MIT Technology Review crowns its 35 top young innovators
Jason Pontin of MIT Technology Review talks about the hotly-anticipated annual list of up-and-coming tech innovators
For more than a decade, MIT Technology Review has released its annual list of "35 Innovators Under 35," a compilation of technologists poised to make breakthroughs in their respective fields and with potential to transform the world.
"Since 1999, we have selected 35 young innovators whom we believe have the greatest capacity to change the world for the better," MIT Technology Review Editor-in-Chief Jason Pontin told Adam Housley on his show "Tech Take" on FoxNews.com. "This is the most arduous, time-consuming thing we do all year."
A panel of judges, who are experts in different fields, whittle down over 1,000 candidates to just 35. The final 35 are categorized as inventors, entrepreneurs, visionaries, humanitarians and pioneers.
The innovators are not ranked 1 to 35, but Pontin has his favorites.
"Of course, I love all my innovators equally like a mother loves her children, but if I could just choose one I'd choose the cover guy, who's name is Ben Milne, who is the founder of a company called Dwolla," said Pontin.
Dwolla is a digital payment network that aims to make it faster, easier and safer to exchange money.
"The idea is if you're a consumer, you can send money to anyone in the world over Facebook, over Twitter, over email, using your phone. If you're a bank, the transactions are in real time and if you're a business, a vendor, it totally transforms your business," Pontin explained. "At the moment ... most businesses pay three percent of every transaction back to the credit card company; and Dwolla is trying to overturn all that."
You can read more about all 35 of the innovators here.
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