Wanted: Explorers of Tech Horizons

The Horizons track at DrupalCon, as the name suggests, challenges us to explore what’s on the horizon of web- and internet-based technology, and how Drupal can enable software developers to pursue and meet these new challenges.

We asked around a bit and gathered a list of suggested topics—emerging or new technologies—that you as Drupal developers and agencies are creating solutions for and exploring as new market opportunities.

The suggestions range wildly from web-based virtual reality to chatbots to conversational interfaces. Here’s our complete list of suggested topics:

  • Accessibility: How are emerging and/or popular Internet technologies helping or hindering people with disabilities access content over the Internet?
  • Performance, especially mobile performance, JS front-end performance
  • Augmented reality, VR, WebVR, A-frame, VR-specific browsers
  • Over-the-top content (OTT), AppleTV, GoogleTV
  • Google AMP (implementations, alternatives)
  • Chatbots, especially those that integrate with a Drupal site’s API
  • Car tech API integration
  • Case studies and solutions that improve the user experience for content editors (see also the Site Building Track)
  • Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, and other conversational interfaces
  • HTML5 Websockets, Non-blocking IO/Asynchronous PHP, ReactPHP, Icicle, etc.
  • MQTT, PubSub (Publish-Subscribe), APIs and solutions for IoT
  • Internet of Things data collection and management — in what ways can Drupal provide solutions for IoT data management, analysis, or API integration?
  • Controlling embedded systems, sensors, actuators over a network using PHP and/or Drupal
  • A case study that demonstrates how a business used or integrated “an emerging technology” with Drupal and how it impacted their business. (Preference given to Drupal 8 integration.)

For all of these suggestions, we want to see how you are integrating these technologies and services into your Drupal 8 projects.

On behalf of the Horizons track team, we look forward to reading your proposals!

Submit a Session

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Amber Matz
Horizons Track Chair
DrupalCon Baltimore