Japan 1.0

Web 2.0 according to the Wikipedia, "aims to facilitate creativity, collaboration and sharing between users". A quick evaluation using these three factors tells us how CMP Technology Japan, Co., Ltd. and O’Reilly Japan Inc. scored extremely poor in their task of organizing a Web 2.0-ish event for the big topic itself last week in Tokyo (3rd city so far I believe, after San Francisco and Berlin, not including web2summit in SF in Oct 2007) - web2expo tokyo.

CREATIVITY

It all started with the registration process itself, i.e. the creativity part. Not only the official website for web2expo tokyo lacks usage of any of the major Web 2.0 technology innovations e.g. Ajax, Flex or other rich media or modern Internet application elements and XML syndication (RSS etc), even the registration form was in a Adobe Acrobat portable document format (PDF) to be submitted via fax/e-mail followed with a manual e-mail acknowledgment instead of an interactive form with instant processing and follow-up.

How uncreative, un-Web 2.0!

COLLABORATION

As I can't understand Japanese, and there's no easy translator pre-built into my Firefox browser, the only reference on web2expo tokyo for me was the English section of the website, which clearly lacks an active link/download for the expo/conference outline, and also lacks any collection of links or detailed information on the exhibitors or the keynote and conference speakers. There weren't even much up-to-date information as a prelude to the event or a follow-up reports on it except the only three lines that say these:-

Sep.5

Registration will be Open on September 14th

Aug.24

The session track became announcement.

Feb.16

Japanese market welcomes the real Web 2.0 EXPO !! Impress / ITMedia / Jcast News / CNet /

The only obvious elements on the "dedicated" website are dozens of logos as a list of exhibiting companies and sponsors.

Poor collaboration, poor Web 2.0 implementation!

SHARING

I've already bored you so much with Web2Expo Tokyo, so I'll shift to web2expo at other cities, starting with Berlin, Germany.

Web2Expo Berlin held just a week earlier than its Tokyo counterpart, on the other hand clearly show so much difference in terms of creativity and collaboration. Its official website looks so much pleasing and interesting with photos of humans (Web 2.0 = HUMAN = We are the machine! = The machine is Us...), more lively Javascripts actions, RDF syndications, hyperlinks, blogs, embedded/shared videos, ratings & feedbacks, newsletter, crowdvine, flickr-ed photos (over 2000 by numerous users vs just 20+ by a single Flickr user nicked Cloudie (Dr John Breslin), email addresses to contact humans, sitemap, web2open twits, and the list go on and on....

While web2expo Tokyo offers ZERO pages of downloadable guidebook, and ZERO presentation slides or reports, Berlin's offer a minimum of 56-page program guide (prior to the event, not including an addendum section) and nearly a hundred presentation slides on web2expoberlin, shared via Slideshare.net like the following:-

Web2Open: National and pan-European Social Networks:

| View | Upload your own

and

Scalable Web Architectures: Common Patterns and Approaches

| View | Upload your own

and this:

Web 2.0 Design Patterns, Models and Analysis

| View | Upload your own

After attending a speaking session by Hakon of Opera Software, I requested a female organizing staff for a copy of his slides (printable version that was made available at the room), but after she fumbles in replying to me in English, I was told by another male co-worker that they were out of the the specific slides printout. One organizing staff had even boldly told me to check the website for a downloadable version, upon which I instantly replied that I've already checked the website, and there's nothing on it! Knowing first-hand I won't see anything at web2expo tokyo website later on (except the "thank you, the event has concluded note"), I rushed to every room to request copies of slides made for other sessions. I was lucky to grab a few, but, not-so-lucky after all, considering that the only slides in English are for Eric Klinker's (BitTorrent on "The Power of Participation") and Korea-based NCsoft with their openmaru product (on "Trinity for Evolution") .

Enjoy the digitized (scanned into PDF) version here:

| View | Upload your own

| View | Upload your own

(sorry, my scanner doesn't support automatic double-side scanning).

Japan maybe leading in Mobile arena (i.e. mobile 2.0 on ALL 3G-or-better platforms), but for the true notion of Web 2.0 over the Internet, we'd have to wait for another year or so... (no wonder the crowd looks stoned and speechless during Tim's opening keynotes!).

Hmm, I was right about the "ninja codes" before I left to Web 2.0 Tokyo.

Note to my Japanese (Asian) friends: Be kind to the world, SHARE MORE, and MORE OFTEN!

