Welcome to the revamped Tech Barometer from The Register, put together in association with Freeform Dynamics to help us, and our readers, track the action in some of the faster moving areas of the IT industry.

The barometer is based purely on reader feedback, gathered via an online questionnaire hosted on the The Register. Within the questionnaire, we listed 25 emerging or fast developing areas of technology and asked respondents to rate the current and medium term (2 years ahead) importance of each to their business.