Tag Archives: Events

Solution Challenge 2023: Use Google Technologies to Address the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals

Posted by Rachel Francois, Google Developer Student Clubs, Global Program Manager

Each year, the Google Developer Student Clubs Solution Challenge invites university students to develop solutions for real-world problems using one or more Google products or platforms. How could you use Android, Firebase, TensorFlow, Google Cloud, Flutter, or any of your favorite Google technologies to promote employment for all, economic growth, and climate action?

Join us to build solutions for one or more of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These goals were agreed upon in 2015 by all 193 United Nations Member States and aim to end poverty, ensure prosperity, and protect the planet by 2030.

One 2022 Solution Challenge participant said, “I love how it provides the opportunity to make a real impact while pursuing undergraduate studies. It helped me practice my expertise in a real-world setting, and I built a project I can proudly showcase on my portfolio.”

Solution Challenge prizes

Participants will receive specialized prizes at different stages:

  • The top 100 teams receive customized mentorship from Google and experts to take solutions to the next level, branded swag, and a certificate.
  • The top 10 finalists receive additional mentorship, a swag box, and the opportunity to showcase their solutions to Google teams and developers all around the world during the virtual 2023 Solution Challenge Demo Day, live on YouTube.
  • Contest finalists - In addition to the swag box, each individual from the seven teams not in the top three will receive a Cash Prize of $1,000 per student. Winnings for each qualifying team will not exceed $4,000.
  • Top 3 winners - In addition to the swag box, each individual from the top 3 winning teams will receive a Cash Prize of $3,000 and a feature on the Google Developers Blog. Winnings for each qualifying team will not exceed $12,000
 

Joining the Solution Challenge

There are four steps to join the Solution Challenge and get started on your project:

  1. Register at goo.gle/solutionchallenge and join a Google Developer Student Club at your college or university. If there is no club at your university, you can join the closest one through our event platform.
  2. Select one or more of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals to address.
  3. Build a solution using Google technology.
  4. Create a demo and submit your project by March 31, 2023. 

    Google Resources for Solution Challenge participants

    Google will support Solution Challenge participants with resources to help students build strong projects, including:

    • Live online sessions with Q&As
    • Mentorship from Google, Google Developer Experts, and the Google Developer Student Club community
    • Curated Codelabs designed by Google Developers
    • Access to Design Sprint guidelines developed by Google Ventures
    • and more!
    “During the preparation and competition, we learned a great deal,” said a 2022 Solution Challenge team member. “That was part of the reason we chose to participate in this competition: the learning opportunities are endless.”

    Winner announcement dates

    Once all projects are submitted, our panel of judges will evaluate and score each submission using specific criteria.

    After that, winners will be announced in three rounds.

    Round 1 (April): The top 100 teams will be announced.

    Round 2 (June): After the top 100 teams submit their new and improved solutions, 10 finalists will be announced.

    Round 3 (August): The top 3 grand prize winners will be announced live on YouTube during the 2023 Solution Challenge Demo Day.

    We can’t wait to see the solutions you create with your passion for building a better world, coding skills, and a little help from Google technologies.

    Learn more and sign up for the 2023 Solution Challenge here.


    I got the time to push my creativity to the next level. It helped me attain more information from more knowledgeable people by expanding my network. Working together and building something was a great challenge and one of the best experiences, too. I liked the idea of working on the challenge to present a solution.

    ~2022 Solution Challenge participant

    Build smarter and ship faster with the latest updates across our ecosystem

    Posted by Jeanine Banks, VP/GM, Developer X and DevRel

    At last week’s Made by Google launch event, we announced several new hardware products including the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, Google Pixel Watch, and Google Pixel Tablet—a suite of innovative products that we’re excited about. While sure to delight users, it got me thinking—what will these changes mean for developers?

    It’s hard to build experiences that let users enjoy the best that their devices have to offer. Undoubtedly this brings a level of complexity for developers who will need to build and test against multiple OS updates and new features. That’s the thing about development—the environment is constantly evolving. We want to cut through the complexity and make it simpler to choose the technology you use, whether for an app on one device or across large and small screens.

    Earlier this year at Google I/O, we shared our focus on making developer tools work better together, and providing more guidance and best practices to optimize your end-to-end workflow. For example, we announced the new App Quality Insights window in Android Studio that shows crash data from Firebase Crashlytics directly inside the IDE to make it easier to discover, investigate, and fix offending lines of code.

    But our work doesn’t stop once I/O ends. We work all year round to offer increasingly flexible, open and integrated solutions so you can work smarter, ship faster, and confidently set up your business for the future.

