Mike Pillsbury earned a BA at Stanford and a PhD in political science at Columbia University. He is a longtime analyst in Chinese foreign policy and national security strategy at RAND Corporation, the Defense Department, and as a staff member on Capital Hill. He has authored several influential books and articles, including, most recently, Chinese Views of Future Warfare and China Debates in the Future Security Environment.

Telecom reform in India has been variably paced, with false starts and imperfectly empowered regulators. The government recently changed its strategy from generating high upfront fees to revenue-sharing. The latest move in January 2000 of bifurcating the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India into separate judicial and recommendatory bodies will be analyzed by the speaker in the context of broad trends towards reform. T.H Chowdary is the Information Technology Advisor to the Government of Andhra Pradesh, in the rank of a Minister for State. He has held executive and managerial positions in Indian Government's departments of Information and Broadcasting and Telecommunications. He was Deputy Director-General in the Department of Telecommunication and the first Chairman and Managing Director of VSNL, India's Overseas Telecom Corporation. He was President of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunications Engineers (INDIA) and UNO/ITUs Senior Expert in Guyana (1985) and Team Leader in Yemen (1990-1991). He has worked extensively for the de-monopolization and liberalization of Indian telecommunication sector. He heads the Center for Telecommunication Management and Studies (CTMS) in Hyderabad, India and is consultant to several national and international electronics and telecom companies and financial Institutions and is on the Board of Directors of a number of corporations.

Professor Gomes will discuss the role of computer-mediated communication in the construction of diasporic identities among Goans. This is part of a broader project focused on the politics of culture among Goans, examining the trends and identity expressions that relate to the re-establishment of Indian "roots"and heritage. Professor Gomes is a Malaysian-born Australian of Goan Indian descent. He teaches anthropology at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. He has researched and published extensively on Malaysia's indigenous peoples (Orang Asli), focusing on demographic patterns, ecological issues, and political economy. Apart from his Goa project, he is currently writing a book, partly autobiographical, on cultural politics in Malaysia.

Professor Jean-Luc Domenach is one of France's leading experts on China, and on Asia more broadly. His publications include works that have dealt successively with the internal and external politics of the People's Republic of China and with international relations in East Asia. His books include The Origins of the Great Leap Forward (1995); The Forgotten Gulag: China's Prison Camps (1992); Asian Communism: Dead or in Transition (1994); Asia Rediscovered (1997) and, most recently, Asia in Danger (1998). In addition to his academic writings, he is a regular columnist for two French dailies, La Croix and Ouest-France. He is also on the editorial and advisory boards of several scholarly journals, including the French Review of Political Science, International Politics, and Politics Abroad. Professor at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, beginning in 1995 he became Scientific Director of the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, where he is also in charge of the Masters of Contemporary Asia Program. Jean-Luc Domenach is a knight of the National Order of Merit.

Traditionally, an entrepreneurial spirit has not been seen as something of much value in Japan. However, the Japanese government has undertaken a variety of short-term and long-term measures to revitalize the Japanese economy through creating new business opportunities and employment. Mr. Yoda's discussion will touch on the SBIR, the Japanese version of the Bayh-Dole Act, the revision of the Bankruptcy Act, the revision of the standard for accounting as well as the revision of patent law for research institutes at national universities. To further promote the development of new enterprises and support for their growth, tax provisions, such as the "Angel Tax", have been revised and the number of incubators available for new entrepreneurs to use are also subject to increase. Through the revision of patent law, the relationship between university research institutions and private businesses in Japan will become a key factor in Japan's revitalization. Expected results from these government strategies as well as some aspects of these revisions that need to be further considered will be discussed by Mr. Yoda along with his analysis of the potential role of the Japanese government in facilitating entrepreneurial links between Japan and Silicon Valley. Mr. Yoda serves as Chief Executive Director of the Japan External Trade Organization's (JETRO) San Francisco office, where he as served since 1997 as a liaison between the Japanese and the US business communities. His primary responsibility is implementing Japanese trade promotion programs and assisting US companies looking to enter the Japanese market. Previous to his assignment at JETRO San Francisco, Mr. Yoda spent 25 years working for the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and other governmental organizations. Mr. Yoda has also served as Commercial and Economic Councilor for the Japanese Embassy in Ottawa, Canada (1991-94). Mr. Yoda received a BA degree in Law from Kyoto University. He frequently takes part in directing JETRO's trade promotion activities as well as promoting the Japanese market to U.S. business and community leaders.