Exclusive: 2008 Agenda Setters revealed

Who is the most influential individual in tech?

Published: 7 October 2008 08:55 GMT by silicon.com

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Sir Tim Berners-Lee has been voted the most influential figure in the world of technology, topping the silicon.com Agenda Setters 2008 poll.

The Agenda Setters list, now in its ninth year, is voted for by an expert panel that chooses the 50 people who exert the most influence on the worldwide IT industry.

Berners-Lee has featured in six of the eight annual Agenda Setters lists so far but this is the first time he has made it to number one - or even ranked in the top 10.

Most famous for the invention of the world wide web, Berners-Lee has leapt back to prominence because of a renewed interest in the next-generation semantic web, of which he is a leading advocate. He continues to push the boundaries of innovation as well as working to bring the web to developing countries and maintain its openness.

silicon.com editor Steve Ranger said: "Sir Tim embodies the spirit of Agenda Setters. Not content with inventing the world wide web, he continues to make a giant contribution to its future development."

Individuals making the grade as Agenda Setters will have demonstrated their ability as movers and shakers in a range of endeavours. The true mark of an Agenda Setter is, if you were to take them out of their current position, they would go on to other noteworthy endeavours and to set more agendas.

UK information commissioner Richard Thomas features as the most impressive debut on the list, coming in at number three for his strong stance against data breaches in the public and private sector.

Also earning spots in the top 10 are previous Agenda Setters Jimmy Wales (Wiki Media founder), Mike Lynch (Autonomy founder and CEO) and Eric Schmidt (Google CEO).

Other notable figures in the bottom half of the list include Ubuntu project founder Mark Shuttleworth at number 38 and political blogger Arianna Huffington at 46.

See the full list of winners here and the full special report here.