World Economic Forum Announces Technology Pioneers 2007

USA continues to dominate the Technology Pioneer programme, but innovation has become a global phenomenon.

Geneva, Switzerland, 4 December 2006 – The World Economic Forum has announced today 47 visionary companies selected as Technology Pioneers 2007. The companies products include microscopic pill cameras, bio sensors that localize landmines, implantable medical devices for the treatment of brain tumours, mobile television service, blog search engines, open-source web browsers, video headsets, thin-film diamond coatings, solar air conditioner equipment, paper batteries for music playing greeting cards, and even an automatic and compacting trash bin powered by solar energy.

Over half (27) of the Technology Pioneers 2007 are US-based companies with 13 located in California. The United Kingdom boasts 6 Technology Pioneers 2007, the Netherlands, India, Israel and Singapore boast two each; Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Sweden, and Switzerland have one each. Technology pioneers are nominated in three main categories: Energy, Biotechnology/Health and Information Technology.

The Technology Pioneers 2007 were nominated by the world’s leading venture capital and technology companies. The final selection from 225 nominees was made by a panel of leading technology experts appointed by the World Economic Forum. Technology Pioneers 2007 are invited to attend the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum to be held in Davos, Switzerland from 24-28 January 2007.

“The competition to become a Technology Pioneer has been more intense than ever. It is evident that technology and innovation is playing a key role in the shifting power equation at a global level. Driving this shift is the tremendous amount of innovation taking place outside of traditionally hubs. The wide geographic spread of this year’s Technology Pioneers is a testament to this trend. We are pleased to welcome these exciting companies to our Community of Technology Pioneers, and look forward to engaging these industry leaders of the future into the community of the World Economic Forum”, said Peter Torreele, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum.

To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be involved in the development of life-changing technology innovation and have potential for long-term impact on business and society. In addition, it must demonstrate visionary leadership, show the signs of being a long-standing market leader – and its technology must be proven. Previous Technology Pioneers have included: Autonomy, Cambridge Silicon Radio, Encore Software, Google, Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Napster.

The Technology Pioneers 2007 are: (Go to www.weforum.org/techpioneers/2007 for the entire list of Technology Pioneers and interviews with the CEOs of the selected companies.)

Biotech

454 Life Sciences Corporation, Dr Jonathan Rothberg, Founder and Chairman, USA, http://www.454.com
454 Life Sciences Corporation develops technologies to determine the nucleotide sequence of whole genomes. Its applications include drug discovery and development, as well as disease diagnosis in genetics, agriculture, animal health, biodefense, and human health care.

Ambit Biosciences Corporation, Mr M. Scott Salka, CEO, USA, http://www.ambitbio.com
Ambit Biosciences utilizes a proprietary platform technology, KinomeScan, to quickly and efficiently screen small molecule compounds against a panel of over 300 human kinases, revealing information that could lead to the development of next-generation kinase inhibitors, one of the most important drug classes in the pharmaceutical industry.

Amorfix Life Sciences Ltd., Dr. George Adams, CEO, Canada, http://www.amorfix.com
Amorfix Life Sciences Ltd. is a biotechnology company that develops discovery platforms for identification of proteins involved in misfolding diseases, which are diseases where proteins aggregate abnormally to cause a degenerative condition that affects the nervous systems of humans and animals. The company has developed Epitope Protection Assay (EPA) technology and Side Chain Accessibility Process (SCAP), which allow detection of misfolded proteins in blood and urine samples.

Aresa A/S, Mr Jarne Elleholm, President and CEO, Denmark, http://www.aresa.dk
Aresa A/S is a biotechnology company that offers explosive and mine detecting solutions. The company markets its product under RedDetect and RedDetect UXO brand names.

BrainsGate Ltd., Mr Avinoam Dayan, CEO, Israel, http://www.brainsgate.com
BrainsGate Ltd. offers solutions for treatment of diseases of the brain and central nervous system. The company offers an implantable medical device for the treatment of brain tumors, neurodegenerative disorders, and neuro-metabolic disorders.

