Our company, Howdys, Inc., stands for "going local" and "voice and power to the people."
I have been doing massive research on how we can achieve the goal. There are a few things that caught my attention in the U.S., that I couldn't find in Japan. Notably, the success of craigslist and the emergence of citizen journalism gave me huge impact. Web 2.0 has been a hot topic here in Japan too - but I've always thought that it is the application that changes the world, not the technology.
I couldn't wait but go visit U.S., so I enrolled myself to AlwaysOn Stanford Summit to hear more about the issues, including other hot topics such as Second Life and virtual worlds, etc.
I was very fortunate to be given an opportunity to speak with Mr. Craig Newmark during the stay, which was a great honor for an early stage venture entrepreneur. I was very impressed with his wisdom and his genuine kindness.
Through my research and what I learned from Craig and the seminar made me realize there is more to the possibility of internet than mere business. There are lots of smart people accelerating the good by utilizing Web applications.
The Sunlight Foundation was one of them.
"The Sunlight Foundation was founded in 2006 with the goal of using technology to enable citizens to learn more about what their elected representatives are doing, to help reduce corruption, ensure greater transparency...."
It is what is really needed for a country like Japan, the country famous for its very closed society. Our culture traditionally value silence as gold, bluffing and being outspoken as sin. In some ways we are conditioned that way. That very tendency was very convenient for imperial Japan that started WWII, and still convenient for those corrupted in our government.
So are we all silent and content? Am I the only one speaking loudly?
Definitely not.
The thing is -- people do not have the application they can use to have their voice heard. Or they haven't realized that such thing is possible.
The next key in the development of web-based application is the grass-root educational effort. Even in Japan.
In Japan, we do have the world's largest internet discussion forum called 2 channel, where we can hear every rumor about anything. The problem is the Japanese love of anonymity - there is no one stating who they are - there is no way of knowing to what extent the information there is true. So the website is constantly sued and no one really believes what is written there.
A system, or a machine to drive the voice of the people is necessary. Without it, there is no way for the people to gain power for their voice.
I am going to closely watch the development of them, as I search for the best application or service that fits in the mindframe of the Japanese.
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