The Innovation Hub hosted 50 developers for three days to foster mobile application developments and promote entrepreneurship in Gauteng. The event, Google I/O, also included participation from contributors in Cape Town, Durban and San Francisco via free high-speed live Internet connectivity.
The Innovation Hub is a subsidiary of Gauteng Growth Development Agency (GGDA), which is an agency of the Gauteng Department of Economic Development.
Google I/O is a global annual developer-focused conference held by Google in San Francisco, California, in line with Google's vision to inform the developer community about new technologies. It featured local developers, an in-depth session focused on building Web, mobile, enterprise applications with Google and open Web technologies such as Android, Chrome, Chrome OS, Google APIs, Google Web Toolkit, App Engine, among others.
McLean Sibanda, The Innovation Hub CEO, said: “As a Science and Technology Park, we are privileged to have served as the Gauteng link to Google I/O free live viewing in San Francisco. This initiative actively promotes programmes that encourage young people to be at the forefront of technology, and Google software developers are an important part of our ICT cluster. In line with the Gauteng's ICT strategy, we are committed to providing high-quality infrastructure to advance technological innovation and the sustainable development of ICT communities.”
The event, which ended on Friday, 29 June 2012, was led by Ishmael Makitla and Olalekan Ogunleye from the New Generation Mobile and ICT Architectures Research Group of CSIR Meraka, in conjunction with Google Student Ambassadors, Wanga Mabasa and Johannes Wessels, who is based at the University of Pretoria, the Johannesburg Linux User Group, Johannesburg Java User Groups, as well as Pretoria Google Technology User Group.
The event enabled local developers to stay abreast of developments and new technologies, both in South Africa and abroad. They also had an opportunity to interface with application programmers and demonstrate their own applications.
The Innovation Hub - Google I/O viewing included the following:
Wednesday, 27 June 2012 (6pm to 10pm South African time): Viewing of the live stream from Google Office, San Francisco, USA
Thursday, 28 June 2012 (6pm to 10 pm South Africa time): Technical talks were presented by local experts and it focused on porting of Android onto open hardware (presented by Dr Michael Adeyeye, CPUT). Dr Shalk Heunis of House4Hacks focused on integrating Android and Arduino board.
Friday, 29 June 2012 (6pm to 10pm South African time): The developers took part in developing a global Google Develop for Good Hackathon (Google Develop for Good).
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The Innovation Hub
The Innovation Hub (TIH), a GGDA subsidiary, is Africa's first internationally accredited Science Park and a full member of the International Association of Science Parks (IASP). The leading knowledge-intensive business cluster in South Africa, TIH is strategically located in Tshwane, South Africa's executive capital in the 'smart' Province of Gauteng. TIH implements the initiatives identified in the Gauteng Innovation Strategy and Green Economy strategy to advance the economic development and growth of the province through innovation.
The Innovation Hub has created a unique space for hi-tech entrepreneurs, world-class businesses, academics, researchers and venture capitalists to meet, network and prosper.
For more information, please visit www.theinnovationhub.com.
Issued by The Innovation Hub Management Company. Contact Linah Nematandani, Communication and Marketing Manager on lnematandani@theinnovationhub.com or (012) 844 0030 or 071 673 9964.
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