Joi Of Neoteny Labs Speaks On His New Role MIT Media Lab

In an interview with AsianScientist, Asia and Middle East early stage fund, Neoteny Labs‘ Joichi Ito speaks about his new role as the next Executive Director of MIT Media Lab.

When MIT announced last week on April 25 that Joichi (‘Joi’) Ito had been appointed the next Executive Director of the MIT Media Lab, it sent ripples through the technology world.

Seen as a bold and forward-looking step by a university known for its rankings and formal education, MIT has challenged the status quo and embraced the famously-talented media savant, who himself has never finished either degrees in computer science and physics.

Named as one of Business Week’s 2008 “25 Most Influential People on the Web”, Joi (pronounced ‘Joey’), 44, is the founder of Digital Garage, PsiNet Japan, Infoseek Japan, and early investor to more than 40 companies which include Flickr, Twitter, Kickstarter and Technocrati. Joi is the CEO and founder of venture capital firm Neoteny Labs, and sits on the boards of ICANN, Mozilla Foundation, WITNESS, Global Voices and Creative Commons, among others.

In an interview with Asian Scientist Magazine, Joi talks about his vision as Executive Director of the MIT Media Lab, his thoughts on education, and his lifelong bond with Japan and Asia.

Joi, first of all, hearty congratulations on your appointment as Executive Director of the MIT Media Lab. You are a global citizen in an increasingly globalized world – having been born in Japan, and having lived in Canada, USA and Dubai. Has the media helped to break down boundaries between the East and the West?

I believe that the Internet has provided a voice and the ability for people to connect people-to-people, which allows us to have the kind of networked and nuanced relationships across cultures that will help cultures work together.

Right now, mass media and heads of state use traditional international relations channels which are fairly blunt instruments, and they are having trouble keeping up with the speed or dealing with the complexity and nuances of the world today.

I don’t know whether we’re actually “breaking down boundaries” so much as providing the ability for cultures to interact constructively and adapt to the environment. I believe each region, country and person is unique, and each has their boundaries. But the key is how to network people together so that they are productive and not in unnecessary conflict.

One of the differences in your new post compared to venture investment is the strong educational mission of MIT. Do you see a fundamental difference between information exchange (e.g. Twitter ) and education? Are there specific approaches you are looking forward to “reducing to practice”?

Both are trying to create “impact” – the lab through educating students and conducting research, and venture businesses through creating products and services.

I like the word “learning” better than the word education. I realize that the Media Lab is a research lab within an educational institution with an academic degree-granting program, but education sounds a bit one-way and top-down.

I think the Media Lab is about creating a learning and research environment where degrees are an important byproduct. I think that focusing on impact, projects, research and making sure that learning is happening is the key, and it will be our job to make sure that we are fulfilling the educational standards so that our students are earning their degrees.

However, this is my personal opinion and what we end up “reducing to practice” will be based on a lot more learning on my part about how the Lab and MIT work. This will be an iterative process with the faculty and the students. It’s hard for me to be very specific about my plans since I haven’t spent enough time at the Lab yet.