Guðjón Már Guðjónsson
| Gudjon Mar Gudjonsson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 16, 1972[1] Reykjavík, Iceland |
| Occupation | Chairman and CEO of OZ |
| Children | 1 |
Guðjón Már Guðjónsson (born 1972 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is an Icelandic entrepreneur and the CEO of OZ.
Guðjón has driven the research, development and design of many leading-edge technologies and is the author of several granted patents. He has served on the board of directors on a number of high-growth companies and acted as key consultant and advisor for several government-associated projects within the telecommunication and utility sectors.
In 2009, Guðjón started the grassroots-initiated Ministry of Ideas (Hugmyndaráðuneytið), which is a forum for discussion and promotion of innovations in industry, education, economics, and society. The Ministry of Ideas is housed in the House of Ideas (Hugmyndahús Háskólanna), which is home to several startup companies, a recording studio, and art and design projects. Guðjón led the effort to found the House of Ideas, which is sponsored by the Iceland Academy of the Arts (Listaháskóli Íslands) and Reykjavík University(Háskólinn í Reykjavík).
In 2009 Guðjón was selected by the Junior Chamber International as the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World[2] honor.
Business involvement
Guðjón is a board member of a few startups and innovation companies. He started in business at the age of 13[3] in developing software applications. When he was 17 years old, Guðjón established his first international software company, OZ Communications.[4] OZ was acquired by Nokia in September 2008.[5]
- 2010 - Board member at LazyTown
- 2010 - Founded Agora, a non-profit organisation developing visioning and new form of democratic forums.
- 2009 - Established the Ministry of Ideas as a grassroots organization focusing on the innovation environment.
- 2009 - Founded OZ Inc., a video media internet services company.
- 2003 - Co-founded telecommunication systems integration company Industria.
- 2000 - Co-founded mobile application company Maskina, later acquired by Viva Technologies and now called Vyke. Vyke is now publicly traded.
- 1999 - Co-founded Extrada, a software company connecting consumers to digital services in the home. Extrada was acquired by ESP Gruppen in 2002.
- 1998 - Founded Íslandssími (now Vodafone Iceland), offering mobile, broadband, TV and voice. This company was taken IPO on the Iceland Stock Exchange only two years after Guðjón founded it.
- 1989 - Founded OZ Communications in Iceland.
Patents
U.S. Patent 6,564,261
WIPO Patent WO0205118
WIPO Patent WO0139016
WIPO Patent WO0111471
References
- ↑ Based on National Statistical Institute of Iceland records.
- ↑ 2009-JCI-Ten-Outstanding-Young-Persons-of-the-World-Announced.
- ↑ First paid for a software job at the age of 13
- ↑ OZ Communications.
- ↑ Reuters on the Nokia acquisition of OZ.