"Libraries Today, and the Library of Tomorrow" Makoto Okamoto

Makoto Okamoto, CEO of Academic Resource Guide Inc. (ARG) 
OIST seminar "Libraries Today, and the Library of Tomorrow"

This is a public seminar and the event is open to all OIST members, OIST family members and visitors.
We are looking forward to seeing many people at the seminar, so please feel free to join. 

Seminar Abstract
In the past few years public libraries in Okinawa have been renewed or newly constructed. Many of the major cities of the Kyushu area, such as Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Takeo, Ibusuki, etc. are exploring new opportunities regarding the shape of the library of the future.
Onna village is also currently building a new “Culture and Information Center”, the significance and possibilities of which Makoto Okamoto will address from his position as an ICT Area Manager* for this project.
Based on the development in recent years mentioned above, this seminar aims to discuss the role of the library for the future.

*Information & Communications Technology Area Manager delegated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication.

About Makoto Okamoto
Born in 1973, Makoto Okamoto graduates from the International Christian University (ICU) in 1997. He joins Yahoo Japan Corporation in 1999, where he pioneers the establishment of the now popular Yahoo! Chiebukuro (the Japanese Yahoo! Answers).

In 2009, led by his vision to contribute to a society driven by knowledge, he sets up his own company – Academic Resource Guide Inc. (ARG). ARG aims to support the distribution of knowledge and academic resources according to demand, and so contribute to the collaboration of industry-government-academia.
ARG has successfully been involved in collecting and distributing information on libraries, museums, archives, community centers, etc. in the areas afflicted by the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011, by creating a specialized web-platform for this purpose.
Makoto Okamoto has also authored several books on the art of effectively sharing and spreading knowledge using the Internet as medium.
For the period 2013 – 2014, he is delegated as an Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Area Manager by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication. He is currently involved as a consultant for the construction of numerous public libraries in Japan, including the new “Culture and Information Center” of Onna Village, which is due to open its doors to the public in 2015.