Agenda Setters 2007

Leader: How and why?
Wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, has walked away with this year's top Agenda Setter accolade, according to the aggregated votes from silicon.com's panel of experts.

The rise and rise of the Asian tech empire
The shift in the balance of tech power from West to East identified in last year's Agenda Setters rankings continues in 2007. Tony Hallett scans the Top 50 for the Asian continent's biggest influencers.

Open season
Figures from the open source community have commanded regular slots on the Agenda Setters list but virtually disappeared last year. Gemma Simpson surveys the rankings for signs of the re-emergence of some household names.

Surprise omissions and trends
The Agenda Setters rankings always throw a few curve balls. New groups emerge, others fade from sight. Tony Hallett looks at who's there this year and why mega names such as Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer failed to make the cut.

Good and bad year for comms
The striking absence of the heads of some of the biggest organisations in comms continues in 2007. But this area of technology still makes its presence felt on the Agenda Setters list through a few resurgent figures and some oblique inclusions, as Tony Hallett reports.

CIO power
In the past, few figures from user organisations have secured an Agenda Setter ranking. This year we have five in the top 30. Andy McCue looks at the emergence of powerful technology directors with international clout.

Social networking goes mainstream
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg's meteoric rise from nowhere to Agenda Setters top spot proves that 2007 is the year of social networking. Natasha Lomas looks at how that trend plays out in the Top 50.

Blog standard
Bloggers are now so influential that for the first time a growing number of them can count themselves among the Agenda Setters. Steve Ranger looks at the case for their inclusion.