CyGenics Ltd, Mr Steven Fang, Group CEO, Singapore, http://www.cygenics.com
CyGenics, Ltd. develops adult stem cell-related products, services, applications, and technologies. It provides services, devices, and facilities for storing, replicating, cataloging, harvesting, researching, and developing applications for adult stem cell, stem cell-related derivatives, and their related therapies.

Given Imaging Ltd., Mr Nachum Shamir, President & CEO, Israel, http://www.givenimaging.com
Given Imaging, Ltd. develops, manufactures, and markets diagnostic products for the visualization and detection of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. Its principal product is the Given System, a wireless imaging system that uses disposable PillCam video capsules.

HealthSTATS International Pte Ltd, Dr. Ting Choon Meng, Chairman & CEO , Singapore, http://www.healthstats.com.sg
HealthSTATS is a Singapore-based technology company with principal activity in research and development of innovative bio-monitoring devices to provide doctors with an evidence-based approach to monitoring and managing hypertension and related illnesses. HealthSTATS groundbreaking technology branded as “ EVBP” is expected to significantly change the way blood pressure is being monitored worldwide.

Lentigen Corporation, Dr Boro Dropulic , Founder & CEO, USA, http://www.lentigen.com
Lentigen Corporation, a biotechnology company, engages in the design, development, construction, and manufacture of gene delivery technology for various applications in biotechnology and medicine. It offers preclinical and clinical grade Lentiviral vectors, which are used in various fields, such as functional genomics, drug discovery, RNAi research, proteomics, biodefense, vaccines, and gene therapy.

Nanōmix Inc., Dr Marvin L. Cohen, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, USA, http://www.nano.com
Nanōmix, Inc. commercializes nanoelectronic detection devices for industrial and biomedical applications. Its products include industrial detection devices, such as wired and wireless devices, nanoelectronic detection systems, industrial wireless receivers, and OEM devices; and breath analysis devices, including emergency respiratory monitoring and other respiratory monitoring devices.

Oxford Medical Diagnostics Ltd, Mr Roy Johnson, Executive Chairman, UK, http://www.omdiagnostics.com
Oxford Medical Diagnostics, the 39th company to spin out from Oxford since 1997, is developing laser-based techniques for the analysis of gases. The company's initial focus is the development of a platform for detecting minute quantities of markers in exhaled breath to diagnose diseases.

Renovo Ltd , Prof. Mark Ferguson, Co-founder & CEO, UK, http://www.renovo.com
Renovo is the world leader in scar prevention and reduction research, developing pharmaceutical products to prevent and reduce scarring in the skin, blood vessels, eyes, nerves, internal organs, tendons and ligaments.

Strand Life Sciences, Dr Vijay Chandru, Chairman, Co-Founder & CEO, India, http://www.strandls.com
Strand Life Sciences develops algorithms and solutions in the area of bioinformatics. It helps in accelerating the drug discovery process by developing a suite of products for genomics, proteomics, and in silico biology. The products called Oyster include micro arrays, sequence analysis, and structure analysis products.

IT
Alfresco Software Inc., Mr John Newton, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, http://www.alfresco.com
Alfresco offers true Open Source Enterprise Content Management (ECM) - Document Management, Collaboration, Records Management, Knowledge Management, Web Content Management and Imaging. Alfresco dramatically lowers total cost of ownership through open source distribution, working in the user's native environment, minimizing training and using low cost, loosely coupled hardware.

BridgePort Networks, Inc., Mr Mike Mulica, President and CEO, USA, http://www.bridgeport-networks.com
BridgePort Networks, Inc. develops telecommunications software for mobile services between mobile and Internet protocol networks. Its network convergence gateway uses roaming technology to extend single identity phone number services over multiple access networks, including mobile, cable, DSL, and WiFi.

Cicero Networks, Mr Ross Brennan, Co-founder and CEO, Ireland, http://www.ciceronetworks.com
Cicero Networks is at the forefront of the wireless Internet revolution, developing solutions for the delivery of Voice over Wireless IP. Cicero’s mission is to harness the power of VoIP to enable the delivery of wireless voice services while maintaining mobility and flexibility for end users at a lower cost.

comScore Networks, Mr Magid Abraham, President, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, http://www.comscore.com
comScore Networks started in 1999 with the vision  to measure, analyze and report actual e-commerce transaction data across all websites. Harnessing its technological innovation and creativity, comScore has evolved far beyond this initial vision to become the leading provider of digital marketing intelligence.

