Junko Kawauchi has profound knowledge of digital policy issues, and has engaged in digital policy discussions for more than 25 years with private sector background.
She used to work for the trade association Japan IT Service Industry Association (JISA) for 25 years, and worked closely with domestic/global representatives from industry, government, academia, and civil society. She was responsible for JISA Public Policy Committee, and coordinated domestic industry views to contribute to various policy discussions, recommendations and proposals at Keidanren, ICC BASIS, OECD BIAC.
At the global forum, she worked actively as WITSA* Public Policy Action Committee Vice Chairman to advocate global industry voice. She participated in some of past WSIS/IGFs physically and virtually, and supported to organize WITSA workshops in 2006 (Athens), 2007 (Rio de Janeiro), 2008 (Hyderabad). She also actively contributed to ASOCIO** Policy Task Force and engaged in issuing ASOCIO policy papers : « ASOCIO Policy Guidance on Data Privacy (Nov. 2019) », « ASOCIO Policy Guidance on AI (Dec. 2019) ».
After getting the current job in Center for International Economic Cooperation (CFIEC) in 2020, she manages expert groups to discuss ; 1) Data Free Flow with Trust (DFFT), 2) Personal Data Protection and Utilization, and 3) Trusted Government Access and Digital Trade Rules. In June 2021, she organized CFIEC ASEAN-Japan Digital Workshop online to discuss policy issues to promote digital trade in the region. About 50 government officials from ASEAN countries and Japan participated to exchange views and agreed to continue our communication for further develpment of regional digital trade.
She has Ph.D in International Public Policy (Graduate School of Management, Otemon Gakuin University, Japan - 2018), MA in International Relations (University of Kent at Canterbury, UK - 1994), and BA in Law and Politics (Kyoto University, Japan - 1989).
*WITSA : World Information Technology and Services Alliance (https://witsa.org/)
**ASOCIO : Asia-Oceania Computing Industry Organization (https://www.asocio.org/)