PyCon UK 2016 conference

Phoenix brings UNAM lecturer and student to UK conference.

One of Phoenix’s core activities is supporting the creation of an open-source computer community in Namibia, based around the Python programming language. To this end, the Phoenix Project sponsored two delegates from UNAM to attend PyCon2016, the annual UK meeting, which brings together experts from around the world, who share their knowledge and expertise over five days of intense lectures and workshops.

Gabriel Nhinda, a lecturer in UNAM’s School of Computing, and student, Jessica Upani both gave presentations at the meeting: Jessica presenting about the establishment of a Python Programming Society in Namibia; while Gabriel gave “a mini sales pitch as to why coming to PyCon Namibia 2017 is a win-win-win plan”.

Both found the experience challenging but rewarding: “It is an amazing feeling to attend one of the most prestigious tech-conferences in Europe and I would even reach to say the world,” said Gabriel.

Jessica commented: “Attending PyConUK has opened my mind in so many ways.”

“Additionally, it has taught me the value of teamwork and the importance of building a society of people who love working on the same thing. Generally it is difficult to learn a new skill if you are in an environment where you have no one to ask questions from, and that is the situation that we in Namibia find ourselves in.”

Find out more about this arm of the Phoenix Project at: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/phoenix-project/our-work/science-thinking/building-a-python-community