes-ai-markoff">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="stanford-ai100">Template:Cite web</ref>
In November 2016, Ito and then US President Barack Obama had a conversation about Artificial Intelligence, neural nets, and self-driving cars published in Wired Magazine. <ref name="wired-ito-obama-2016">Template:Cite web</ref>
In December 2016, Ito wrote an op-ed in the New York Times titled, "Well-Intentioned Uses of Technology Can Go Wrong". Ito proposed that the emerging artificial intelligence trend where engineers train machines to augment collective intelligence, be called "extended intelligence" or E.I. He noted that the challenge with E.I. is that it can amplify both the best and worst aspects of society. He stated that it is essential to develop a framework for how ethics, government, educational system and media evolve in the age of machine intelligence.<ref name="ito-nytimes-intentions">Template:Cite web</ref>
In January 2017, David Kirkpatrick had a public conversation with Ito at the World Economic Forum in Davos where Ito stated that "science and technology alone will not win in the Fourth Industrial Revolution".<ref name="wef-ito-kirkpatrick">Template:Cite web</ref>
In March 2017, under Joi Ito’s leadership as Media Lab Director, the MIT Media Lab launched the Space Exploration Initiative at the “Beyond the Cradle: Envisioning a New Space Age” symposium on March 12, which he personally welcomed to 250 attendees and 300+ global livestream viewers. Ito, serving as a principal investigator alongside MIT VP Maria Zuber, framed space as the ultimate convergence of art, design, science, and engineering—driving a new multidisciplinary program that had already engaged over 40 faculty and students (and continued to expand across MIT departments) to pioneer accessible technologies for interplanetary life, democratize “open space,” and apply space innovations to Earth. The student-initiated event, organized by PhD candidates Ariel Ekblaw and Dan Novy, featured NASA astronauts, sci-fi visionaries, and industry leaders, reinforcing Ito’s vision of space exploration as a creative, inclusive mission to inspire humanity’s next generation.<ref name="ito-mit-space-cradle">Template:Cite web</ref>
In March 2017, Ito along with Neha Narula stated, "the Blockchain will do to the financial system what the Internet did to media" in the Harvard Business Review.<ref name="hbr-ito-blockchain">Template:Cite web</ref>
In July 2017, Ito co-founded the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund which received $5.9 Million USD split between the MIT Media Lab and Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.<ref name="knight-2017-ai">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="techcrunch-ai-2017">Template:Cite web</ref>
From 2018 until 2019, Ito was a member of the "Council on Extended Intelligence", an initiative focused the ethics and governance of Artificial Intelligence, launched by the MIT Media Lab and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="mit-council-past-members">Template:Cite web</ref>
MLTalks
As part of Ito's Media Lab work, Ito hosted notable MLTalks conversations. In November 2014, Ito hosted a discussion on the challenges fighting Ebola with Ophelia Dahl, Dr. Megan Murray and David Sengeh.<ref name="mit-mltalks-ebola">Template:Cite web</ref>
Departure from MIT (2019)
In 2019, revelations of Ito's connections with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender, shed light on the extent of Epstein's monetary gifts to the Media Lab and to Ito's startups outside of MIT. Ito initially wrote an apology but refused to resign,<ref name="joi-mit-apology">Template:Cite web</ref> which led to the departure of several prominent Media Lab members, including Ethan Zuckerman,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> director of the MIT's Center for Civic Media, and Media Lab visiting scholar J. Nathan Matias.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Calls for Ito to resign were followed by a website (wesupportjoi.org) and letter in support of Ito which appeared in late August signed by more than 100 people including Lawrence Lessig, Hiroshi Ishii, Stewart Brand, Nicholas Negroponte, Jonathan Zittrain, and George M. Church.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, the website was taken down after further details emerged. Ito later admitted to taking $525,000 in funding from Epstein for the lab, and permitting Epstein to invest Template:Dollarsign1.2 million in Ito's personal investment funds.<ref name="joi-mit-apology" /><ref name="washpost-joi-mit">Template:Cite news</ref>
Further revelations and leaked emails
On September 6, 2019, an article by Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker alleged that the lab led by Ito had "a deeper fund-raising relationship with Epstein" than it had acknowledged, and that the lab attempted to conceal the extent of its contacts with him.<ref name="Farrow">Template:Cite news</ref> The article, based on leaked emails between Epstein, Ito and others, alleged that "Ito and other lab employees took numerous steps to keep Epstein's name from being associated with the donations he made or solicited", and that Ito specifically solicited individual donations from Epstein.<ref name="Farrow" /> The article further claimed that Epstein "appeared to serve as an intermediary between the lab and other wealthy donors, soliciting millions of dollars in donations from individuals and organizations" and that "Epstein was credited with securing at least $7.5 million in donations for the lab".<ref name="Farrow"/> Ito, in an email to The New York Times, said The New Yorker report was "full of factual errors".<ref name="Tracy"/> According to Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig the anonymity of the Jeffrey Epstein donations was to avoid "whitewashing" Epstein's reputation and not to conceal the relationship between Ito and Epstein.<ref name="Medium">Template:Cite web</ref>
The president of MIT requested an "immediate, thorough and independent" investigation into the "extremely serious" and "deeply disturbing allegations about the engagement between individuals at the Media Lab and Jeffrey Epstein".<ref name="reif">Template:Cite web</ref>
