In 2017 there will be a focus on eLearning, remote services, security and privacy. In addition, a W3C technical stream will review and consider web standards and the impact and needs of the rapidly expanding web universe.

A call for papers will open in mid 2016 and should relate to one of the four themes below.

1 Making decisions

The web is powerful, empowering and potentially dangerous. The momentum of ideas crossing borders at high speed challenges the way we govern and regulate our societies.

2 The balance between technology and culture

Technology has always influenced culture but the current intensity of that has no precedent. Let’s consider where this is heading. As brands move from advertiser to friend, and as computer hardware becomes an extension of self, questions are raised.

3 Rethinking place

Our place on Earth has been defined by geography, our connections and our access to information. Now travellers see and understand their destination before they arrive, and leave behind information trails about the places they’ve visited. We are increasingly mediating our relationships by overlaying virtual experiences onto physical spaces.

In Western Australia, remote-operated mines provide essential resources for Asian growth, while the secrets of the universe are soon to be decoded in the world’s newest supercomputer. Nowhere is remote, nothing is hidden.

4 Living in the always on

Today, we are connected, we are revealed, and we are part of the solution. Our concept of data has grown to include our bodies, our relationships, and our virtual environment. Data-mining, sensors, pattern recognition and new attitudes to the sharing of data are reconstructing the way we analyse our surrounds. The presentation of data will undergo radical change by 2017 as information is delivered in more emotionally compelling and time-sensitive ways.