Redefining the Developer Event

By Randall Ross, Ubuntu Evangelist

We’ve all been to “those other” developer events: Sitting in a room watching a succession of never-ending slide presentations. Engagement with the audience, if any, is minimal. We leave with some tips and tools that we might be able to put into practice, but frankly, we attended because we were supposed to. The highlight was actually the opportunity to connect with industry contacts.

Key members of the OpenPOWER Foundation envisioned something completely different in their quest to create the perfect developer event, something that has never been done before: What if developers at a developer event actually spent their time developing?

The OpenPOWER Foundation is an open technical membership organization that enables its member companies to provide customized, innovative solutions based on POWER CPU processors and system platforms that encourage data centers to rethink their approach to technology. The Foundation found that ISVs needed support and encouragement to develop OpenPOWER-based solutions and take advantage of other OpenPOWER Ready components. The demand for OpenPOWER solutions has been growing, and ISVs needed a place to get started.

To solve this challenge, The OpenPOWER Foundation created the first ever Developer Congress, a hands-on event that will take place May 22-25 in San Francisco. The Congress will focus on all aspects of full stack solutions — software, hardware, infrastructure, and tooling — and developers will have the opportunity to learn and develop solutions amongst peers in a collaborative and supportive environment.

The Developer Congress will provide ISVs with development, porting, and optimization tools and techniques necessary to utilize multiple technologies, for example: PowerAI, TensorFlow, Chainer, Anaconda, GPU, FPGA, CAPI, POWER, and OpenBMC. Experts in the latest hot technologies such as deep learning, machine learning, artificial intelligence, databases and analytics, and cloud will be on hand to provide one-on-one advice as needed.

As Event Co-Chair, I had an idea for a different type of event. One where developers are treated as “heroes” (because they are — they are the creators of solutions). My Event Co-Chair Greg Phillips, OpenPOWER Content Marketing Manager at IBM, envisioned an event where developers will bring their laptops and get their hands dirty, working under the tutelage of technical experts to create accelerated solutions.

The OpenPOWER Developer Congress is designed to provide a forum that encourages learning from peers and networking with industry thought leaders. Its format emphasises collaboration with partners to find complementary technologies, and provides on-site mentoring through liaisons assigned to help developers get the most out of their experience.

Support from the OpenPOWER Foundation doesn’t end with the Developer Congress. The OpenPOWER Foundation is dedicated to providing its members with ongoing support in the form of information, access to developer tools and software labs across the globe, and assets for developing on OpenPOWER.

The OpenPOWER Foundation is committed to making an investment in the Developer Congress to provide an expert-rich environment that allows attendees to walk away three days later with new skills, new tools, and new relationships. As Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” So developers, come get your hands dirty.

Learn more about the OpenPOWER Developer Congress.

About the author

Randall Ross leads the OpenPOWER Ambassadors, and is a prominent Ubuntu community member. He hails from Vancouver BC, where he leads one of the largest groups of Ubuntu enthusiasts and contributors in the world.