College students in LATAM come collectively for continent-wide tech convention

Posted by Paco Solsona, Regional Lead LATAM

A continental neighborhood of coders

Rising up, many college students throughout Latin America watched eagerly because the know-how of their cities grew to become extra superior and alternatives to create the longer term expanded. For some, computer systems and internet applied sciences offered untold potential. Nonetheless, pleasure about doing proper by their communities was all on the coronary heart of all of it. Now, a forward-looking group of college college students from 27 totally different Latin American nations and Google Developer Scholar Golf equipment (GDSC) have fashioned a continent-wide community to chart a course ahead for his or her continent. They’re constructing a neighborhood of Spanish-speaking Latin American scholar builders that assist one another, assist foster management expertise, and convey extra alternatives to scholar builders within the area.

Teaming as much as construct expertise and train different scholar builders

In November 2021, this regional coalition of scholars got here collectively to host a continent-wide LATAM convention, a two-day scholar convention (the workforce deliberate and executed it in simply two weeks). The occasion featured ten audio system from Spanish-speaking Latin American international locations and taught college students about totally different developer applied sciences. Attendees discovered about machine studying, automating processes utilizing knowledge pipelines, leveraging react to add touchdown pages to Firebase, and constructing cellular purposes with Firebase and React Native. 300 folks attended the convention over two days, and the convention recordings have attracted a whole bunch of views on YouTube.

“We’re coming from a much less developed area. We grew up seeing different international locations that had been extra technologically superior. Now, builders from Latin America are extra assured that they’ve the talents to implement tasks, produce new issues, and convey development to the continent.” – Maria Agustina Cuello (Chichi)

Working along with goal

By working collectively on the convention, the organizers of LATAM convention know Latin American youth have a vibrant future. They’re excited by the chance to make use of the ability of know-how and connectivity to vary the world.

Luis Eduardo, Lead GDSC UTP (Perú), says it felt superb to be a part of the LATAM convention: “with the ability to meet college students from different international locations with the identical need to work for the neighborhood was fantastic. Figuring out that, regardless of being hundreds of miles away, there was no obstacle to with the ability to work as an organized workforce. That is what makes this household distinctive.”

“LATAM convention was the chance to point out that wherever we’re, we may also help others, and you’ll all the time discover folks with related concepts,” says Francisco Imanol Suarez, Lead GDSC UNPSJB (Argentina).

Answer Problem preparations

The group is now internet hosting occasions to show scholar builders new expertise and put together them for the 2022 Answer Problem, a worldwide contest the place college students from around the globe are invited to resolve for one of many United Nations’ Sustainable Improvement Targets utilizing Google applied sciences.

In making ready their communities to construct tasks, the group plans to activate the international locations and areas in Latin America. The scholars goal to reveal one another to a number of applied sciences within the discipline and plan to host theme weeks for the Answer Problem, like a Firebase week, a UX/UI week, and a Flutter Pageant.

College students throughout the GDSC LATAMs are forming groups for the Answer Problem. Some are native, coming from a single college, whereas others are broader, like college students in Argentina working with college students from Mexico. “A number of months in the past, nobody knew how many individuals we might assist take their first steps on the planet of growth. Let’s hope this neighborhood continues to develop to have the ability to present that tremendous issues may be performed in LATAM,” says Luis Eduardo, Lead GDSC UTP (Perú).

“I’m grateful to be a part of this neighborhood and work with superb workforce members who’re so desperate to work collectively and do actions. We need to deliver all of the alternatives we are able to to Latin American college students, and gender and language usually are not a barrier,” says Cuello.

What’s subsequent for GDSC LATAM

The members of GDSC LATAM plan to proceed internet hosting collaborative occasions for the neighborhood comparable to Google Cloud Machine Studying bootcamp, a hackathon, and a 2022 scholar convention and associated occasions with different scholar communities. The group holds Android and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) research jams, publishes a podcast, and hosts networking occasions to assist attain extra college students, create networking alternatives, and develop every college’s GDSC. Ultimately, they hope to positively impression the area by encouraging budding builders to construct new applied sciences in Latin America.

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If this conjures up you, join the Answer Problem and submit a mission by March 31, 2022 at goo.gle/solutionchallenge and be part of a Google Developer Scholar Membership at your school or college.

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