Introduction to Dr. Ju-Chun (JC) KO
Born Ju-Chun Ko, he is commonly known as JC.
He currently serves as an at-large legislator and holds a position as an adjunct assistant professor at the National Taiwan University's Institute of Networking and Multimedia.
Education
In 2012, he obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Information Engineering from National Taiwan University. Subsequently, he went on to be a postdoctoral researcher at Keio University’s Graduate School of Media Design (KMD) in Japan.
Experience
He has been a growth partner at Dentsu Group in Taiwan, focusing on AI and Web3 technologies. Additionally, he is the founder of a well-known technology-themed podcast, "JC in Tech (opens in a new tab)," which continues to thrive.
Involvement
Regarding my involvement in affairs and platforms related to pluralistic democracy, the story can start from January 2015. Jaclyn Tsai, a minister without portfolio in the Executive Yuan and the initiator of vTaiwan, invited me and Audrey (opens in a new tab) to teach a class for nearly a hundred senior government officials, sharing the possibilities of digital government and virtual worlds.
At that time, I was also invited to be an advisor for the Executive Yuan's Virtual World Regulatory Adjustment Project and participated in the promotion of vTaiwan (opens in a new tab).
In November of the same year (2015), I participated in the planning and production of the 'Talk to Taiwan' online TV show episodes. The first guest of the program this year was TPP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (opens in a new tab), and the current mayor of Taoyuan City, Zhang Shanzheng (KMT) (opens in a new tab), as well as the current Minister of Digital Affair (moda), Audrey Tang (opens in a new tab), were guests. The goal was to promote more transparent, open, and cross-party policy discussions.
Since 2018, I have founded the 'JC in Tech (opens in a new tab)' Podcast (also on YT (opens in a new tab)), inviting nearly two hundred talented individuals from diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise to discuss technologies such as blockchain and AI, which have significant impacts on Taiwan's policy and industry development. In numerous episodes, I have repeatedly introduced Glen Weyl's Radical Markets (opens in a new tab) and recorded a conversation with Audrey Tang (opens in a new tab) in July 2020. I even invited Vitalik Buterin (founder of Ethereum) in 2024 to participate in my podcast and have Vitalik's first-ever all-Mandarin podcast (opens in a new tab), discussing Democracy + Tech in Taiwan.
In November 2023, I was recommended by the 129-year-old party - KMT, ranking third on the party's non-constituency legislator nomination list. Following the election results on January 13, 2024 (with the KMT receiving 4,764,293 party votes, accounting for 34.5% of the total), I officially entered the Legislative Yuan on February 1, 2024.
Looking forward, I am excited to promote Plurality in Taiwan together with Glen Weyl and friends from Plurality.