Drishtee, Mr Satyan Mishra, Managing Director, India, http://www.drishtee.com
Drishtee is a rural network for delivering services and related information to the village community through an ICT (information and communication technologies) Center or Information Kiosk. The Kiosks are run by entrepreneurs selected from the villages and have been designed to follow a service-delivery based revenue model.

Dust Networks Inc., Ms Joy Weiss , President & CEO, USA, http://www.dust-inc.com
Dust Networks makes wireless sensor network systems that monitor and control building systems. Its SmartMesh platform wirelessly connects sensors with in-building climate control, equipment monitoring, and surveillance systems, allowing for building automation, industrial monitoring, and enhanced security.

HelloSoft Inc. , Mr. Krishna Yarlagadda , Founder, President & CEO, India, http://www.hellosoft.com
HelloSoft is the world’s leading provider of VoIP technologies for wireline and wireless devices. The company enables mass deployment of low-cost, power-efficient, fully-featured multi-mode wireline and wireless devices by providing highly optimized RISC-based VoIP products with superior voice quality, QoS, and efficient call switching specifically designed for next generation end-points.

IceMobile, Mr Ralph Cohen, Founder and CEO, The Netherlands, http://www.icemobile.com
IceMobile is a leading publisher of mobile entertainment content. In addition to publishing mobile video content on the portals of 30 European mobile operators, IceMobile launched its VideoCall2TV technology that allow viewers to make a video call from their third-generation (3G) mobile phone to a TV program and participate in the show with live spontaneous performances.

MobiTV, Inc., Dr. Phillip Alvelda, CEO, Chairman and Co-founder, USA, http://www.mobitv.com
MobiTV, Inc. is the first mobile television and digital radio service provider for cellular, WiFi and broadband enabled devices worldwide. It offers products for mobile phones, palm devices, and laptops. The company delivers the media content over the cellular and mobile telephones. The Emmy Award winning service has more than one million paying subscribers and offers many popular TV channels.

Mozilla Corporation, Mr Mitchell Baker , President & CEO, USA, http://www.mozilla.com
As a wholly owned subsidiary of the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, the Mozilla Corporation is charged with the development and promotion of products that further the Foundation's public benefit mission to preserve choice and innovation on the Internet. Millions of people worldwide enjoy a better Web experience with the award-winning, free and open source Mozilla Firefox browser.

netomat Inc., Mr Maciej Wisniewski, Founder and Chief Scientist, USA, http://www.netomat.net
Netomat, Inc. develops online publishing and communication software. The company’s technology offers solutions for collating digital pictures, audio, voice, free-form drawing, text, and animation for creating emails, blogs, and Websites.

Omnibase Logic, Inc., Mr Luther Hendrix, President & CEO, USA, http://www.omnibaselogic.com
Omnibase Logic offers a unique approach to designing and producing electronic circuits. The company’s proprietary technology allows the use of math and logic is based on number systems other than 2 (binary). This technology can dramatically impact all areas of digital electronics, especially mathematical processing and the storage and transmission of large quantities of data.

Ruckus Wireless Inc. , Ms Selina Lo, President & CEO, USA, http://www.ruckuswireless.com
Ruckus Wireless, Inc. engages in the design, development, and marketing of technologies and products that enable the home media network ecosystem. The company’s BeamFlex automatically beams Wi-Fi signals around interference to deliver video, audio, games, and data in the home.

Sling Media, Mr Blake Krikorian, Co-founder and CEO, USA, http://www.slingmedia.com
Sling Media, Inc., a consumer electronics company, offers digital lifestyle products. It offers Slingbox, a device that allows consumers to access their living room digital television from any location through Internet connected laptops, desktops, PDAs, and smartphones. The company also offers SlingPlayer Mobile, a software package, which allows Slingbox owners to watch and control their home TV from any network-enabled mobile phone or handheld computer.

Technorati, Mr David Sifry, Founder and CEO, USA, http://www.technorati.com
Technorati, Inc. operates as an online search engine that monitors various weblogs or blogs. It tracks what people on the Internet are saying about a company, products, competitors, politics, or other areas of interest. The company also provides news from general news services and blogs. In addition, Technorati provides a live view of the global conversation of the Web.

