"Maybe this illustrates the vibrancy and volatility of this still relatively youthful industry sector," he added. "A list with no significant movements among its leading names might indicate a staid and overly conservative sector – which can’t be said of this list or of the corporate online learning-technologies sector in 2017/18. 

"As ever, the judging criteria remain subjective and fallible because they’re entirely human based," Little added. "While this year’s judges – again drawn from around the world - have continued the tradition of trying to be honest and objective in their opinions, doubtless not everyone who reads this list will agree entirely with the judges’ decision – but that’s the beauty of lists such as this one: it gives ample scope for thought, discussion, and debate."

The Top 100 Movers and Shakers’ List represents the views of a number of key people about the personalities who lead the corporate online learning world. As before, when each judge – independently - produced their list for consideration, the vast majority of the 135 or so names on the long list were common to more than one list.

"This was quite useful because it reduced the time for debate about a person’s qualifications to be on the List and, instead, made the debate more about where on the List people should be," said Little. 

In producing the final List, the judges determined that

• People named on the list will be deemed to be influential within the corporate eLearning sector within their country, continent, region, and the world.
• Those who’re influential on a wider geographic scale will tend to rank higher than those who are influential "only" on a regional or continental level. These people will, however, rank higher than those who are influential purely on a national level.
• The list is compiled on the basis of a person’s perceived current influence on the online learning industry as a practitioner, commentator, facilitator, and/or thought leader. In today’s social media influenced age, this tends to give social media users, especially bloggers, a greater "world profile" and "thought-leader influence" than, say, practitioners.

Nonetheless, the judges have also tried to take account of the work and influence of "pure" industry practitioners, including those who are active "behind the scenes". These people have a significant, if often unseen, influence over the industry.

Although academics can be named on this list, they are considered only in so far as their work influences those in the corporate world.