<F8 2019 DevC Kampala Edition />
F8 came around this year and to call it a day of anticipation does not fully cover it. While Leads from different Developer Circle communities all over the world gathered in San Jose to get a close-up, we had our own Developer Circles Kampala meetup to celebrate, attend, watch and listen in on F8 right here in Kampala at Andela Uganda offices.
A bit of context:
New people, this is the section you were looking for. To bring some semblance of meaning to you, we’ll talk a little about what Developer Circles are and why F8 is a big deal.
Developer Circles is a community-driven program under Facebook that’s free to join and open to any developer. Each Developer Circle is led by members of the local community who act as leads for the Circle, organizing events offline and managing a local online Facebook community.
Developer Circles Kampala activities and events are managed by our awesome leads: Aretha Kebirungi, Edison Abahurire, and Gideon Bamuleseyo who have attended the F8 conferences with Edison and Gideon representing this year. The point of the online community is to collaborate, engage, share and learn from and with each other. Tons of resources, courses, and opportunities are shared on these platforms. On that note, please join the Facebook Developer Circles Kampala group here.
F8 is the annual developer conference held by Facebook. It is open to developers, innovators, and entrepreneurs. This year’s theme was “The Future is Private” and tons of amazing things were shared about Facebook’s family of apps as expounded on later in the article.
Back to our viewing party…
AMA time with Raymond Besiga.
We had an “Ask Me Anything(AMA)” session with an inspiring guest, Raymond Besiga. He is a techpreneur who has worked with different organizations in developing, designing and managing their digital products.
One of his projects and the center of discussion of this AMA amongst other things is his work on the MTN MoMo API.
MTN recently opened its Mobile Money API(documentation). Raymond played a key role in supporting MTN as they transitioned to an open API business model. This involved stakeholder coordination, API testing, and documentation, design, and development of the developer portal, as well as conducting developer training.
Did somebody say Kahoot?!
Work hard, play harder 🎮. Sound mantra. We had a kahoot session to gain a sense of who is who when it comes to all things Developer Circle Kampala, Facebook, and F8 2018 highlights. A series of questions about previous F8 events and the code sessions held this year were thrown at the audience. Tension built up with each option displayed. We had a serious contender going by “Zuckerberg”. He knew his craft alright. A bunch of questions and points later reflected Kengo Wada as the winner. Why wouldn’t he be? He is a regular at the Developer Circles Kampala events. Consistency and passion do pay off.
We also got to mix and mingle with people from different walks of life over snacks 🌭 🍹. There were students, developers, techpreneurs, engineers, and techthusiasts. Basically, all who had to be there showed up, got to know each other, exchanged ideas, challenged themselves and engaged in all that the day had to offer.
Let The Keynote Begin:
#momentofTruth #Zuckerberg #F82019
This was the moment of truth. The crux of all this. There was a figurative transportation from our seats to the McEnery Convention Center auditorium in which Mark Zuckerberg gave his keynote speech. Privacy is the key issue here and I will just pick a couple of highlights to share.
The future is private. Private social platforms aka digital living rooms. What does this entail:
- Private clear intimate conversations
- Secure communication with E2E encryption
- Messages and chats kept just as long as you want
- Seamless communication across applications.
- Secure data storage regardless of country policies.
- Building out infrastructure to support the privacy vision.
- Enforcing stricter regulations on developer tools to ensure they are being used for good.
- Open and consultative approach with governments and experts for future developments.
There are lots of exciting new features to look out for as well. Here are a couple of them:
- The Facebook website will be rebuilt from scratch with communities as a central point.
- A shopping channel added to Instagram. Browse, order and checkout. Buy directly from creators
- Product catalog added to WhatsApp business
- Messenger rebuilt from scratch. Desktop app has chat and video features.
- Spark AR studio for Windows and Mac
- AR-beta design for Instagram
NB: To watch the F8 keynote, check it out on Facebook or on Youtube
Conclusion:
F8 came around this year and the excitement that it stirred within the audience was palpitating. From the demos and product expectations set (hey secret crush 😉), meeting exciting people, the future of Facebook’s family of apps as well as getting acquainted with the vast range of facebook technologies. The beauty and growth lie in how much you keep learning, innovating, building better solutions and exposing oneself to what is out there. DevC Kampala gave us a chance to do that through the enriching experience that was F8 2019.
Check out more fun moments that transpired here. Thank you to the participants for being part of this brilliant viewing party.
Great thanks to Facebook, Andela Uganda and Developer Circles Kampala for making this happen.