[Perhaps, if you'd share more with others (on anything), you can help reduce the alarming number of suicides in Japan - at 30,000 a year.. But well, Americans bear about the same suicide stats too, and it's even worse in China (8x times more) and Russia (twice), but consider that these other countries have bigger population than Japan's 120-million. Or maybe, it's just the chilly weather's effects.]

p/s: My experience in Tokyo gave me the impression that Japanese people offer among the best in-person customer service you can find in the world, seemingly much better than in the USA, so, I'd have to ask CMP and O'Reilly: Can we get a prorated reimbursement for lack of service satisfaction?

pps: Let's see how San Francisco (April 2008 - it's Oct 2007 Web2Summit and Apr 2007 were okay) and New York (Sep 2008) will top Berlin's. But hey, I'm dreaming for Web2Expo Kuala Lumpur or Web2Expo Penang already... (MDEC: Take note! Tim O'Reilly & Joi Ito: Come to Malaysia!)

Web 2.0 in under five minutes

Konichiwa...

Believe it or not, as I preach/evangelize Web 2.0 to friends and acquaintances, I have been getting questions like these: "which country uses Web 2.0?" or "where/how can we get Web 2.0", without these people realize that they've been using it all these years in the forms of Google applications (gmail, igoogle, bookmark, notebook, maps, docs, chat/talk, picasa etc), Yahoo! Flickr, Wikipedia, Friendster (3-million plus users in Malaysia alone ~ 10% of Malaysia's human population), Skype, YouTube, Wordpress/Blogger, Topix, Creative Commons license, misc forums etc -- if you'd care to check Alexa's traffic stats, you'd see how Malaysia constantly ranks as one of the top-20 countries where its inhabitants are flocking top Web 2.0 sites with some even at Top-5 rank even though Malaysia's population ranks at #43 (NOV 2007) among world's countries.

After some heavy discussions in Tokyo, I realized that even the top-notched ICT players among us seem to not fully understand what all the buzzes on Web 2.0 is all about (BTW, Tim O'Reilly did NOT invent Web 2.0!), so, here's a quick presentation to walk you thru the big thing (who needs web2expo??):



As Prof Dr. Michael Wesch and his team of cultural anthropology undergraduate lads at Kansas State University (the author/creator cum producer cum self-publisher of this presentation clip) put it: The machine is Us/ing us...

[This presentation that was finalized on 8 MAR 2007 including its draft versions has been viewed more than four million times via YouTube alone (including via syndication on other sites), and is also available in various downloadable formats, e.g. Microsoft windows media (55 MB) and Apple quicktime (96 MB)]

And if you'd like to learn more about mashing up and tagging as the more recommended and preferred ways to organize information today versus the archaic ontology method (first popularized for the Web by the original Yahoo! directory), check out Welsch's latest upload entitled "Information R/evolution" (12 OCT 2007).


BTW, if you like trains and rails, read on my take on Web2Expo Tokyo at my WoNoJo (Pajamapreneurship/Work, Not Jobs 2.0) blog.

Sayonara!

Web 2.0 - Microsoft's Approach

Microsoft Japan took a quiet approach at Web 2.0 conference. Despite the fact that they were a platinum sponsor, they did not have any speaking slots but rather choose to take a hospitality booth to treat their customers to some coffee and light refreshments. The appearance of a few pretty faces to invite participants did wonders to attract the crowd. At one point, it was packed to the brim. They wore a cute white Microsoft dress, complete with logo down the lenght of their tight skirts. Kudos to the event organizers who selected the sweetest smile available to help put one on ours.

Microsoft was showing their bells and whistles: Silverlight and Web Expression. However, noticeably missing was the center piece of their Web 2.0 showcase: Sharepoint 2007. It was an odd move considering that Sharepoint is the fastest selling portal in the world. According to Tom Rizzo (TechEd USA), some 85 million licenses have been sold. When you add to those that uses the free Windows Sharepoint Services (WSS) bundled with Windows Server 2003, there could be more than 400 million users worldwide. It would not be a surprise that Sharepoint is THE Enterprise Web 2.0 platform of choice. It already comes with blogging, wikis, and RSS. With AJAX components from third party vendors such as Webparts360, mashs-ups and AJAX components truly add life to this ubiquotuos platform that is already so prevalent at most corporates. So before you start a new Web 2.0 project in your company, you might just want to turn on the tap and see what Microsoft already have been serving you on your server ;)

Enterprise Web 2.0

During the Web 2.0 expo, the major trend that is driving the Web 2.0 phenomenal is in the area of Social Networking Services (SNS). Sites like Facebook, Blogger, MiXi and etc... provides avenue for people to express themselves. Obviously, advertising related companies comes in droves offering them money trying to buy a slice of their user base. What about the enterprise? How can they take advantage of Web 2.0 technology? How can blogging, wikis, and mash-ups mean anything in a corporate environment? Tim Bray, director of Web Technologies at Sun Microsystems is convinced that Web 2.0 is good for business.

