Dev Cluster
This group of techies share ideas and know-how to create a buzz in the tech-space
The origins of Dev Cluster were sown seven year ago as a technology community that grew with Google’s GTUG Programme. Since then, partnerships with Facebook Developer Circles and the Free Software User Group (FSUG) Goa has allowed this technology community to grow into Goa’s largest tech community. They are building a massive community of engineers and technology enthusiasts here in Goa: a one-stop place to learn from global companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, as well as local technology enthusiasts. They believe in being pragmatic rather than theoretical. When asked what made the group start Dev Cluster, Tanmay Pereira Naik, from Persistent Systems says, “Two things primarily: Firstly, the lack of exposure that Goan students and engineers face. Secondly, the idea to make all Goan tech communities grow together. Tech events in Goa keep happening but nobody knows about what the other person is doing. We’re trying to solve that.”
Dev Cluster officially launched with ‘Dev Connect’, an event in April this year. In the past years, they have already launched training initiatives for students in fields like web and mobile app development, data science and deep learning through their various brand partnerships. Every month, the team at Dev Cluster organises meetups, talks and workshops to help the Goan student community to keep up with industry trends and to help working professionals grow and expand their network. Dev Cluster does not just cater to the Goan student community; it actively tries to help Goa’s startup community as well, through initiatives like the Design Masterclass, and workshops on Cloud, Machine Learning and Internet of Things. Dev Cluster has also built close ties with industry professionals and various local startups, through which they have helped students secure internship opportunities and even jobs. About the growth of the startup ecosystem in Goa, Vardhana Navelker from Tangentia says, “the community is definitely growing and Goa boasts of some really amazing startups, which are making breakthroughs at the national level. What we all need is to come together and help each other out.”
How has Dev Cluster helped the tech ecosystem in Goa? “We began by conducting tech talks on the latest technologies (and did this successfully for many years). In the past year, we received feedback to be more practical than theoretical, which drove us to conduct training programmes and workshops every month. We even did a Design Masterclass for startups, wherein we had a Google Expert from Israel help rethink the way companies design products,” comments Shalakha Kulkarni, from Ajency.in, a 7 year old software development and interface design company.
The group also has Gajesh Naik, a software developer who is currently in Class 6 at People’s High School. “His CV is as good as an engineering graduate’s,” say his groupies, who are professional tech guys.
The team at Dev Cluster is gung-ho and shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, they are looking to increase their initiatives, programmes and participants moving forward. They recently organized “Tech.live”, a full day of tech talks on topics like Blockchain, DevOps and Cloud. Dev Cluster also supported DebUtsav Goa, an event that attracted enthusiasts of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) from around the country on 14 September at GEC, Farmagudi. They even celebrated Digital Ocean’s Hacktoberfest initiative on 6 October, aiming to get people to contribute to building software and encyclopedias (like Wikipedia) together
