I3A Presents 2009 Leadership Award to Kyocera Sanyo's Atsushi 'Andy' Kodera
By
Mike Pasini, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, March 9, 2009 - 19:36 EDT)
LAS VEGAS -- March 5, 2009 -- The International Imaging Industry Association (I3A; http://www.i3a.org), the leading global association for the imaging industry, has conferred its prestigious annual Leadership Award upon Atsushi "Andy" Kodera, President, Kyocera Sanyo Telecom, Inc. (KSTI; http://www.sanyowireless.com).
Mr. Kodera received the honor -- represented by a crystal captain's decanter, symbolizing leadership -- in person, at I3A's yearly Spotlight Reception held last night, March 4, in conjunction with the PMA 2009 conference taking place here this week. Joel Proegler, chairman of I3A, and a General Manager and VP at Eastman Kodak Company, was on hand to present the award.
Awarded annually since 1980, I3A's Leadership Award each year recognizes one individual in the international imaging community who has exhibited the exemplary qualities and innovative vision of a leader. Recent recipients of the award include Makoto Kimura of the Nikon Imaging Company (2008), Antonio Perez of the Eastman Kodak Company (2007), Fumio Iwai of Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc. (2006), Vyomesh Joshi of HP (2005), and Shigetaka Komori of Fuji Photo Film Co. (2004).
"It is our privilege this year to present the I3A Leadership Award to Andy Kodera," said Lisa Walker, President, International Imaging Industry Association. "It's hard to overestimate the importance of his accomplishments to all of us in the room tonight. He was instrumental in bringing the first camera phone to the U.S. market, which in turn was the platform for the first mobile picture-sharing service -- developments that changed forever the way consumers communicate and capture images, and opened critical new paths for I3A's work, such as our Camera Phone Image Quality Initiative. The face of I3A has been enormously changed by his work. Thank you, Andy, for being here in person to accept this symbol of our gratitude."
Atsushi Kodera is a 25-year veteran of the telecommunications and consumer electronic industries. He started his career at Sanyo in 1983, and played a seminal role in Sanyo's entrance into the North American mobile phone business, starting in 1998. In 2002, as Group Vice President and General Manager of Sanyo Fisher Company's wireless communications division, he led the effort to introduce the very first mobile phone in the United States to offer a built-in camera, model SCP-5300. Working together with wireless carrier Sprint and with LightSurf Technologies (now VeriSign), this model was also used to launch the country's first mobile phone picture sharing service, Sprint Picture Mail.
Recognizing the significance of this innovation, Mr. Kodera spearheaded a fast-track program to introduce the first U.S. camera phone at a mass-market price point, offered at the then-highly-competitive price of $99. Announced in early 2003, the new model triggered an explosion in the popularity of camera phones and rapidly accelerated their widespread adoption.
Under Mr. Kodera's leadership, Sanyo also brought several subsequent camera phone models to the North American market with increasingly enhanced camera capabilities, such as video, and advanced features, such as removable memory and PictBridge printing capability. He currently serves as President of Kyocera Sanyo Telecom, Inc., a company formed as part of the 2008 acquisition by Kyocera of Sanyo's global wireless phone business, where he leads the development, sales, marketing and support of Sanyo-brand wireless devices in the Americas.
About the International Imaging Industry Association (I3A)
I3A's vision is to enable the use of imaging to simplify and enrich people's lives through visual experiences that connect generations, communities, information and services. I3A drives the global imaging industry towards this future by bringing members together to create standards and collaborate on initiatives that advance the industry and remove barriers to growth.
I3A is an accredited Standards Developing Organization, serving as secretariat for the International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee 42 (ISO/TC42) on Photography, and as administrator for the USA Technical Advisory Group for this committee. Information about I3A can be found at http://www.i3a.org or by phone at +1 914 285-4933. For information on joining I3A, please contact Noel Mareno, [email protected], +1 214 244-1927.
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