Blogging can be used effectively to get feedback from their customers that helps to improve product and service development. By putting researchers directly in touch with the customers, they can get direct feedback and test the ideas before actually building it. Every employee at Sun is encouraged to blog and they provide the platform on which it can be controlled.

Wikis are an excellent team publishing collaborative platform. With its version control, teams can work together to put together critical publications. Obviously, when the content is finalized, they can be published easily to the internet.

Mash-ups is a dream that IT managers will love to get their hands on. The concept that data and components in any application can be re-used and integrated seamlessly in the hands of end-users instead of IT team sounds too tempting. More on this in the future blogs...

In the end, it's all about communication and sharing information. By incorporating Web 2.0 technology in the corporate intranet, companies are reaping benefit by making more tacit knowledge into explicit ones. Web 2.0 adds the fun and freedom element into this age-old KM equation. But to make it work, management have to grapple with new issues: leakage of sensitive information, more transparency and accountability. For the bold ones, as Tim said: "It's good for business!"

Thoughts of The 2nd Day of Web 2.0 Japan

One of the key lesson learned today at the second and final day of the web 2.0 in Japan can me summed up in one keyword, i.e. "Mash-Up".

Mash-Up is the convergence of Information and Content.

The basic components of Mash-Ups are:

Fundamental data is easy to obtain and manage but the main challenge is to obtain the unstructured data. Key concerns are;

- validity of data

- seeking the data

- structuring the unstructured

- the lack of acceptable standard for API's

Samples of Mash-Ups can be seen at ZIMBRA (of which is recently bought over by YAHOO!)

Meantime, Joe Keller, Chief Marketing Officer of KAPOW Technologies talks about the convergence between 3 main components, i.e.:

1) Rich Interactive Applications

2) Do it Yourself Applications

3) Scripting Renaissance

Where content is the convergence of the three above, but more specifically, the ability to manage unstructured content.

The CTO of Opera Osftware International, Hakon Wium Lie brings our attention to a standard to allow browsers to be "light" and easy to manage all types of user generated contents.

Many browsers need to download and run plug-ins but Hakon agues that a browser MUST be able to manage and show content without such plug-ins.

Example of such contents are:

- videa

- combining video and SVG

- font management

- multi column

- 3D

... to name a few ....

Finally, Eric Klinker, CTO of Bit Torrent Inc highlights the need and future of the internet in the Power of Participation. And by this, lead to "User Contributed Infrastructure".

This is also known as the Distributed Social Computer Network" and this refers to the ability to manage ExaBytes of data in the shortest time frame and in the most efficient manner.

Data that shows this awesome growth is indicated in a study that Bit Torrent did on the Connsumer Internet Traffice Growth from 2005 to 2011.

In 2007 alone, the P2P traffic is at 1014 PB per month with a 35% CAGR!!!

He claims that it will tkae only 1 month for a P2P infra to manage 1 ExaByte, i.e. 1 ExaByte = 2^60 Bytes will take 3,507,000 months of TV (stream encoded at 1 Mbps) to download, while P2P infra will take 1 month to do the same. And this is ToDAY!!!

Its time to Mash-Up!

Note: more info can be found in Wikipedia. Click here.

A Conversation with Evan Williams

The second day started off with Tim talking to the founder of Blogger and Twitter and 2 other companies, i.e Evan Williams [Andi made contact with Evan to invite him to the MSC Malaysia event in Dec 2007. Andi will provide the necessary update on this]

A quick Background of Evan (if you don't already know).
- Started out at the age of 21
- a drop out :)
- Founder of BLOGGER (which he later sold to GOOGLE in 2003) - 1999
- Founder of Twitter
- Founder of ODEO (of which he took 2 weeks to develop the first prototype using RUby on Rails!)
- after his GOOGLE days
- focusses on pod casting

Key Lessons:
- BLOGGER wasn' t the main product BUT became the main product.
- had a STRONG willingness to fail!!!