The MicroOptical Corporation , Mr Mark B. Spitzer, Founder and CTO, USA, http://www.microoptical.net and http://www.myvu.com
The MicroOptical Corporation manufactures and markets optical equipment systems, which are integrated in eyewear. The company's video headsets cater to medical, nondestructive testing, law enforcement, 3-D gaming, wireless surveillance, consumer electronics, and military sectors.

ThingMagic, Mr Yael Maguire, Co-Founder, USA, http://www.thingmagic.com
ThingMagic develops radio frequency identification (RFID) readers, sensors, and computing technologies worldwide. The company provides RFID capability to label printers, print and apply machines, and other systems that need to read and write singulated RFID tags of protocol.

Transitive Corporation, Mr. Robert P. Wiederhold, Chairman, CEO & President, USA, http://www.transitive.com
Transitive Corporation designs, develops, and markets software solutions for the IT industry. The company’s QuickTransit suite offers software, which allow software applications to function on different processors and operating systems without any source code or binary changes.

Truphone, Mr Alexander Straub, Co-Founder, Germany, http://www.truphone.com
The company has developed a software infrastructure that allows mobile phones with Wi-Fi to make calls and send SMS messages using only Wi-Fi and the Internet. Crucially, when a Truphone-enabled mobile handset is out of Wi-Fi range it reconnects to the mobile network, allowing customers to roam between the two networks.
Energy
Advanced Diamond Technologies Inc., Mr Neil Kane, President, USA, http://www.thindiamond.com
Advanced Diamond Technologies Inc. commercializes Ultrananocrystalline™ diamond (UNCD™) technology developed by Argonne National Laboratory. UNCD develops thin-film diamond material which find application in UNCD-coated mechanical pump seals, hermetic coatings for retinal prosthetic implants, micro-electrical-mechanical systems, and biosensors.

Advent Solar, Inc., Mr Russell R. Schmit, President & CEO, USA, http://www.adventsolar.com
Advent Solar, Inc. is a developer of advanced technology solar cells and modules. The company is bringing to the market low-cost solar photovoltaic products based on its proprietary emitter wrap-through back-contact cell technology.

ClimateWell AB, Mr Göran Bolin, Executive Vice-President and CTO, Sweden, http://www.climatewell.com
ClimateWell AB is a supplier of highly efficient solar air conditioner equipment with the unique ability to store energy and convert hot water to cooling and heating. ClimateWell’s technology makes it possible to use solar energy for delivering cooling not only when the sun shines but around the clock.

DeepStream Technologies, Mr Mark Crosier, Founder & CEO, UK, http://www.deepstream.com
DeepStream Technologies designs and manufactures digital sensors for three-dimensional packaging.

EnerNOC Inc., Mr Tim Healy, CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder, USA, http://www.enernoc.com
EnerNOC, Inc. software offers peak demand and payment management, load and technical analysis, capacity optimization, energy usage reporting and analysis, and distribution generation development services. The company caters to food and beverage, waste water treatment, healthcare, and telecommunications industries.

Fiberforge, Dr Jon Fox-Rubin, President & CEO, USA, http://www.fiberforge.com
Fiberforge is developing and commercializing a family of breakthrough manufacturing processes and technologies for the production of lower-cost advanced-composite parts. Fiberforge's focus is on reducing scrap and optimizing material use while maintaining performance and volume scalability.

Enfucell Ltd., Mr Jaakko Happonen, CEO, Finland, http://www.enfucell.com
Enfucell, Ltd. develops thin and flexible power supplies for disposable micro electronic devices, such as smart cards, music playing greeting cards, micro mobile sensors, LED on paper, electronic paper, bi-stable display, and radio frequency identification tags.

Flisom AG, Mr Anil Sethi, Founder & CEO, Switzerland, http://www.flisom.ch
Flisom, a Swiss Federal Institute of Technology spin-off, has a high-efficiency copper-indium-gallium-selenide solar cell technology that it plans to put on plastic foil—not glass—potentially opening up new applications like solar for cell phones.

