I'm very excited to announce the Call for Participation for XTech 2006. Submissions are due by 9th January. The conference itself is 16th-19th May 2006, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The theme this year is "Building Web 2.0", focusing on the technologies and issues involved in building the next generation of web applications and services. There are four tracks --

• Applications -- "mashups", frameworks, publishing, open source solutions, aggregation
• Browser Technology -- browsers, AJAX, design and interaction for Web 2.0
• Core Technologies -- the XML and RDF family, RSS/Atom, databases, nuts-and-bolts tech
• Open Data -- information design, identity, tagging, privacy, trust, Creative Commons, DRM, government

I'll write a bit more about each track in the coming weeks, but if any of this turns you on, head over to the full call and submit your abstract. Also, do read the full track descriptions -- they go into more detail than I can here. Tutorials will be held on the 16th, and the presentation tracks from 17th-19th.

In 2006 I want to build on the success of last year and broaden XTech's reach into web technologies. On the technology side, I'm particularly interested in getting more in about databases, frameworks like Ruby on Rails, tagging and search.

In addition to technology, I'm interested in opening up dialogue between developers, designers and information architects about the kinds of applications being built on the web now, and the issues of their design, organization and implementation. Partly to encourage this, 2006's conference will have more room for panel discussion sessions.

Feel free to drop me a note with any questions or suggestions about XTech 2006. (If you want to propose a session, please use the online submission form rather than sending email.)