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The learning platform
Conferences, workshops and similar interactive activities can play an important role in exposing young and old minds to new concepts. In the field of technology, they become doubly important, since each day of an event may bring revelations.
Late last month, Microsoft Pakistan held its annual Pakistan Developers Conference (PDC) 2006 in Karachi. The three-day-event comprised analytical training sessions on latest IT technologies for servers, applications and database development. There were also sessions devoted to collaborative technologies and the upcoming mobile technologies.
This year participants of the PDC were registered in three categories — namely, faculty, professionals and students. There was a huge crowd of participants and the feedback from those who attended the sessions was not just encouraging but enlightening as well.
The event showcased the latest features that are being introduced in the Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005, BizTalk Server 2005 and Windows Vista, besides serving to show how all these technologies can be used to build consistent, secure and highly efficient applications connecting people, information, processes and systems.
Given the number of participants from all walks of life, one is bound to underline the need for more such forums, since they serve both as a platform to disseminate information and to get feedback.
The first day of the conference began with the orientation session, followed by a lecture on “Developing rich internet applications using AJAX and Atlas” by Adnan Farooq Hashmi, co-founder of Lynx and Connexions. Stephen Forte then guided the participants on writing secure ASP.net codes. Richard Campbell, President of Campbell and Associates, too shared many SQL tips and techniques.
Later on in the day, there were some sessions on the latest Window Vista. Imation, Logitec and Inbox, the organisers’ partners for the conference, discussed their latest technologies. Lastly, an interactive panel discussion took place between the participants and speakers.
The second day began with a lecture by Rafal Lukawiecki, strategic consultant and director with Project Botticelli Ltd. Then Chad Hower, Microsoft’s developer adviser for the region, presented an engaging discussion on “Building applications that run on Windows mobile-based devices.”
The second day featured informative sessions on “XML,” “Developing ASP.net pages” and “Need for IT human resource development”. Later on in the day, Mr Hower gave an informative lecture on “Windows Vista for developers.”
During the leading technological event of the year, the organisers also unveiled their Local Language Program (LLP) which offers computing interface in Urdu. LLP is designed specifically to collaborate with governments around the world and to provide them with the tools and technologies needed to realise the societal and economic benefits of the growing IT industry by enabling computer usage in local languages.
Another important outcome of the conference was the completion of the Urdu Language Local Interface Pack (LIP) effort in Pakistan. This project was opened a few years ago as a combined effort of various entities and partners in Pakistan. The National Language Authority and their Urdu experts, besides other entities like the National University, played an important role as Microsoft’s partners in Pakistan to help them achieve this task.
Microsoft is now ready to launch the availability of this LIP in Pakistan for their users as a free download from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.aspx?displaylang=ur.
Coming back to the conference, the third day began with a guideline on “Vista slideshow and gadgets” by Mr Hower. He presented a detailed overview on the development of gadgets. Before closing the session, a number of important issues such as “Building next generation GUIs using Microsoft expression interactive designer,” “Best practices for developing safe and stable software” and “Challenges and opportunities in bridging the digital divide” were discussed.
The PDC 2006 was organised to help those who build, deploy or operate solutions based on Microsoft technologies. It helped professional developers, designers, analysts and architects to learn about the capabilities of the current Microsoft.net platform. Through the sessions held during the event, technology managers evaluated the range of technologies for the future growth and management of their IT systems’ requirements.
For the participants, the forum presented a great deal of food for thought. Nabeel Ahmed, one of the participants, said: “The lectures conducted during the event helped me get trained in the latest technologies for developing a secure database”.
The conference also gave young, aspiring computer geeks the opportunity to meet a number of prominent IT professionals and developers in Pakistan. While the forum largely focused on one brand, it did manage to raise several important issues vis-a-vis other brands.
In a country like Pakistan, where exposure to IT is pathetically minimal, such forums should become a regular feature. Let these conferences and workshops be the first step towards a technologically sound Pakistan.
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