As I sort through the proposals submitted for XTech, it's interesting to note which technologies and ideas dominate. I'll share some observations here as I work through them.

I've just completed a first review of the core technologies track, which focuses on the nitty-gritty of XML and its related standards. These themes stood out:

• Querying XML
• XML database technology: XQuery is as big as ever, but there were also various submissions detailing XML database use across many fields.
• Processing performance and efficiency
• RDF stores: particularly focusing on performance and scalability. To see so many submissions on this topic was quite a surprise.
  
• New APIs and ways of processing: innovation is anything but over at the core of XML processing

Of course, just because these are the major themes, it doesn't mean they'll squeeze out equally great presentations on other topics.

I'll post more observations as I continue to review the proposals.