Lilliputian Systems Inc., Mr Kenneth Lazarus, CEO, USA
Lilliputian Systems Inc. develops micro fuel cell system for portable electronics and wireless applications using MEMS-based technology. It also develops fuel cell to provide portable power for cellular telephones, notebook computers, and other small form factor electronic devices.

NanoSolar, Mr Martin Roscheisen, CEO, USA, http://www.nanosolar.com
NanoSolar, Inc. manufactures solar panels using high-throughput thin-film process technology. The company’s solar cells can be as efficient and last as long as conventional silicon solar cells. The key part of the company's technology is that it can "print" (solution-coat) the most expensive layers of a solar cell.

OTB Group, Mr Ron Kok, Founder and President, The Netherlands, http://www.otb-group.nl
OTB Group is a leading company in the design, engineering, development and manufacturing of tailor made inline production equipment. OTB Group operates through three units: OTB Engineering, OTB Display, and OTB Solar.

Pentadyne Power Corporation, Mr Mark E. McGough, President and CEO, USA, http://www.pentadyne.com
Pentadyne Power Corp. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of flywheel power systems. Its products provide power for uninterruptible power supply, industrial drive, energy recycling and micro-grid applications for digital economy/telecom, industrial and essential services, commercial, electric rail, and electric utility companies.

PowerGenix, Dan Squiller, CEO, USA, http://www.powergenix.com
PowerGenix develops and manufactures rechargeable nickel-zinc batteries for direct current powered devices. Its technology offers traditional nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), and lead-acid battery technologies.

Seahorse Power Company, Mr James Poss, Founder, President and CEO, USA, http://www.seahorsepower.com
Seahorse Power Company develops, manufactures, and sells energy-efficient products. It offers BigBelly, an automatic and compacting trash bin powered by solar energy, which reduces litter, cuts emptying frequency, and waste handling costs. The company primarily serves municipalities and outdoor entertainment venues.

UltraMotor Company, Mr Joe Bowman, MD, UK, http://www.ultramotors.co.uk
UMC has developed an entirely new design concept for electric motors which provides high-end performance in a robust, low-cost solution. Ultra-motors are “permanent magnet DC motors. They consist of a steel stator disk with multiple permanent magnets attached and five U-shaped electro-magnets positioned on the outer rotor.

The Technology Pioneers programme is run by the World Economic Forum with guidance from Accel Partners, BT and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

“The Technology Pioneer Program is critical to the continuing vitality of the World Economic Forum. Given the rapid rate of technology change on a global scale it is important to all members to have a view of what is changing.  The Technology Pioneers represent the best of this change. To keep this in perspective it is important to remember that when the Forum itself was started todays technology leaders such as Microsoft Dell and Cisco were not yet in business themselves. We know that this years representatives do have the ability to help improve the state of the World”, said Joe Schoendorf from Accel Partners, USA.

Matt Bross, Group Chief Technology Officer at BT, said "Organisations can stay ahead in a crowded, fast-moving marketplace by harnessing innovation globally to create new products and improve business efficiency. Companies must reach out beyond their organisations to find the best brains and the smartest ideas, wherever they are in the world to create an innovation chain reaction," he said. "The Technology Pioneers winners will make great innovation partners for any organisation choosing to do business with them."

“Some of history's most important innovations, and many of those inventions that change the world, were born in a garage, and not a multinational company. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu proudly supports the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers Program, and is pleased to assist in identifying and recognizing some of the world's most disruptive emerging companies, technologies and leaders. We face many global energy, health and economic challenges, and Deloitte hopes that the Technology Pioneers will help to provide some of the answers”, said Igal Brightman, Deloitte's Global Managing Partner, Technology, Media and Telecommunications Industry Group.

Notes to Editors:
Go to www.weforum.org/techpioneers/2007 for the entire list of Technology Pioneers and interviews with the CEOs of the selected companies. For more specific information, please e-mail: tech.pioneers@weforum.org

Download print-quality high resolution photographs of the CEOs of the selected companies at: www.pbase.com/forumweb/techpioneers2007

Nominate a company to be a 2008 Technology Pioneer at: www.weforum.org/pdf/techpioneers/nomination_form_2008.pdf. Deadline for submissions is May 2007.
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The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (www.weforum.org)