Prof. Jay Rajasekera

Prof Jay Rajasekera, Tokyo International University Japan

Jay Rajasekera is currently Professor of Digital Business and Strategy at the Institute of International Strategy (IIS) in Tokyo International University and also serves as a Vice President.

Professor Rajasekera’s professional career started in 1984 at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey, USA upon earning his Ph.D. from North Carolina State University. Among his many contributions at Bell Laboratories, he designed a "repeater optimization" computer algorithm for the construction of the world's first Undersea Fiber Optic Cable TAT-8 between the US and Europe, which saved millions of dollars of construction costs. His patented algorithm has been in use for designing multi-billion dollar Undersea Fiber Optic Cable systems, which carry a large percentage of the Internet traffic today for major telecommunication carriers. He also earned the Special Contribution Award twice by Bell Laboratories. These algorithms helped AT&T save millions more and win undersea cable projects around the world totaling more than 20 billion USD. In addition, one of his online scheduling systems has been in use for accepting multi-billion dollars of orders per year at Lucent Technologies.

 Starting in 1991, he was a faculty at the Graduate School of International Management (GSIM) at International University of Japan (IUJ). His administrative roles at IUJ included Vice President, Dean of GSIM, and Director of Matsushita Library and Information Center (MLIC). During his academic career at IUJ, he was instrumental in establishing the local business support organization ICLOVE (International Collaboration for Local Organizations in Venture and Entrepreneurship) which has since attracted the membership of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) and JETRO (The Japan External Trade Organization), as well as universities such as Meiji University and Nagaoka University of Technology. This organization was also highlighted on NHK, a Japanese national TV station. He also played a key role in establishing the Global IT Park in Minamiuonuma and a research center at IUJ. The research center was funded by a Tokyo-based Japanese Software Company, which in turn brought further attention in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (the largest business newspaper in Japan).

Since becoming an academic, he has co-authored four books. Two of them are stand-alone entries: Entropy Optimization and Mathematical Programming, and Application Development with VisualAge for JAVA. The other two are edited books: Current Research in Modeling, Data Mining & Quantitative Techniques, and Globalization. He has also published over 40 management and technical articles in refereed journals and business magazines. His opinions have appeared in major publications like Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Asian Wall Street Journal, Asia Inc., and Japan Times, in addition to a number of others in Japan and around the world.

He has a broad consulting experience with top IT and telecommunications companies both in Japan and the US, as well as government organizations in Japan and other countries. He has conducted employee training programs and projects at a number of large corporations in Japan, including IBM-Japan, Fuji Xerox, Fujitsu-AMD, Hitachi, and DHL-Japan. He is also an advisor to several IT companies in Japan and worldwide.

His teaching covers a variety of topics on Digital Strategies, IT Management, Fintech, AI and Computer Based Business Modeling, Operations and Risk Management, Entrepreneurship, and Start-up Strategies.

His current research interests include:
・Digital Business
・Algorithm Design
・BIG DATA modeling for Innovation and Environmental Management
・Entropy Applications in AI
・Mobile Technologies in Health Care
・IT-Based Operations and Service Management
・National IT Policies, IT for Development, and e-Government

He has been the principle researcher or co-researcher for several Japanese government funded research projects (MEXT, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan Science and Technology Agency), which have received a total of over 50 million JPY in funding.

Extra Activities:
Professor Rajasekera also has interests in art and fashion design. Following training in Italy on fashion design and art, he established a brand and a fashion business, which was eventually sold. In addition, he practices "Sumi-e", a form of East Asian painting that originated in China. He has exhibited his Sumi-e works at a number of venues, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum – considered the largest museum in Japan. One of his Sumi-e works won the "Outstanding Artist Award" presented by the American Scholastic Press Association in 2009.