    That’s why we’re excited to connect with you again—both in person and virtually—to share more recent product updates. Over the next three months, we have over 200 events in more than 50 countries reaching thousands of developers through product summits, community events, industry conferences, and more. Here are a few:

    DevFest | Now - December
    Local Google Developer Groups (GDG) organize these technology conferences according to the needs and interests of the region's developer community, and in the local language. Tune in virtually or join in person.

    Chrome | Multiple dates
    This year the Chrome team will meet you at your favorite regional developer conferences and events, in addition to online forums across time zones. Join us on the journey to build a better web. Check out the calendar.

    Google Cloud Next | October 11-13
    Learn how to transform with Google Cloud to build apps faster and make smarter business decisions.

    Firebase Summit | October 18
    Join this hybrid event online or in person in New York City to hear how Firebase can help you accelerate app development, run your app with confidence, and scale your business.

    Android Dev Summit | Beginning October 24
    Learn from the source about building excellent apps across devices, coming to you online and around the world. We’ll be sharing the sessions live on YouTube in three tracks spread across three weeks, including Modern Android Development on Oct 24, form factors on Nov 9, and platform on Nov 14.

    BazelCon | November 16-17
    Hosted by Bazel and Google Open Source, BazelCon connects you with the team, maintainers, contributors, users, and friends to learn how Bazel automates software builds and tests on Android and iOS.

    Women in ML Symposium | Coming in December
    Join open source communities, seek out leadership opportunities, share knowledge, and speak freely about your career development with other women and gendered minorities in a safe space. Catch up on last year’s event.

    Flutter Event | Coming in December/January
    Hear exciting product updates on Google’s open source framework for building beautiful, natively compiled, multi-platform applications from a single codebase. In the meantime, re-live last year’s event.


    We look forward to the chance to meet with you to share technical deep dives, give you hands-on learning opportunities, and hear your feedback directly. After you have heard what we’re up to, make sure to access our comprehensive documentation, training materials, and best practices to help speed up your development and quickly guide you towards success.

    Mark your calendars and register now to catch the latest updates.

    Google Cloud Next, developer style

    Posted by Jeana Jorgensen, Senior Director, Cloud Product Marketing and Sustainability, Google

    Google Cloud Next is coming up on October 11 - 13. Register at no cost today and join us live to explore what’s new and what’s coming next in Google Cloud.

    You’ll find lots of developer-specific content in the Developer Zone. Here’s a preview of what we’ve curated for you this year.

    A developer keynote to get you thinking about the future

    For the Next developer keynote we’re going to share our top 10 cloud technology predictions that we believe could come true by the end of 2025.

    Hear from our experts who are on the cutting edge of many of these technology trends, whether it's AI, data and analytics, or modern cloud infrastructure:

    Jeanine Banks, VP of Developer Products and Community

    Erik Brewer, VP of Infrastructure and Google Fellow

    Andi Gutmans, VP & GM of Databases


    DevFests to find your people

    DevFests are local tech conferences hosted by Google Developer Groups around the world during Next ‘22. The content of each one will vary to suit the local developer community. You might find hands-on labs, technical talks, or simply a chance to connect.

    To find a DevFest near you, visit the DevFest page and filter the map by Google Cloud Next. You can RSVP via the map interface. Quick side tip…this is separate from Next registration.

    Challenges to flex your skills

    Drone Racing

    That’s right, you can use your development skills to influence drone races. Welcome to the Google Cloud Fly Cup Challenge!

    In the challenge, you can use Drone Racing League (DRL) race data and Google Cloud analytics tools to predict race outcomes and then provide tips to DRL pilots to help enhance their season performance. Compete for the chance to win a trip to the season finale of the 2022-23 DRL Algorand World Championship and be celebrated on stage.

    Google Clout Challenge

    Spice up the middle of your week with a no-cost, 20-minute competition posted each Wednesday until October 10. All challenges will take place in Google Cloud Skills Boost. And as a new user, you can get 30 days of no-cost access to Google Cloud Skills Boost* – plenty of time to complete the whole challenge.

    Test your knowledge against your fellow developers and race the clock to see how fast you can complete the challenge. The faster you go, the higher your score.

    Can you top your last score?

    To participate, follow these three steps:

    1. Enroll - Go to our website, click the link to the weekly challenge, and enroll in the quest using your Google Cloud Skills Boost account.
    2. Play - Attempt the challenge as many times as you want. Remember the faster you are, the higher your score!
    3. Share - Share your score card on Twitter/LinkedIn using #GoogleClout
    4. Win - Complete all 10 weekly challenges to earn exclusive #GoogleClout badges

    *Requires credit card

    Innovator Hive livestreams to get the latest tech news

    Innovator Hive livestreams are your unique opportunity to hear from Google Cloud executives and engineers as we announce the latest innovations. Join any livestream to explore technical content featuring new Google Cloud technologies.

