Today (and for all the event) I will be the “official” live blogger for the iSummit 2008, organized by iCommons in Sapporo, Japan.

After the success of previous editions in Harvard ‘05, Rio de Janeiro ‘06 and Dubrovnik ‘07, the iSummit comes to Sapporo, one of the most innovation-oriented cities in Japan.

I’ll be using Cover it Live for the live blogging and you can follow the keynotes on the iSummit Blog.

PS: I will be updating this post later with links to concluded keynotes.

This is the opening keynote session with Heather Ford, Jimmy Wales, Joi Ito and Mohamed Nanabhay.

I guess I have a particular ability to get entangled in great events and, even though I’m on a sabbatical, I did it again… I guess that’s one of the problems of knowing a lot of cool and interesting people around the world!

After several World Business Forums, Pangea Day and barcamps, this time I’ll be in Sapporo, Japan, collaborating with the iCommons team that is organizing the iSummit ‘08. This is one of the most interesting and stimulating real life meetings on global digital culture. I’ll be in charge of the live blogging and some other interesting stuff.

The programme ranges from keynotes to labs and local events.

These are some of the keynotes:

• The Literacy Project: Encouraging Best-Practice Sharing in the Non-profit Community by Jessica Powell
• Ready to Share: Fashion and the Commons by Johanna Blakley
• Collaborative Creativity: How innovation together has stood the test of time by Rishab Ghosh
• Status of the Commons by Joi Ito
• The Future of Open Search by Jimmy Wales

The labs:

• Open Education Policy and Practice in a New Century: Implementing What Works
• Open Business
• Local Context Global Commons: Open Publishing
• DIY video
• Frontiers of Openness in Japan
• Research Workshop on Free Culture

This is a brief description taken from the official iSummit website:

The fourth global iSummit will be held in Sapporo, Japan from 29 July to 1 August, 2008. iCommons in association with Digital Garage, Creative Commons Japan and the City of Sapporo will bring together pioneers of the free Internet from over 60 countries around the world.

Inspired by Japanese innovation and hosted in a city fast becoming recognised for its modern, creative, technology-orientated approach to business and public initiatives – this year’s iSummit will be a ground-breaking event that showcases pioneering approaches to furthering digital culture around the world.

Join and follow the event on:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Youtube
• or visit the official website and blog

If you’re going to Sapporo, please drop a line and let’s meet there.

I often read Rob Brezny’s horoscope in L’Internazionale, a great italian magazine covering the most important news and articles from media of all the world.

Each Friday, L’Internazionale publishes Rob’s horoscope for each sign of the zodiac plus the “task of the week” for all. This is the one for this week:

Compiti per tutti: “Trova un modo non per tornare nel posto a cui appartenevi, ma per raggiungere quello a cui un giorno apparterrai”.

my translation: “find a way not to go back to the place you belonged but to reach that one to which one day you will belong to”

I find it more than appropriate for this sabbatical time of mine, thanks Rob!

I just finished watching “Once“, a low budget irish movie that had a huge box-office success last year (the main song, Falling Slowly, got an Oscar).

Even though it’s after 2 am here in Tokyo, I wanted to briefly share my impressions (will try to wright something longer later, though nothing can replace watching it).

Intimate, delightful, happy, sad, vivid, delicate, a story about normal people (actually the actors aren’t so but musicians). Full with lovable small details. How often do you find the right person? (the movie’s tagline).

Trailer:

He feels useless… but he has some interesting stuff to say. He’s fun, fascinating and inspiring at the same time.

Talking about mutants, poetry, genius and… well yes, design.

“nobody is obliged to be a genius, but everyone is obliged to participate”.

“God is a trap. God is the answer when… we don’t know the answer”.

Just 18 minutes you shouldn’t miss. enjoy!