Stanley D. McKenzie, Ph.D.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Rochester Institute of Technology

The Kyoto College of Graduate School for Informatics [KCGI] is now proposing a graduate program to focus on a new breed of technology that is transforming the way business is conducted: a vaguely defined field called "web-business" (or e-business) technology. In spite of the fact that this kind of technology is having an enormous impact on various types businesses and industry, very few universities and colleges in Japan offer programs that teach this subject. Programs of this type may be offered at a business school, but the subjects that need to be covered in such programs are highly technical in nature; very few business schools have faculty members with such technical expertise.

Engineering schools likewise usually shy away from such programs, because very few of their faculty have been exposed to the world of business. Engineering faculty are more interested in using computer technology to address "interesting" engineering problems at hand, rather than working on "interesting" business problems.

The resultant vacuum is usually filled by training courses and services offered by IT vendors, such as Cisco, Oracle, Fujitsu, NEC, etc. KCGI thinks that web-business technology programs should be taught at institutions of formal education. KCGI also believes that such programs should contain more technology-related materials than currently assumed, and that schools such as KCGI with expertise on technology education should play a more important role.

I therefore endorse KCGI's launching of its "Web-based Business Technology" program, as the first program of the graduate school proposed by KCGI.

Dale Man, Ph.D., Professor
School of International and Public Affairs and Teachers College
Columbia University in the City of New York

I have had the honor of visiting Japan and various aspects of its education system on several occasions. I have always been impressed by the academic outcomes of your schools and by the serious purpose that people and the many others that participate in educating Japan's children and youth bring to that effort. Adding the considerable capability of the Kyoto Computer Gakuin would advance many learning purposes and many of Japan's leadership purposes.

My congratulations are founded not only on an understanding of the excellent work of the Gakuin, but also on my own experience in national educational policy. I had the opportunity to serve in the White House of President Lyndon Johnson and to help to create national legislation in the United States. I am sorry that America did not then think ahead to equip this country with the resources that you can have through the Kyoto Computer Gakuin. Perhaps Japan can avoid the mistakes of some of its sister countries in the world.

It is also the case that I am the founding chair of the International Congress for School Effectiveness, an organization with members from 65 countries dedicated to better schooling for children from the most needy families. That work has taken me around the world to observe the strongest school systems and their characteristics. Again, a diversity of graduate preparation institutions is one hallmark of a strong national system. And, in the world of the future, successful leadership depends on the ability to harness technical systems to learning purpose - the mission of the Gakuin.

In my work with corporations and national systems, I am struck by the lack of communication between experts in Information Technology and experts in Educational Administration. The graduate school proposed by Kyoto Computer Gakuin promises to give students a strong foundation in both Information Technology and Management, thus helping its graduates to bridge the communication barrier between these two fields.

I believe that the Graduate School be extremely successful drawing students not only from your domestic leadership ranks bur from around the world. Its graduates help define human-centered technology.

Please know that the idea of a graduate school combining technology and leadership has my strongest and most unreserved support. With best wishes for your continued success.