Joi Ito joins The New York Times Company’s Board of Directors

Joichi Ito: Founder and CEO of Neoteny Labs

The New York Times Company announced on 21st June that Joichi Ito has been elected to its Board of Directors. Brian McAndrews, a digital media veteran, has also joined the Board.

“Joi Ito and Brian McAndrews bring deep digital experience to the Board of the Times Company, which will be invaluable as we continue our digital transformation,” said Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., chairman and CEO of The New York Times Company and publisher, The New York Times.

“Joi is world-renowned as a digital innovator and thought leader, with significant expertise in technology policy.”

He is the founder and current CEO of Neoteny, a venture capital firm, and general manager of Neoteny Labs, an early-stage investment fund focusing on Asia and the Middle East.

Since September 2011, Joi has been the director of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology.

He is board chairman and former CEO of Creative Commons, a nonprofit devoted to facilitating the ability of copyright owners to make their creative works freely available for others to use and share.

In Japan, he was a co-founder of Digital Garage, an information technology company, and helped establish, and later became CEO of, the country’s first commercial Internet service provider.

He was an early investor in numerous companies, including Flickr, Kickstarter and Twitter.