High-tech big-wigs set agenda at World Economic Forum

Among them are Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, and Sun co-founder Bill Joy. The heads of Deutsche Telecom, SAP and Yahoo! are also among those attending or speaking this weekend.

Top of the agenda is the impact of new technologies and how the 'digital divide' can be closed.

Antoin O'Lachtnain, CTO of Irish internet company Nua, was one of a handful of business leaders selected to take part in the World Economic Forum's 2001 think-tank for Global Leaders for Tomorrow (GLT).

He believes this year's meeting demonstrates how technology is fitting into the political context.

O'Lachtnain said: "An issue that is clearly going to be prominent at the forum is the issue of Third World development and debt. The question is how can the technology revolution play a part in the solution."

The Forum is not only talking about technology - for the first time it will use knowledge management technology to collect information, speeches and discussion notes of the entire five-day event. If successful, the software, provided by Swiss company Think Tools, will be used in all future WEF events.

Andrea Schlapbach, investor relations manager at Think Tools, said: "This will provide the knowledge backbone to be built on for regional summits throughout the year. It enables the consolidation of information for the participants, including the governors, members of the Forum and leading political figures, in a comprehensive systemic architecture."

But not all of those collecting in Davos this weekend will be there to encourage use of technology to resolve economic problems. More than 10,000 anti-globalisation activists are expected to protest against moves towards a more digital economy - claiming that technology has only worsened the global wealth divide.