One of the most promising applications of photonic crystals already demonstrated experimentally is the possibility of creating compact optical devices, analogous to the integrated circuits in electronics, but operating entirely with light. These will revolutionise the information and telecommunication industry. Slow group velocities of light in photonic crystals can lead to a decrease of the sizes of many photonic devices so that they can operate at much smaller input powers. These advantages can be used to design all-optical logical gates smaller than 20x20 µm2 in size using readily available materials, combining about 105 such devices on a chip of surface size 2x2 cm2 and operating with speeds greater than 100 Gbit/sec. Australia is lagging in these rapid developments and the conference should be a key point in developing this technology in Australia. This interdisciplinary area involves nanoscale science and engineering and advances in information and communications technology. The Conference will provide linkages between leading edge R&D and industry in an important emerging technology.