    Save your seat at Next

    We at Google are getting excited for Next ‘22. It’s this year’s big moment to dive into the latest innovations, hear from Google experts, get inspired by what your peers are doing with technology, and try out some new skills.

    There’s so much good stuff lined up – all we’re missing at this point is some #GoogleClout badge boasting, drone stat analyzing, technology-minded people to geek out with. Register for Next ‘22 today and join the fun live in October.

    See you there!

    Grow your coding skills and your confidence – Coding Practice with Kick Start

    Posted by Julia DeLorenzo, Program Manager, Coding Competitions

    Coding Practice with Kick Start is a four-day practice session where you'll have the chance to learn more about the Kick Start platform, utilize starter code to help frame your solutions, and interact with Google engineers.

    It’s not a timed round and there is no scoreboard! No one else will be able to view your scores from the session. This is just for fun and a great way to hone your coding skills, and get better acquainted with Kick Start.

    So, why should you join the session? We’re glad you asked!

    About Coding Practice with Kick Start

    The problems you'll see in Coding Practice with Kick Start range in difficulty. The concepts covered in these problems align very closely with concepts covered in introductory CS courses like Data Structures and Algorithms, and topics you may encounter in Google interviews.

    You can solve the problems in any order you like. Looking at a problem does not start any timers, so feel free to read all of them at the start of the session, and then solve them in the order of your choice. We also provide starter code at the top of each problem statement to get you started with your solution.

    Stuck on a problem? Don’t worry! You can use the “Ask a question” button on the problem overview page.

    At the end of the session, tune in for a livestream where Kick Start engineers will walk through each of the problems featured during the round!

    Grow your coding skills and your confidence

    Still need to be convinced to give Coding Practice with Kick Start Session 3 a try?

    Hear from some past participants how Coding Practice with Kick Start helped them along their competitive programming journey.

    Session 2 Participants: Tell us why you enjoyed your experience!

    Balla says:

    "At first I used to think that the Kick Start coding rounds were very tough and I couldn't solve them. But the level of the initial questions are such that it boosts us to give it a try, and increases our confidence level. I feel that this is the best part that every coder hopes for. After attempting the session, I felt like I could solve the problems if I worked a little harder.

    My favorite problem in Coding Practice with Kick Start Session 2 is ‘Irregular Expressions’. The problem is very interesting; I couldn't write up the logic, but it made me think a lot. It's the best problem I faced in the round.”

    Mbalire says:

    “I personally had problems with test samples not catering for some cases, and that I failed to understand the questions. The answers and support from the Google engineers during Coding Practice with Kick Start was good. I felt as if different people at Google were reading my code and seeing my development, and that boosted my confidence.

    While solving the problem, I could see my own development while creating my own solution. I hope to do much more and participate in the coming Kick Start competition rounds. It may be because I started programming this year or because most of the code I know is from my research, but getting these algorithms right has been a huge accomplishment for me.

    My favorite problem was ‘Building Palindromes’ from Coding Practice with Kick Start Session 2.”

    Nandini says:

    “Coding Practice with Kick Start was very engaging and I had a lot of fun. It reminded me how much I enjoy computer science and math and solving problems!

    My favorite problem from the past coding practice session has been the 'Building Palindromes' problem. This is because I had fun trying to come up with an optimal solution to this problem and it pushed me to learn new techniques for optimizing my solution: prefixing sums/pre-calculation.

    I also really enjoyed solving the ‘Parcels’ problem since it involved search algorithms which I love! I found that it was the right amount of ‘challenging’ to keep me thinking about it all day. Thanks, Google!"

    Joining Coding Practice with Kick Start Session 3

    With the third and final session for the year coming up, we encourage you to join us. Coding Practice with Kick Start is the perfect opportunity to practice and grow your skills without the pressure of a public scoreboard or timed round.

    Learn new skills, grow your confidence as a coder, and we’ll see you in one of our upcoming Kick Start rounds.

    We hope you'll give it a try! → https://goo.gle/codingpracticewks

    Grow your coding skills and your confidence – Coding Practice with Kick Start

    Posted by Julia DeLorenzo, Program Manager, Coding Competitions

    Coding Practice with Kick Start is a four-day practice session where you'll have the chance to learn more about the Kick Start platform, utilize starter code to help frame your solutions, and interact with Google engineers.

