DeNA & Twitter Win Japan-US Award
Japanese mobile gaming sensation, DeNA, along with Twitter win inaugural “World Changer” award from Stanford University: http://bit.ly/qsqClJ
DeNA, Twitter Receive Japan-US “World Changer” Award
Japanese mobile gaming pioneer DeNA and game-changing information network Twitter will be the first recipients of the Japan-US “World Changer” Award at Stanford University on July 15th, award organizer Japan Society of Northern California announced today.
The World Changer award recognizes outstanding innovations by U.S. and Japanese companies whose work is changing the world we live in. DeNA and Twitter both demonstrate how a new technology can profoundly affect how we communicate and how we live.
Dai Watanabe, CEO of Dena Global, Inc., will accept the award on behalf of the Japanese game firm, which is preparing to go worldwide with its groundbreaking ‘Mobage’ platform merging mobile phone gaming and social networking. DeNA has acquired San Francisco mobile game powerhouse ngmoco:) as the first step in its global expansion.
James Kondo, Twitter Manager for Japan, will accept the award on behalf of the San Francisco-based firm, and will talk about the critical role Twitter played after the March 11 Japan earthquake and tsunami when traditional communication networks collapsed. Japan is one of Twitter’s largest user bases in the world, where the 140-character Tweet format meshes perfectly with information-dense Japanese written characters.
“The World Changer awards are especially exciting and timely,” says Dr. Richard Dasher, director of Stanford’s US-Asia Technology Management Center and a member of the Japan-US Innovation Awards steering committee. “DeNA moved into major global expansion this year through its acquisition of the U.S. firm ngmoco:) and Twitter has been all over the world news with its role in facilitating Japan’s post-disaster recovery.”
DeNA and Twitter will be joined onstage at the inaugural Japan-US Innovation Day conference by Salesforce.com Emerging Leader Award winners SanBio and Tesla Motors, and by Intrapreneur Award winner Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation.
The annual awards, launched by Japan Society of Northern California in collaboration with US-ATMC and Bay Area partners in business, academia and the non-profit sector, spotlight the dynamic innovation and trans-Pacific synergy of American and Japanese companies in hi-tech and other sectors.