William Saito

William Hiroyuki Saito (齋藤ウィリアム浩幸, born March 23, 1971)[1][2] is a Japanese American businessman, venture capitalist and former advisor to the government of Japan specializing in cybersecurity.[2]

William Saito
Born
William Hiroyuki Saito

(1971-03-23) March 23, 1971
Los Angeles, California U.S.
NationalityJapanese American
OccupationBusinessman
Venture capitalist
WebsiteWilliam Saito

Early life and education

Saito was born in Los Angeles, California; his parents immigrated to the US from Japan in 1969, two years before he was born.[2][3] He is the eldest of three children.[2]

In 1987, Saito graduated from Damien High School in La Verne, California.[4] He attended the University of California, Riverside from the Fall of 1988 to the Fall 1992, and was a student in Riverside's joint Biomedical Science Program with the University of California, Los Angeles in 1988.

Career

Saito began a computer security venture while in junior high school, and incorporated the firm as I/O Software in 1991 while attending university.[2] Among other technologies, I/O Software developed a system to display Japanese characters in software written in English, and a fingerprint recognition system used by Sony.[5] Microsoft began a partnership with I/O Software in 2000 to adopt the latter's authentication technology in future versions of Microsoft Windows.[6] Saito sold the I/O Software business assets to Microsoft in 2004.[2][5]

After selling the I/O Software business, he moved to Japan, where he became active as a venture capitalist and invested in several Japanese start-ups.[2][5] He was named a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in 2011.[7]

Saito was an advisor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on cybersecurity issues.[8] Saito accompanied Abe on a 2015 visit to Silicon Valley, where Abe met with the heads of several major technology firms.[9] He was a cybersecurity advisor to the Cabinet Office from 2013 and an advisor to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry until revelations that led to his admission that he misrepresented his education and academic degrees came to light and he resigned these and other posts in 2017.[10]

In May 2019, Saito took a legal action in the Tokyo regional court against Kodansha which published the Shukan Gendai magazine (published on 3 March 2018). Kodansha paid a settlement and deleted the article at the request of the court.[11]

Works and publications
  • An Unprogrammed Life: Adventures of an Incurable Entrepreneur. Singapore: Wiley. 2012. ISBN 978-1-118-07727-6. OCLC 778431581.
  • ザ・チーム: 日本の一番大きな問題を解く / Za chīmu: nihon no ichiban ōkina mondai o toku. Tokyo: Nikkei BP. 2012. ISBN 978-4-822-24924-3. OCLC 812155963.
  • その考え方は、「世界標準」ですか？ / Sono kangaekata wa, "sekai hyōjun" desu ka?. Tokyo: Daiwa Shobo. 2013. ISBN 978-4-479-79372-4.
  • IoTは日本企業への警告である / IoT wa nihon kigyō e no keikoku de aru. Tokyo: Diamond-sha. 2015. ISBN 978-4-478-06745-1.
  • ザ・チェンジ・メイカー / The Change Maker. Tokyo: Nikkei Publishing. 2016. ISBN 978-4-532-32055-3.
  • 超初心者のためのサイバーセキュリティ入門 / Chō shoshinsha no tame no saibāsekyuriti nyūmon. Tokyo: Bunshun Shinsho. 2016. ISBN 978-4-166-61097-6.
  • 世界一の会議 ダボス会議の秘密 / Sekaiichi no kaigi Dabosu kaigi no himitsu. Tokyo: Kodansha Plus Alpha Shinsho. 2017. ISBN 978-4-062-72978-9.

References
  1. "William H Saito, California Birth Index, 1905-1995". FamilySearch. 23 March 1971.
  2. Nguyen, Hoang (2015-09-14). "Teaching Japan to take more risks". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  3. Saito, William Hiroyuki (2012). An Unprogrammed Life: Adventures of an Incurable Entrepreneur. Singapore: Wiley. ISBN 978-1-118-07727-6. OCLC 778431581.
  4. Lin, Justin (May 2015). "William Saito, Entrepreneur and Alumnus, to Speak at Damien Graduation". The Laconian. XLVII (7). pp. 1–2.
  5. Blair, Gavin (2012-12-03). "William H. Saito: Embrace failure to nurture entrepreneurs". Financial Times. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  6. "Microsoft and I/O Software Strengthen Industry Adoption of Biometrics". Microsoft. 2000-05-02. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  7. "List of 2011 Young Global Leaders Honourees" (PDF). World Economic Forum. 2011-04-20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 August 2011.
  8. Mochizuki, Takashi (2015-07-01). "Top Abe Cybersecurity Adviser Says Japan Could Be Global Leader in Field". WSJ. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  9. Layne, Nathan; Wilson, Thomas (2015-04-30). "Shinzo Abe wants to bring Silicon Valley to Japan". Business Insider. Reuters. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  10. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/12/22/national/former-meti-adviser-saito-rewrites-resume-quitting-government-posts-cloud-doubt/
  11. 東京地方裁判所平成30年（ワ）第9375号2019年5月10日東京地裁判決
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