Candidate Statement - Izuru Tanaka

Dear Readium Foundation members,

I am very happy and excited to have an opportunity to stand for Readium Foundation Board of Directors election as a candidate from Sony Corporation. I believe I can make a significant contribution to the foundation with my experience in mobile product developments and knowledge of technology management.

About Izuru TANAKA

I am a Deputy General Manager of Digital Reading Business Division, responsible for software development of Sony Reader devices and Sony Reader Applications for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS, and content strategy.

I have been working for Sony for 20 years. I had developed software for various mobile devices such as handheld computer “MagicLink”, cellular phones, digital music player “Walkman” and voice/PCM recorders as a software/system architect, and also been involved a project to launch a digital music distribution service in Japan as a service planner. Recent 5 years, I am working for digital book business as a software product manager.

About Sony in digital book business

Sony has launched an ebook distribution service in 2003 and released the world first e-ink device in Japan. In 2008, Sony has released the world first EPUB Reader device in the UK. Since then, Sony has been working with publishers and service providers to accelerate EPUB adaption.

Now it is, Sony sells Sony Reader series, dedicated digital book reader devices, in over twenty countries and runs Reader Store business in several regions. Sony released Reader applications for PC/Mac, Android and iOS to make ebook titles available anywhere anytime. In addition to the applications, Sony has already released Reader application for PlayStation Vita in Japan, to offer the same user experience with other devices to the users.

Sony is an active EPUB 3 WG member and made significant contributions to standardize the format, based on our 10 years worldwide experience in eBook industry. Sony is a member of EPUB test suite project and provided some test files with strong intention to minimize EPUB Reader fragmentations. Sony is also a launch member of Readium Project and Readium Foundation, and hosted the first Readium Engineering meeting in New York City.

Candidate’s statement

I think I could make a substantial contribution to the board with my experience in digital media industry. Since Sony runs both device/application business and distribution service, I will maximize its uniqueness and assist driving the foundation to reach to the objective which is to accelerate adoption of EPUB 3 to the digital book market by providing the Readium SDK.

Your understanding and cooperation would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Izuru