Two billion people online; half a billion on Facebook; the launch of the iPad, the explosion of digital publishing, the relentless expansion of mobile phone networks through the developing world—2010 has seen astonishing landmarks in the ongoing evolution of digital culture.

Next year will see even more—and an ever-more furious debate surrounding everything from net neutrality to copyright laws, digital business strategies, virtual property rights, the censorship of interactive media and the status of the increasingly complex identities the world’s citizens are building online.

Who are the great minds helping to create the culture of the internet and the world’s powerful digital media? Prospect’s January 2011 list will feature our pick of the world’s digital thinkers—the ones to watch if you want to understand the big ideas shaping the 21st century through technology.

Headed by Prospect’s new editor Bronwen Maddox and arts & books editor Tom Chatfield, our expert panel—including doctor of social psychology, writer and broadcaster Aleks Krotoski; writer, journalist, and co-founder and chief executive of Mumsnet Justine Roberts; and philosopher, writer, strategist, founder of the Virtual Policy Network and former head of digital strategy at Cable & Wireless Ren Reynold—will be drawing up the list this month of the Top Ten Brains of the Digital Future.

But we want you to join this debate—and to use this page to tell us who you think ought to make the cut. Simply comment on this article, telling us in 100 words or fewer who you think should be named the world’s top digital thinker, and why. We’ll present the definitive list, together with our readers’ most memorable insights and opinions, in our forthcoming issue, out in mid-December.

Click here to join the debate

Prospect Magazine