Registration for Microsoft Build 2021 is opened and it will be a completely free digital-only event. It will be in the form of a 48 hour long virtual interactive experience available across all the time zones. Microsoft’s developer-focused event will start from 3 PM GMT, 6 PM EAT, 5 PM SAT, May 25th to 27th 2021.
Like last year, Microsoft notes registration for Build is free but to get access to the full interactive content you’ll need to register. However, sessions covered on the hero video such as the keynotes will not require you to be registered. Event attendees will be able to customize 48 hours of continuous content to get their digital event experience. The event will have both live segments such as the keynotes, live technical sessions and Q&A. As well as already recorded content sessions.
To enjoy a total conference experience Microsoft advises you to register as most sessions will require you to sign in. Registration will give you the ability to schedule your viewing events or sessions. And to access the connection zone, one-to-one consultations with an expert, and other community and networking sessions.
Featured speakers for Build include Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, Amanda Silver, CVP Products, Developer tools, Donovan Brown, and Scott Guthrie EVP, Cloud and AI Group. Others speakers are Scott Hanselman, Kayla Cinnamon, Rajesh Jha, Kevin Scott, Anna Hoffman, Dona Sarkar, Christina Warren and more.
Build 2021 will also host the finals of the 2021 Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship. Where Team REWEBA from Kenya alongside three other teams across the globe will present and showcase their solutions for a chance to win the competition.
What to expect?
Keynotes: Headlines and announcements delivered by executives
Technical/Breakout Sessions: More in-depth coverage of keynote content
Ask the Experts: Sessions with experts in cloud, desktop, mobile, and web development for guidance specific to your project or interests.
Humans of IT: Discover the intersection between humanity and tech through inspirational stories about humans who use tech for good.
Table Topics: Gather the community for live discussion on camera, and in chat! Get inspired by community experts, learn best practices, and discover helpful resources with other attendees.
Local Connections: Opportunity to engage with attendees on a local level. Dedicated time for local leadership to deliver an experience to help attendees find developers and experts with similar interests within their region.
Student Activities: Content covers key topics to help you get started across a variety of Microsoft technologies, job roles, and interests.
Learn Live: Guided online with a subject matter expert to walk and talk through Microsoft Learn modules.
Partner Sessions: Connect with Microsoft Partners in either an Ask the Expert or Table Topics session
Product Roundtables: Two-way discussions between product teams and customers
Cloud Skills Challenge: Complete preset collections of online learning modules for a chance to win prizes.
One-on-One Consultations: One-on-One Consultations will provide Microsoft Build attendees a unique opportunity to connect with a Microsoft professional to discuss specific questions and solutions. Sessions are 45 minutes long and provide the only one-on-one setting at the conference.
Like previous Microsoft Build events stay tuned and we will bring you the keynote livestream and announcements from the event.
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Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
It is a virtual hands-on workshop and will take place from the 3rd to the 7th of May 2021.
The company says its goals are to help participants deepen their technical knowledge and sharpen their interview skills. It will also give them an opportunity to network and interact with Microsoft female software engineers.
Business Program Manager at Microsoft Nigeria, Princess Anya says this workshop is for you if you applied for a software engineering role in a top technology organization and couldn’t get the position.
To participate in the workshop check out the eligibility requirements from the application page. Some are to have a year and above experience in programming, be a resident of Nigeria or Ghana.
Don’t forget to kindly share this with anyone in your network who might benefit from this workshop.
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Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
12 teams made up of 60 university students across Kenya and Nigeria are participating in the second season of the Microsoft Africa Development Center, Game of Learners (GOL) virtual hackathon.
Over five weeks, the teams will take on the challenge of solving the education accessibility problems in Africa using technology. They will develop a solution, corresponding code and shippable product that will be judged by Microsoft and partners. Each team is led and captained by a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador.
The students will get access to developer resources and learn new technologies to build their products. Assisted by 40 volunteers from Microsoft who will train, mentor and coach them.
Meet the 12 Microsoft Hackathon Teams
Blooming education in Africa – Team Bloom
Team Crowducate – Crowd for education
Education to all – Team Elimisha
Team Kaizen – Change for better education
Making quality education accessible to Africans – Team Blazers
Team Tulearn –
Empowering every student – Team Eagle
Team Elite – Next stop, mass education
Aim for the peak – Team Peak
Where Africans can all be sabis – Team Sabi
Phoenix –
Team Shauku –
Each member of the winning team will be awarded with one year Azure credits, one year LinkedIn Learning vouchers, digital certificate and digital badge for winning and one on one mentorship from preferred professionals.
