George Hara

Mr. Hara is internationally known as a leading edge technology investor and visionary architect in the field of post-computer technology, Pervasive Ubiquitous Communications (PUC). DEFTA Partners is the pioneer to implement PUC in industries through its worldwide operations in Tokyo, San Francisco, London, Tel Aviv, and Seoul.

In 2005, Oplus Technologies (the leader of LCD and plasma display chip) merged with INTEL. He has served Chairman of the Board since its inception. Oren Semiconductor (the leader of digital TV chip) merged with Zoran. In 2007, Broadware merged with CISCO. He currently serves as board member of Fortinet (network security gateway) and XVD (the world’s leader in HD codec technologies).

While creating ventures in advanced nations, he founded DEFTA Development Holdings to bring to less developed countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America cost effective information infrastructure technologies through private and public sector initiatives. In Oct.2005, DDH launched its first company, bracNet in Bangladesh, a joint venture with BRAC, the world’s largest social development organization.

Prior to 2000, he helped creating and managed many IT firms as chairman, board member, or shareholders of companies such as Borland (2rd largest PC software), PictureTel (the world’s leader of video conference), SCO (the largest PC Unix), Zoran (world’s 1st major DVD chip), Wollongong (world’s 1stcommercialized TCP-IP for the Internet) and Tradex (inventor of B2B engine, merged with Ariba).

In the public sector, he is Chairman of the Alliance Forum Foundation and has served on the boards of the San Francisco Opera, Zoo ,Univ. of San Francisco, Tokyo Foundation, and Hara Research Foundation which offers fellowships for interdisciplinary research between life & computer science. In 2003, Mr. Hara received the National Leadership Award and was named Honorary Co-Chairman of the Business Advisory Council in the US.

He was a UN Fellow and holds LL.B. from Keio Univ. and an MS from the Graduate School of Engineering at Stanford Univ.