13 Years of Good Geeks: Half-Year Highlights from DEVCON in 2022
MANILA - 2022 is shaping up to become a hallmark year for DEVCON, a non-profit dedicated to fostering an empowered community of geeks for good. DEVCON has served over 40,000 geeks since its 2009 inception-- opening its code camps to college students, teens and pre-teens, entrepreneurs, and freelancers for the greater part of the past 13 years. Cresting on two consecutive years of grants from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the organization now has its eyes set on bolstering support for the youth sector and the next generation of geeks.
Recognitions from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)
This year alone, DEVCON has garnered recognition from several governing and award-giving bodies. In May, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for the Tech4Kids coding bootcamp– a code camp centered on access and safety, in celebration of the 2022 International Girls in ICT Day.
TECH4KIDS' Event
By June, the DICT recognized the organization's role in National ICT Month (NICT)-- particularly for their involvement with Sustain Week, which centered on the role of the Filipino people in the continued development of Philippine ICTs.
Recognitions for Unified Logistics Pass (ULP) project
That same month, the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), the government agency responsible for developing policy for ease-of-business, also recognized DEVCON as a key partner during their State of the ARTA Address. The agency, in cooperation with DEVCON, DOST, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Land Transport Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), the Department of Transport (DOTr) and UPPAF-RESPOND among others, launched a pilot program for Unified Logistics Pass (ULP). The mission of the ULP project is to help streamline the complex requirements for a unified Quick Response (QR) Code that will replace the varying and separate pass-through stickers being required by economic zones, ports, and local government units. This intends to help facilitate easier movement and ease of port-entry restrictions and ease of doing business.
DEVCON KIDS CodeyVerse Launch!
Last July 1, DEVCON officially entered the metaverse to open up opportunities for tomorrow's computer geniuses. During the global launch, members of the tech community packed an entire KumoSpace virtual immersive room to celebrate the landmark launch of DEVCON KIDS’ new initiative, the CodeyVerse-- a Web3 community where kids aged 9-15 develop their lifelong passion for computer science. The event was structured around a panel discussion with members of the Philippine technology education scene-- establishing the need to push computer science education forward with emerging technology to prepare the next generation of computing innovators. Visit https://codeyverse.io for more info.
More work to be done.
“For 13 years, DEVCON Philippines has organized events, led impactful projects, and provided community support through our programs,” says Shumate Royo, Managing Director and Trustee of DEVCON Philippines. “We’ve built a community that includes over 40,000 people, and over 60,000 attendees from our in-person events. This strong support indicates a need for continued and increased engagement that enables and empowers geeks and digital enthusiasts to thrive in the tech space.”
“We are thankful for these recognitions and the support from our partners at DEVCON Philippines. It really is all about empowerment. This reminds us that there’s more work to be done specially for the next generation of geeks,” comments Winston Damarillo, Founder of DEVCON Philippines. “And with game-changing projects like CodeyVerse for DEVCON KIDS, today’s kids are fortunate enough to be able to embrace tech this early and we want to do what we can to ensure they meet the future prepared. This, coupled with the Web3 turn, presents us with the opportunity to do some really good things. We are excited to be part of that future.”
With more projects and events in the pipeline, DEVCON’s year is nowhere near done. 2022’s first half carried an infectious sense of optimism with month-on-month events and recognitions, making it hard to not look to the future with a halo of curious excitement.
Visit https://devcon.ph & https://codeyverse.io to see where the good geeks plan on taking that shared future.