    It’s not a timed round and there is no scoreboard! No one else will be able to view your scores from the session. This is just for fun and a great way to hone your coding skills, and get better acquainted with Kick Start.

    So, why should you join the session? We’re glad you asked!

    About Coding Practice with Kick Start

    The problems you'll see in Coding Practice with Kick Start range in difficulty. The concepts covered in these problems align very closely with concepts covered in introductory CS courses like Data Structures and Algorithms, and topics you may encounter in Google interviews.

    You can solve the problems in any order you like. Looking at a problem does not start any timers, so feel free to read all of them at the start of the session, and then solve them in the order of your choice. We also provide starter code at the top of each problem statement to get you started with your solution.

    Stuck on a problem? Don’t worry! You can use the “Ask a question” button on the problem overview page.

    At the end of the session, tune in for a livestream where Kick Start engineers will walk through each of the problems featured during the round!

    Grow your coding skills and your confidence

    Still need to be convinced to give Coding Practice with Kick Start Session 3 a try?

    Hear from some past participants how Coding Practice with Kick Start helped them along their competitive programming journey.

    Session 2 Participants: Tell us why you enjoyed your experience!

    Balla says:

    "At first I used to think that the Kick Start coding rounds were very tough and I couldn't solve them. But the level of the initial questions are such that it boosts us to give it a try, and increases our confidence level. I feel that this is the best part that every coder hopes for. After attempting the session, I felt like I could solve the problems if I worked a little harder.

    My favorite problem in Coding Practice with Kick Start Session 2 is ‘Irregular Expressions’. The problem is very interesting; I couldn't write up the logic, but it made me think a lot. It's the best problem I faced in the round.”

    Mbalire says:

    “I personally had problems with test samples not catering for some cases, and that I failed to understand the questions. The answers and support from the Google engineers during Coding Practice with Kick Start was good. I felt as if different people at Google were reading my code and seeing my development, and that boosted my confidence.

    While solving the problem, I could see my own development while creating my own solution. I hope to do much more and participate in the coming Kick Start competition rounds. It may be because I started programming this year or because most of the code I know is from my research, but getting these algorithms right has been a huge accomplishment for me.

    My favorite problem was ‘Building Palindromes’ from Coding Practice with Kick Start Session 2.”

    Nandini says:

    “Coding Practice with Kick Start was very engaging and I had a lot of fun. It reminded me how much I enjoy computer science and math and solving problems!

    My favorite problem from the past coding practice session has been the 'Building Palindromes' problem. This is because I had fun trying to come up with an optimal solution to this problem and it pushed me to learn new techniques for optimizing my solution: prefixing sums/pre-calculation.

    I also really enjoyed solving the ‘Parcels’ problem since it involved search algorithms which I love! I found that it was the right amount of ‘challenging’ to keep me thinking about it all day. Thanks, Google!"

    Joining Coding Practice with Kick Start Session 3

    With the third and final session for the year coming up, we encourage you to join us. Coding Practice with Kick Start is the perfect opportunity to practice and grow your skills without the pressure of a public scoreboard or timed round.

    Learn new skills, grow your confidence as a coder, and we’ll see you in one of our upcoming Kick Start rounds.

    We hope you'll give it a try! → https://goo.gle/codingpracticewks

    Happening now! #TheAndroidShow: Tablets, Jetpack Compose & Android 13

    Posted by Florina Muntenescu & Huyen Tue Dao, Co-Hosts of #TheAndroidShow

    We’re just about to kick off another episode of #TheAndroidShow, you can watch here! In this episode, we’ll take you behind-the-scenes with Jetpack Compose, Android 13 and all of the updates to Android tablets. If you haven’t already, there’s still time to get your burning Android tablet questions answered from the team, using #AskAndroid. We've assembled a team of experts ready to answer your questions live!


    First, we go behind-the-scenes with Jetpack Compose

    First up in #TheAndroidShow, we’ll be discussing Jetpack Compose, Android’s modern, native UI toolkit. Last month, we released version 1.1 of Jetpack Compose, which contains new features like improved focus handling, touch target sizing, ImageVector caching, and support for Android 12 stretch overscroll. Compose 1.1 also graduates a number of previously experimental APIs to stable and supports newer versions of Kotlin. In #TheAndroidShow, we’ll take you behind-the-scenes in the world of animations with one of the engineers who helps build them, Doris Liu. And then we hear from Twitter about how Compose helps them build new features in half the time!


