SXSW 2009 is approaching fast, and around this time, potential presenters collect their thoughts and come up with panels that would make for interesting discussion during the day. In true democratic fashion, the (registered) public votes on submitted panel ideas through the Interactive Panel Picker. Each panel idea falls under one category. The focus for this post will be New Technology/Next Generation.

This may be the hardest evaluation of the categories, considering that there are 181 panel submissions competing, there are a lot of companies doing great work in next-generation technologies, and the subject matter varies greatly. Fortunately, after this, evaluating the panels becomes “easier.”

I shouldn’t be surprised that there are a number of panel submissions dealing with music; specifically, Digital Rights Management (DRM), and music discovery and suggested listens. I’m also not surprised by the number of forward-looking, “future of”-type panel submissions (this is the Next-Generation category, after all), but personally I’d rather focus on what new stuff has come out recently before speculating on social, political, or ethical ramifications.

For me, I’m looking forward to hearing more about data portability — centralizing and managing one’s personal identity and information — around which a number of panel submissions are centered. In addition, since I currently work for a company that knows a thing or two about open source software (OSS), I’d like to know how well OSS is doing in the enterprise.

The list:

• Lessons Learned from the Open Source Software with SpringSource’s Neelan Choksi
• Managing Your Online Identity Outside the Walled Garden with Bokardo Design’s Joshua Porter
• Brave NUI World: The Fearless Future of Device Interaction with Cheskin Added Value’s Lee Shupp
• AJAX Accessibility: An ARIA Duet with Knowbility’s Sharron Rush