Product Development:
- Defining a scope of a product is important BUT ....
- The need to build a service that is not 100% perfect is also important
- Build a solution . service and allow users / consumers / PEOPLE to use it and build features based on people's requirements.
- KEY!!!
- its about the userts
- get the users and then get the funds!!!

20% of Twitter users are from Japan. How many are from Malaysia?

Evan encouraged people to develop on the twitter API, this is where the community of consumers plays a big role in developing and enhancing your service.

Web 2.0 ala "Japanese Way"

Web 2.0 expo opened with a conversation between Tim O'Reilly and Joichi Ito. While Tim needed no introduction, Joichi is a highly regarded IT evangelist that preaches entrerpenuership to Japan. The stark contrast of culture between the East and West was evident and now Web 2.0 offers the new platform to bring about collaboration in a new way. In US, stalwarts of Web 2.0 such as Facebook and Second Life builds virtual community on the web to help connect people together. In Japan, companies like Mixi (www.mixi.jp) builds practical communities using mobile devices that help people to find workers and vice versa using GPS to locate opportunities. I believe its service rating feature will help create "power workers", the same way that eBay created "power sellers". Reputation do matters!

But seriously, I can't really tell because mixi is only available in Japanese. Here lies the difference; English has permeated the world and hence whatever that is created in English has the potential of reaching the world. The Japanese has adopted an unspoken attitude that Japan is the only market that matters. Even even in this expo which appeals to an international audience, only the Japanese are served; the entire afternoon sessions by the local presenters for the first day was conducted in Japanese only. Much to the chagrin of other attendees who do not understand Japanese.

Not knowing what to expect, since this is the first time the Web 2.0 conference is held in Asia, the tracks covered by Tim and gang was merely introduction materials. I have expected much more :( The exhibition was a non-event for me as well. All materials were available in Japanese and I practically embarassed the exhibitor (and myself) whenever I asked a question in English. As they fumble for a respond in English, I can almost sense an inaudible response that sounded like "When in Japan, speak Japanese... arigato". Note to myself, learn Japanese ;)

Web 2.0 Japan 2007

Web 2.0 Japan, Cerulean Tower, Shibuya


Objective:

1. Attending conference and built knowledge

2. Experience and enhancing exposure of entrepreneurs

3. Networking and understanding Japanese ICT structure

4. Meeting Tim O' Reilly, O'Reilly freinds and CMP Technology Japan for Malaysia events

5. Observing technology and ideas on solutions


Roles & Responsibilities


IDD & TeDD clients


1. To attend conference, learn on new technology and observe idea

2. To do business networking

3. To share the Web 2.0 practice back in Malaysia

TeDD Staff

1. To learn on Web 2.0 acceptance in Asian market

2. To meet with Tim O' Reilly and discuss on possibilities to have Web 2.0 Expo in Malaysia

3. To meet other speakers and invite them to attend Technopreneur Forum and become panels or guest speakers

4. To share the knowledge on Web 2.0, practice and knowledge

IDD Staff

1. To manage clients and assist in meeting and business negotiation

2. To identify new leads for MSC Malaysia Status companies

3. To share the knowledge on Web 2.0, practice and knowledge

(some unofficial) Guidelines for Japan Business/Travel Trip

1. Request shuttle transportation from hotel to save cost, reduce time loss

2. Bring along English-Japan dictionary (helpful in communication, especially for meal, direction)

3. Google Map is not really helpful, most are in Japanese writtings

4. Internet Access charges are different depending on hotel. Cerulean Tower charge base on 12pm to 12pm next day, however it is not 24 hours basis. Hotel Shibuya provide free internet access.

5. Shiobuya is strategic location for business meetings. Facilities, restaurants, shopping and transportation is near.

The First Day @ Web 2.0 Japan

This is the first day of the web 2.0 in Japan. It is now 10 minutes to 10 and all the guys are excited to get the ball rolling.

Makan was a lil of a headache last night as language (as anticipated) was a challenge.

Good thing Chew was able to rescue us as luckily, the waitress understood and could speak chinese.

Andi did his briefing and all was ready for the day.

The biggest difference I see here as compared to the one in SF is the way people dress! They are so formal here :) ....

But I am proudly wearing my MDeC T'Shirt!!! My colleagues are wearing their suits!!!

Now the day begins!!!!

Posted by Roslan BZ.