Resignations
In September 2019, Ito resigned as director of the Media Lab and as an MIT professor shortly after The New Yorker article.<ref name="Tracy" /> He also resigned from his visiting professorship at Harvard University.<ref name="Tracy" /> in addition he relinquished a number of other roles on September 7 amid the controversy:
- Ito left the board of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The MacArthur Foundation wrote, "the recent reports of Ito's behavior in The New Yorker, if true, would not be in keeping with the values of MacArthur. Most importantly, our hearts go out to the girls and women who survived the abuse of Jeffrey Epstein."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- He resigned from the board of The New York Times Company<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> following the Epstein revelations. The New York Times said "Our newsroom will continue its aggressive reporting on Mr. Epstein, investigating both the individuals and the broader systems of power that enabled him for so many years."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Ito resigned from the board of trustees of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, who wrote, "Jeffrey Epstein's crimes continue to reverberate, most painfully with the girls and women who were his victims. We extend our deepest sympathies to them."<ref name="Knight">Template:Cite tweet</ref>
- He resigned as the chairman of PureTech Health. The company said that "given circumstances related to the MIT Media Lab, we agreed that Joi's resignation from PureTech was appropriate".<ref name=":0" />
Results of MIT investigation
On January 10, 2020, MIT released results of its fact-finding on engagements with Jeffrey Epstein.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The investigation was conducted by Goodwin Procter LLP whose partners were retained to "conduct investigation into both Epstein's donations and Epstein's other interactions with MIT". The MIT Report<ref name="MITReport">Template:Cite web</ref> found that "donations to MIT were driven either by former Media Lab Director Joi Ito or by Seth Lloyd, a professor of mechanical engineering and physics, not by MIT's central administration". However, the report also states that certain members of MIT's Senior Team "were aware of, and approved, Epstein's donations to support Ito and the Media Lab". Furthermore, the report found that "contrary to certain media reports, neither Epstein nor his foundations was ever coded as 'disqualified' in MIT's donor systems. Further, the code 'disqualified' does not mean that a person or entity is 'blacklisted' or prohibited from donating to the institute. Rather, the term 'disqualified' is a database code for any donor who previously donated to MIT but presently is dormant or is no longer interested in giving to MIT."<ref name="MITReport" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The report's executive summary ends with the finding that "since MIT had no policy or processes for handling controversial donors in place at the time, the decision to accept Epstein's post-conviction donations cannot be judged to be a policy violation. But it is clear that the decision was the result of collective and significant errors in judgment that resulted in serious damage to the MIT community."
Japanese Government Appointments (2021–)
In September 2021, after Japan's Digital Agency was established, Ito was appointed as one of the members of the Digital Society Council of the Digital Agency of Japan.<ref name="bio-joi" /><ref name="global-nikea-joi-bio">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="legal-innovation-japan-speakers">Template:Cite web</ref>
Ito is an Executive Advisor to the Office of GSC Initiative Promotion of the Cabinet Office of Japan.<ref name="ito-gsc">Template:Cite web</ref> He is an Advisory Board Member of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's Demonstration Project for the Construction of Digital Public Goods Using Web 3.0 and Blockchain.<ref name="joi-bio" />
Center for Radical Transformation at CIT (2021–)
In December 2021, Ito was appointed as the director of the Center for Radical Transformation (CRT) at Chiba Institute of Technology, Japan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He also is a member of CIT's Board of Trustees.
Chiba Institute of Technology
In June 2023, Ito was named the 14th President of the Chiba Institute of Technology.<ref name="chiba-pdf">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="chiba" /><ref name="bio-joi" /><ref name="company-chiba" /> His first public appearance as President is at the Japan-U.S. Research Collaboration Week.<ref name="jst-stanford-chiba">Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2023, he outlined his vision for the future of Chiba Institute of Technology in the President's Message.<ref name="presidents-message-2023">Template:Cite web</ref>
In July 2025, at the initial 2025 Symposium on Design and Science, Ito launched the Chiba Institute of Technology (Chibatech) School of Design & Science. This is the university’s first English-language program, starting with seven faculty members, Hiro (Sputniko) Ozaki, Catharina Maracke, Joe Austerweil, Mizuki Oka, Ira Winder, Hiroki Kojima and Daum Kim.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="henkaku-rta-2025">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="chibatech-rta-2025">Template:Cite web</ref> Coinciding with the launch, Ito and the Henkaku Center at Chiba Institute of Technology (Chibatech) awarded artist Christine Sun Kim the inaugural Radical Transformation Award.<ref name="csk-aap-2025">Template:Cite web</ref>
Artificial Intelligence Governance
In October 2025, Ito was named to the Kazakhstan Artificial Intelligence Council of Kazakhstan which includes 16 top global ai leaders including Emirati Expert Dr. Ebtesam Almazrouei, John Hopcroft, Peter Norvig, Kai-Fu Lee.<ref name="onearabia-ai-council">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="wam-ai-council">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="aicouncil-official">Template:Cite web</ref>
Bibliography
See also
References
External links
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