Follow the journey of the teams on social media platforms using the hashtag #GameOfLearners.
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Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
You go to a shop, purchase an item and want to pay with M-PESA. You look around to find the notice with the till number and take turns looking up and down to enter the number on your phone. More often going over the number one more time or twice if you got it wrong initially. We’ve all been there, especially when you are in a haste.
How will you like a situation where you can just launch the Safaricom, KCB, Equity, I&M or your bank or Sacco’s app and using your camera it gets you that information? You only enter the amount you are paying, your pin number, et voilà you are set to go.
Unfortunately, Safaricom doesn’t have that feature in their app yet. The app, however, allows customers who prefer to use the voucher card to scan the 16 digits and it will automatically pick the digits.
That might change soon with this genius innovation from Jama Mohamed. A Business Information and Technology student graduate of Strathmore University.
Jama created an android detection library that uses Microsoft Azure Computer Vision service Read API to detect M-PESA business account numbers from images.
With this, it will be easier, faster and more accurate than typing an M-PESA paybill and till number. It is also able to know the exact category the image falls under, so no mix match there.
The software engineer’s open source project opens the door for financial service organizations in Kenya using the M-PESA API to add this plug and play android library to their app. Making it easier for customers using their app to use this functionality for payments.
Computer vision innovation
Jama shares the idea for the project came after having to confirm about five times for something he was purchasing.
I was purchasing something from the web that had M-PESA paybill as a payment option. The account number was a long randomly generated string that I basically had to confirm like five times.
And that’s where the idea came from, just to take some form of picture and use machine learning to extract information that was important.
The idea was to get these details a little faster than just typing them all the time since some businesses don’t have QR codes.
Hopefully, Kenyan financial organizations will add Jama Mohamed’s library to their app. Or work with him to create a unique one. So that next time you open your Standard Chartered, KCB, Equity, Ecobank, etc. or Safaricom app to pay for a purchase you just use your camera.
Jama welcomes contributions from other developers to improve the library. Check out the library on GitHub.
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Microsoft is supporting literally the lifecycle of a developer in the Middle East and Africa says Julien Bertin, Azure Business Lead for Middle East and Africa for Microsoft.
From the time you graduate to the time you retire literally. At every single step of the journey, we have programs to re-skill yourself. Microsoft is fully embracing this journey with the different programs we are launching. Like student certifications. If you are coming out of university and looking for jobs we do placements as well.
Julien made this revelation during an interview with Seth Juarez, Principal Cloud Advocate at Microsoft, for an episode of CodeStories on Channel 9. Where Seth asked Julien what Microsoft is doing to empower developers in the Middle East and Africa region.
Microsoft, Julien notes is one of the first cloud providers to invest in development skills on the African continent. With the launch of two development centers in Kenya and Nigeria.
This enables us and the people in the region to create the skills and generate the value here in the region for Africa.
We want to accelerate digital transformation and the capture of wealth that comes out from digital information. We want to invest in infrastructure, skilling(students and non-graduate students) and enabling innovation in the region.
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What is the Software engineer recruitment process for the Microsoft Africa Development Center like? James Ndiga Microsoft technical recruiter Europe Middle East and Africa talks about the process during this digital meetup.
Firstly, Microsoft advertises the software engineering or any other role on the career website. You put in the application.
If selected, Microsoft will send you a technical assessment using Codility. The technical assessment will have three questions in easy, medium and hard levels.
After you’ve submitted your work, a team of engineers will check and review it based on the standards set for that specific assessment or role.
When you pass the technical assessment level, you are invited for a recruiter screening. Here the recruiter checks for non technical focus areas. Other areas include cultural and other competencies that relate to Microsoft and the role.
The next stage involves four interviews in the space of four long hours. Held back to back and lasts for forty-five minutes each with fifteen-minute breaks.
Successful software engineer applicants go on to get an offer at this point.
However, unsuccessful applicants receive feedback on areas they need to level up on in preparation for future opportunities within Microsoft. They are given about six months to do this and then reapply.
For successful candidates who accept the offer, the next stage of the software engineer recruitment process is a background check. This will usually take at least 15 working days.
When the background check is completed and successful, the recruiter discuses your starting date with your hiring manager. It is at this point that you can send in your resignation with your current organization. If you are a freelancer or unemployed and available you can join immediately.
This is is how the recruitment process for most software engineering roles at Microsoft looks like.
James shares there are career opportunities in various roles such as Program Manager, Research Scientist, UX designers, software engineers and many more.
Microsoft also has full time opportunities for recent university graduates or students graduating in the next year. Check them out.