Malcolm Allen of Glynx and Eric Rosales of Channel 7 ABC TV

STANFORD, Calif., Jul. 31, 2007 (KGO) - The pace of change in the technology industry continues to accelerate. Tuesday, CEOs from start-up private companies throughout the world gathered at Stanford University to mark the start of the 2007 Stanford Summit. It's a two-and-a-half day gathering that highlights significant trends affecting the global technology industries.

Tony Perkins, the founder and editor of AlwaysOn , says a new generation is now driving innovation -- kids and teenagers who've grown up emailing and instant messaging each other.

Tony Perkins, Founder of AlwaysOn : "Being seen and finding each other on the Web is clearly a big driver. A lot of the great companies we've seen that have gone public or got bought are YouTube , Skype , Google , all of these are really sitting on top of this new generation."

One company that's leading this social networking phenomenon is Gaiaonline.com. The teen site allows you to create a personality and hang out with more than six million other users in a virutal world you helped create. The site was voted the best idea of the 2007 Stanford Summit.

Derek Liu, Gaiaonline.com : "There is only a matter of time until the next generation of entertainment happens on the online world. And we are taking that lead to be one of the pioneers."

As for industry trends, security is still a high priority. Glynx.com is banking on keeping your information private.

Malcolm Allen, Glynx.com : "The doctors in the UK are spending 12 billion pounds to try and build a medical records system, and they've gone and boycotted it because it uses central storage. We can solve that problem by keeping your information private, peer-to-peer, between doctors and patients."

Other growing trends include the virtualization of consumer services. Companies like Carbonite and Box.net were honored for offering easy to use online backup and storage

Over the next two days, these high-tech heavy hitters will try to figure out the most promising opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors.

Copyright 2007, ABC7/KGO-TV/DT .