Viviane Reding, Euro Commissioner
Position: 10 Last year: Not ranked
Why? Cheaper mobile roaming
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It's not often a politician makes it into the top 50, but according to the panel Viviane Reding wields plenty of power over the technology agenda - and not just in Europe.
As European commissioner for information society and media, the Luxembourger has a hand in pretty much every decision about technology legislation that takes place in Europe, whether it's to do with mobile TV standards, RFID regulation, opening up frequencies for wireless broadband or pushing electronic safety systems for cars.
This summer - to the joy of mobile users across Europe - she won her battle to force mobile operators to cut the charges for users roaming abroad - with SMS and data rates likely to be next in the firing line.
And it's not just the price cuts in Europe that have made her an Agenda Setter - the panel predicts that her victory could have a global impact. Access to broadband is another area where her decisions could have major consequences.
Not every decision is welcomed of course - for example, Reding earned the disapproval of ISPs earlier this year because of the way the dot-eu domain name registration was handled.
Most recently she weighed in on the tech skills crisis - warning that Europe is missing out on billions in investment because its workers lack IT skills.
And the panel was impressed by the way she has driven the e-inclusion agenda across Europe."I think people are now taking her and that agenda really quite seriously," said one panel member.
Take a walk down memory lane - and find out who made the agenda setters poll in years past
"Blogging's definitely got to the point where there're enough mainstream consumers watching it for the top bloggers to be regarded as agenda setters."
Michael Smith,
Agenda Setters panellist
"Open source gets more important rather than being something that will get squeezed out of the enterprise."
Simon Briskman,
Agenda Setters panellist
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Content featuring Viviane Reding
EU telecoms commissioner, Viviane Reding, said in a statement: "All Europeans making calls or sending texts with their mobiles can experience the EU's single market without borders. Making a telephone call, sending a text message or reading emails...
Commissioners Viviane Reding and Meglena Kuneva have proposed that EU consumer protections for physical products be extended to software. Software companies could be held responsible for the security and efficiency of their products, if a new...
I welcome the European Parliament's strong endorsement of the reform of the EU telecoms rules," Viviane Reding, Europe's commissioner for telecoms and IT, said in a European Commission statement. The European Parliament has voted through a massive...
EU information society commissioner, Viviane Reding, said in a statement: "This opens the door for the full privatisation of Icann and it also raises the question of to whom Icann should be accountable, as from 1 October.
The European Union's telecoms commissioner, Viviane Reding, has called for the creation of a European cyber security chief. Speaking on Monday in her weekly video address, Reding claimed that the 27 EU member states had been "quite negligent" in...
Telecoms commissioner, Viviane Reding, said in a European Commission statement: "Today's vote marks the definite end of the roaming rip-off in Europe. The cost of sending text messages and downloading data will fall for people roaming between...
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