ReadWriteWeb

Thanks to a more technology-savvy workforce, ubiquitous broadband, online collaboration, and social networking tools, it is individual workers, and not IT organizations, that are creating a new trend in business, a trend being called "technology populism." Despite the rewards of using web-based tools and the ease-of-use they provide, this new trend has inherent risks as well. And any IT managers who are ignoring the new, open internet and the power it provides are also ignoring the risks and security threats technology populism brings to the strategically planned IT infrastructures that they have helped build.

One of the categories at next week's Crunchies awards show, which ReadWriteWeb is co-hosting, is Best technology innovation / achievement. The 5 finalists in that category are: Earthmine, Like, Move Networks, Twine, Viewdle. Here's a look at what each of these startups does and what makes them "innovative".

Among the 5 finalists, there is 1 Semantic App, 2 Visual Search Engines, a 3D mapping service, and an Internet video streaming product. Tell us who you think should be the winner in the comments.