As I travel this week to XML 2004, the major US-based XML event of the year, I'm also looking forward with excitement to next May, for the European XTech 2005 conference.

I've been programme chair of this conference for several years now, and in 2005 we're introducing some new tracks that I'm very excited about. As ever, a core part of XTech is dedicated to XML technology, but we've changed the focus of the programme as a whole to dedicate 50% of the tracks to two new key areas.

The first of these is Browser Technology. Anybody following net developments can't help but have noticed the rise and rise of Mozilla Firefox, and along with it a new suite of technologies for creating client applications. OS X users are now served by Safari as the best of breed browser, and mobile users benefit from innovative browser work by Opera.

Further, it's not that Microsoft have been standing still. New technologies such as XAML and Avalon bring the mysterious and to some threatening promise of completely changing the way we see XML-based client technologies. And the W3C's got it's own ideas of the future too, with XForms and Compound Document Formats.

Since the browser wars stalled, no technical conference has catered well for client-side development focused on implementors, deployers and content owners. Now XTech 2005 will!

The second of the new tracks is called Open Data. Increasingly more information owners are choosing to be an active part of the web, rather than just hosting HTML pages. Some of the highest profile commercial examples of this has been Amazon and Google's web services.

Opening up data encourages its creative re-use, empowers citizens and creates new commercial opportunities. Governments, not-for-profit institutions, academia as well as commercial organisations are all experimenting with open data. Open Data is embodied by movements such as Creative Commons, OAI and Open Access.

At an individual level, exciting open data developments are happening through technologies such as blogging and social networking applications that choose not to lock in their data. Think FOAF, RSS, semantic web, Flickr and del.icio.us. The Open Data track will look at the technology, policy and commercial issues involved in opening up data on the web.

I wrote about XTech last week in my XML.com column, explaining to the XML world its evolution from the XML Europe series of conferences. Here in my web log I hope to reach people from the browser and wider software development world, as well as those working on open data projects. Over the next few weeks I will write more about the areas covered by each track.

For now, though, the details: Amsterdam, May, 2005. What could be better? Easy to reach for both Europeans and those across the Atlantic. The call for participation is already open, and I'd be delighted to hear if you've got questions or suggestions for the conference.