Last year's position : 48

This affable Briton is sure to always dine out on coming up with workable hyperlinks and so, in essence, spawning the WWW. Whether he will be able to hit another home run - at CERN, MIT or elsewhere - remains highly debateable. Alongside Father of the Internet Vint Cerf, one panellist asked: "I like them, but are they agenda setting now?"

The choice of any Agenda Setter is a leap of faith. On that basis, perhaps Berners-Lee always deserves at least a place towards the bottom of the 50.