The World Economic Forum today announced 47 Technology Pioneers for 2007. Alfresco Software has been selected as one of these Technology Pioneers. The Technology Pioneers 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.

Alfresco is an open source enterprise content management (ECM) system that brings the disruptive power of the open source model to the $3.9 billion ECM industry. Alfresco’s co-founder John Newton, CTO and Technology Pioneer representative, who also co-founded the market leader Documentum, has had a big influence on the ECM industry. Alfresco is freely available content management software that controls and accesses content, such as web pages, images, or documents, throughout the enterprise. With cost advantages of open source, even small or poorly funded organizations, including those in the developing world, can meet regulatory requirements, serve customers and citizens, and discover important research.

“We are proud to have won this award recognizing Alfresco’s technology, the global power of open source and the importance of managing content in economic development,” said John Newton. “We hope to use the opportunities created by this award to gain greater visibility to how information can help solve some of the world’s most pressing problems and how sharing and retaining knowledge can level the playing field for companies outside of the developed world.”

Technology Pioneers are companies that have been identified as developing and applying highly transformational and innovative technologies in the areas of energy, biotechnology and health, and information technology. This year’s class of companies has been selected not only because of the cutting-edge work undertaken by these organizations, but also because their work has potential long-term impact on business and society.

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 webrowsers, 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.