Speaking at SPRIE's "China 2.0: The Rise of a Digital Superpower" conference in Beijing, heads of California-based game studios Kabam and Zynga both pointed to China as the source of new game innovation and growth. Both studios have set up shops in China to harness this potential.

I promise that this program could change your mind and future.

-Daisuke Maeda

Daisuke Maeda, 2008-2009 Corporate Affiliates fellow, embraced the opportunity of being at Stanford University in order to actively engage with students, scholars, and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Connecting in person in an environment of innovation and entrepreneurship informed Maeda's thinking about his work with the Sumitomo Corporation, both retrospectively and for the future.

Established in 1919 but with business roots extending back into the 17th century, Sumitomo Corporation is a Tokyo-based general trading company with approximately 200 offices and 800 subsidiaries worldwide, including such major global cities as Beijing, London, Madrid, Istanbul, Casablanca, Sao Paulo, and New York City. Sumitomo is divided into seven business units based on its wide diversification: metal products; transportation and construction systems; infrastructure; media, network, and lifestyle; mineral resources, energy, chemical, and electronics; general product and real estate; and financial and logistics. Some of its subsidiary companies include Discovery Japan, Inc.; Barneys Japan; and Pacific Summit Energy, LLC. The corporation's mission statement expresses a strong focus on social responsibility.

Before coming to Stanford, Maeda had the responsibility for overseeing the marketing strategy of one of Sumitomo's e-commerce companies and while at Stanford he then conducted research about the "long tail" statistical theory which emphasizes the strength of a vendor, such as Amazon, selling a wide array of specialty goods. Maeda looked at arguments for and against this theory and spoke with Stanford students and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs on this subject.  In addition to his research, Maeda met with local startup companies and offered advice on marketing their products in Japan.

Maeda is now a director in the mobile and internet department of Sumitomo's media, network, and lifestyle business unit, which is home to Japan's largest cable television provider, the biggest home shopping television channel, and a major households goods e-commerce website. His current work involves developing a Japan-focused online marketing strategy for Sumitomo's healthcare business offerings.

Maeda urges current fellows to seize the opportunity of being at Stanford, saying, "Don't hesitate. Time is limited." He explains that he actively sought out opportunities to enrich his own knowledge and potential, including meeting and talking with people. "I promise that this program could change your mind and future," he concludes.

 

The Wall Street Journal's Loretta Chao, one of the participants at SPRIE's "China 2.0" conference in Beijing, covered the event's panel on social media for the Journal's "China Realtime Report." Panelists at the conference covered the problem of censorship and its effect on social networking, the opportunities or lack of for foreign companies wishing to compete in this space, and the possibility of Chinese homegrown innovation in social media.

Occupying the greater part of the United States Pacific coastline, California has long shared a relationship with Asia. Today, trade with China, Japan, and Korea accounts for nearly one-fourth of the state's overall $120 billion in exported goods, and an estimated one in seven California jobs is related to trade. In recognition of the crucial importance of this trade for the state's economic vitality, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and 100 business and government leaders embarked on September 9, 2010 for a six-day trade mission to Asia.

Forty representatives from the Bay Area, 40 from southern California, and 20 top government officials traveled with the mission, including leaders from California's agriculture, green technology (green tech), finance, and healthcare industries. Although intended to benefit the State of California, the trade mission also sought to leverage complimentary resources that would help nurture China's ever-growing innovation economy and to facilitate the continued exchange of people, technology, and capital. Marguerite Gong Hancock, associate director of the Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE), represented Stanford University and SPRIE on the delegation's visits to the cities of Shanghai and Hangzhou in China. This was the second and final Asia trade mission led by Governor Schwarzenegger during his tenure.

While in Shanghai and Hanghzou, Hancock engaged with policymakers, university officials, and private-sector business leaders. She took part in visits to several major companies, including the Hangzhou headquarters of Alibaba, China's e-commerce giant, during its "Alibaba Fest," an annual innovation conference. While there, Hancock and fellow mission members met with the company's president and learned about recent goods and services innovations, and about its global expansion strategies. In Shanghai, she visited the home of Zap-Jonway, the recently merged California electric vehicle manufacturer Zap and Shanghai electric motorcycle company Jonway. Zap-Jonway's CEO Steve Schneider plans for the company to develop electric vehicles for commercial fleets, such as taxicabs and trucks. "It is a really interesting example of California and Shanghai coming together, bringing technologies from both sides and then positioning themselves for market growth both in China and here in the United States," says Hancock.

SPRIE is at the forefront of research about factors that nurture innovation and entrepreneurship, and has engaged in the last two years in significant research about green tech. Hancock was frequently asked about how to build policies and industry strategies that foster the economic growth of green tech and about the possible implications for China, both in terms of collaboration and competition, in the shift in Silicon Valley's economy toward green tech.

During the Asia trade mission, Governor Schwarzenegger also made several important public announcements, including the news that California is going to formally bid to hold the 2020 World Expo at Moffett Field in Mountain View, which would be a major opportunity to showcase the best of the region's innovation and entrepreneurship to the world.

For more details about Governor Schwarzenegger's Asia trade mission, please visit the State of California's website.

 

Seventeen years ago, the first public internet connection was established between computer scientists at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) and Beijing's Institute of High-Energy Physics (IHEP). China now has 400 million online and 750 million mobile consumers and recruits web talent from Silicon Valley for its growing number of innovative web-based technology companies.

The two SLAC and IHEP computer scientists who helped to set in motion China's rise as an online power will be reconnected at the commencement of the China 2.0: The Rise of a Digital Superpower conference to be held October 18-19, 2010 in Beijing. Organized by the Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE), China 2.0-Beijing is the second part of a conference held May 24-25, 2010 at Stanford University. 

Companies thriving in China will increasingly shape the global digital economy, either by their sheer scale at home or through investments and acquisitions in the United States and other developed economies. The conference will address the key questions: What are the drivers of innovation in China's web-based industries? For China 2.0, what are the patterns for flows of people, ideas, technology and capital across the Pacific?  How can we assess the likely future shape and implications of China's rise for consumers, industry players, investors, researchers and policy makers?  To answer these questions, SPRIE's forum will feature presentations by 35 business leaders from China's web-based technology industry, including such fields as gaming, mobile 2.0, and e-commerce.

Several U.S., China, and other international media outlets will cover the event and China 2.0 iPhone and iPad applications are now available. Video from the conference will follow on the SPRIE website and a book and documentary film based on China 2.0 are forthcoming.

For the China 2.0-Beijing agenda, a video interview with the SLAC and IHEP computer scientists, and video overviews of the conference, visit the China 2.0 website.

SPRIE Researcher Robert Eberhart spoke on economic growth strategies at the Philippine Development Foundation USA's "PhilDev USA Business Forum" on September 25 in San Jose. The forum, held to discuss solutions to the Philippines' most pressing development problems, was attended by Filipino and Filipino-American professionals and thought leaders, including Philippine President Benigno ("Noynoy") Aquino III and members of the Philippine senate. Eberhart's presentation, "The Philippines in the New Asian Economic Dynamic," was given as part of a session on "Innovation and Entrepreneurship" and is available for download on the SPRIE website.