Microsoft Learn is replacing Microsoft Professional Program

Microsoft Learn is replacing Microsoft Professional Program

Microsoft is evolving its approach to helping people build technical skills and achieving technical certification. The company is retiring Microsoft Professional Program (MPP) and replacing it with Microsoft Learn platform.

Microsoft shares they are taking the best of the Microsoft Professional Program and adding the ability to earn a technical certification at the end of the coursework. The company realizes that people with certifications earn 15% more and are 20% more productive.

Three years ago, we launched the Microsoft Professional Program (MPP) with one mission: to help you build the technical skills you need to succeed in emerging jobs.
Since that time, the importance of technical skills and industry-recognized certifications has grown.
That’s why we’ve decided to evolve our approach into a program where you can work toward a technical certification
.

Early this year Microsoft announced it was retiring Microsoft Virtual Academy and replacing it with Microsoft Learn platform. A free, interactive learning platform of tutorials, interactive browser-based coding/scripting environments and task-based achievements.

As we retire MPP, Microsoft Learn becomes your destination for building the skills you need to be successful.”

MPP will officially end December 31st 2019. However you can still apply for a course or track till 15th September. You have the ability to complete pending courses by December 31st.

.NET Conf 2019 Middle East Africa local meet-up Events

.NET Conf 2019 Middle East Africa local meet-up Events

We share with you where .NET Conf 2019 events are taking place across Middle East and Africa.

.NET Conf 2019

.NET Conf 2019 is here and live broadcast is set to take place, September 23rd to the 25th 2019. This is a free virtual 3 day developer event showcasing new developments across the .NET platform, open source and dev tools. Local community meet-ups are scheduled to take place September 23rd through to October 31st across the globe. This year .net core 3.0 will launch at the event.

The virtual livestream event will discuss what’s new in .NET by the builders. Other speakers will talk about some of the tools including .NET Core, ASP.NET Core, Xamarin, C#, Azure, AI/ML, etc.. Join and find out  what the future holds for .NET. 

We’ve put together local events taking place in Africa and the Middle East. Check the list to see if there’s an event taking place in your country. 

Click for details and register to participate in a .NET Conf 2019 event near you.

SOUTH AFRICA

Durban, Kwazulu Natal – September 23rd  (registration link TBA)

Johannesburg, Gauteng – October 8th  

Cape Town, Western Cape – October 30th  

Durban, Kwazulu Natal – October 16th  

Durban, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa – October 16th  (registration link TBA)

GHANA

Accra – September 28th 

NIIT, Accra – September 28th 

EGYPT

El Sherouk, Cairo – September 29th 

DR CONGO

Lubumbashi, Haut-katanga – October 5th 

NIGERIA

Yaba, Lagos – October 5th 

Ado-Ekiti – October 18th 

Owerri, Imo – October 30th 

Lagos – September 28th (registration link TBA)

Akure, Ondo – September 27th 

KENYA

Nairobi – October 19th 

PAKISTAN

Lahore, Punjab – September 23rd 

Lahore, Punjab – October 5th

Faisalabad, Punjab – October 12th 

Lahore, Punjab – October 16th 

Lahore, Punjab – October 16th 

Lahore, Punjab – October 26th 

Kuwait

Kuwait City – September 23rd 

Mauritius

Quatre Bornes – September 28th 

Israel

Tel-Aviv – October 29th (registration link TBA)

We will have the live stream of the virtual event, come back and check. Know of or organizing an event we haven’t entered. Kindly ask us to include it in the list. Thank you.  

Follow the hashtag #dotNETConf to be part of the conversation.

Samsung Galaxy Book S; Gigabit LTE connectivity, instant-on, all-day battery life PC

Samsung Galaxy Book S; Gigabit LTE connectivity, instant-on, all-day battery life PC

Galaxy Book S

Samsung revealed a host of devices and partnerships at their Galaxy Unpacked 2019 event. These include the Galaxy Note10 and Note10+, Watch Active2, Tab S6, Book S and a new partnership with Microsoft.

The partnership with Microsoft will see both companies work to deliver unified experiences across mobile devices for consumers. An example is the seamless cross device experience on the Galaxy Note10 and Note10+ and the new Galaxy Book S.

“a new era of mobile computing”

Samsung worked with Microsoft and Qualcomm to deliver what it describes “ushers in a new era of mobile computing. A device that harnesses the mobility and connectivity of a smartphone and the powerful productivity of a PC.”

Galaxy Book S

Galaxy Book S Specification

Operating SystemWindows 10 Home or Pro
Display13.3’’ FHD TFT (16:9) 10-point multi-touch screen
ProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 8cx 7nm 64-bit Octa-core
processor (Max. 2.84 GHz + 1.8GHz)
RAM8GB RAM (LPDDR4X)
Storage 256/512GB + MicroSD slot (up to 1TB)
NetworkLTE Cat.18, Nano SIM
Weight0.96 kg
OthersFingerprint Sensor, Backlit Keyboard, USB Type-C,
Battery life up to 23 hours

It comes with built-in LTE connectivity which will offer an always-connected pc. Samsung says it comes with “a powerhouse battery life” which should last a whole day. It estimates 23 hours of video playback. This can translate into about 12 – 14 hours of other heavy productive work.

Spotting an ultra-slim, lightweight design in a premium anodized aluminum frame the PC is protected against hazards says Samsung. It uses Qualcomm’s latest mobile processor to combines performance and battery life. An upgrade of the earlier released Galaxy Book2 PC.

Samsung says it will be out by October 2019. hopefully it makes it out onto the Middle East Africa market.

What do you think about this new PC from Samsung? Are you getting one? Let’s know what you think, share your thoughts in the comments.

MCT TECH SUMMIT 2019, ABUJA, NIGERIA

MCT TECH SUMMIT 2019, ABUJA, NIGERIA

MCT TECH SUMMIT 2019

Save the date and plan to be at MCT TECH SUMMIT 2019. This years Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCT) Tech Summit Africa event will take place 5th to the 7th of December in Abuja, Nigeria.

The Microsoft Certified Trainers Summit is an annual community event for Microsoft Certified trainers across the world. Where MCT’s interact, learn, have fun, communicate and share with fellow trainers. The event is open to Students, IT Professionals, IT Trainers and anyone with a passion for Microsoft technologies and solutions. Come and learn how to become a Microsoft Certified trainer as well.

This years event will feature Power BI, AI and an Ethical hacker bootcamp. You can learn to become an Approved Technical Trainer at the event.

MCT events are a great opportunity for MCT’s to interact and engage directly with Microsoft.
Come learn about the future of Microsoft learning, the MCT Program, learn a specific technology or improve your skills.

Kindly visit MCT TECH SUMMIT 2019 event page to register and for more details.

We will update this post with more details, so do check back.

Microsoft to power Africa data science competition platform in new partnership with Zindi

Microsoft to power Africa data science competition platform in new partnership with Zindi

In a new partnership, Zindi will use Microsoft’s cloud computing service Azure to power their platform.

Social enterprise Zindi is on a mission to build the data science ecosystem of Africa. Building Africa’s first data science competition platform in the process. Microsoft is partnering with Zindi. Offering to power Zindi’s data science competition platform on their Azure cloud.

As part of the partnership Microsoft is sponsoring two Agritech competitions. Wazhihub soil humidity prediction challenge using sensor data from IoT and FarmPin a crop detection challenge using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery.

Currently it hosts an entire data science ecosystem of scientists, engineers, academics, companies, NGOs, governments and institutions focused on solving Africa’s most pressing problems.

https://youtu.be/okQRbB4tyOc

Click to find out more about their ecosystem and competitions.