    Next: the world of tablets, including the 12L feature drop, now in AOSP

    Next up, we’ll jump into the world of tablets, following the big news from earlier this week: we’ve officially released the 12L feature drop to AOSP and it’s rolling out to all supported Pixel devices over the next few weeks. There are over 250+ million large screen Android devices, and 12L makes Android 12 even better on tablets, and includes updates like a new taskbar that lets users instantly drag and drop apps into split-screen mode, new large-screen layouts in the notification shade and lockscreen, and improved compatibility modes for apps. You can read more here.

    Starting later this year, 12L will be available in planned updates on tablets and foldables from Samsung, Lenovo and Microsoft, so now is the time to make sure your apps are ready. We highly recommend testing your apps in split-screen mode with windows of various sizes, trying it in different orientations, and checking the new compatibility mode changes if they apply. You can read more about 12L for developers here.

    We see large screens as a key surface for the future of Android, and we’re continuing to invest to give you the tools you need to build great experiences for tablets, Chromebooks, and foldables. You can learn more about how to get started optimizing for large screens, and make sure to check out our large screens developer resources.


    Tune in now!

    Finally, we wrap up the show with a conversation with the director for Android Developer Relations, Maru Ahues Bouza, where we talk about Android 13 as well as some of the broader themes you’ll continue to see from Android later this year.

    It’s all happening right now on #TheAndroidShow - join us on YouTube!

    Students in LATAM come together for continent-wide tech conference

    Posted by Paco Solsona, Regional Lead LATAM



    A continental community of coders

    Growing up, many students across Latin America watched eagerly as the technology in their cities became more advanced and opportunities to create the future expanded. For some, computers and web technologies presented untold potential. Still, excitement about doing right by their communities was all at the heart of it all. Now, a forward-looking group of university students from 27 different Latin American nations and Google Developer Student Clubs (GDSC) have formed a continent-wide network to chart a course forward for their continent. They are building a community of Spanish-speaking Latin American student developers that support each other, help foster leadership skills, and bring more opportunities to student developers in the region.

    Teaming up to build skills and teach other student developers

    In November 2021, this regional coalition of students came together to host a continent-wide LATAM conference, a two-day student conference (the team planned and executed it in just two weeks). The event featured ten speakers from Spanish-speaking Latin American countries and taught students about different developer technologies. Attendees learned about machine learning, automating processes using data pipelines, leveraging react to upload landing pages to Firebase, and building mobile applications with Firebase and React Native. 300 people attended the conference over two days, and the conference recordings have attracted hundreds of views on YouTube.

    Screenshot of a group of GDSC leads video chatting during a live event

    “We’re coming from a less developed region. We grew up seeing other countries that were more technologically advanced. Now, developers from Latin America are more confident that they have the skills to implement projects, produce new things, and bring advancement to the continent.” - Maria Agustina Cuello (Chichi)

    Working together with purpose

    Through working together on the conference, the organizers of LATAM conference know Latin American youth have a bright future. They are excited by the opportunity to use the power of technology and connectivity to change the world.

    Screenshot of a group of women GDSC leads video chatting during a live event

    Luis Eduardo, Lead GDSC UTP (Perú), says it felt amazing to be part of the LATAM conference: “being able to meet students from other countries with the same desire to work for the community was wonderful. Knowing that, despite being thousands of miles away, there was no impediment to being able to work as an organized team. This is what makes this family unique.”

    Screenshot of a group of GDSC members video chatting during a live event

    “LATAM conference was the opportunity to show that wherever we are, we can help others, and you will always find people with similar ideas,” says Francisco Imanol Suarez, Lead GDSC UNPSJB (Argentina).

    Solution Challenge preparations

    The group is now hosting events to teach student developers new skills and prepare them for the 2022 Solution Challenge, a global contest where students from around the world are invited to solve for one of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals using Google technologies.

    In preparing their communities to build projects, the group plans to activate the countries and regions in Latin America. The students aim to expose each other to multiple technologies in the field and plan to host theme weeks for the Solution Challenge, like a Firebase week, a UX/UI week, and a Flutter Festival.

    Students across the GDSC LATAMs are forming teams for the Solution Challenge. Some are local, coming from a single university, while others are broader, like students in Argentina working with students from Mexico. “A few months ago, no one knew how many people we would help take their first steps in the world of development. Let's hope this community continues to grow to be able to show that amazing things can be done in LATAM,” says Luis Eduardo, Lead GDSC UTP (Perú).

    Screenshot of a GDSC student giving a presentation on Google technology via video chat

    “I’m grateful to be part of this community and work with amazing team members who are so eager to work together and do activities. We want to bring all the opportunities we can to Latin American students, and gender and language are not a barrier,” says Cuello.

    What’s next for GDSC LATAM

    The members of GDSC LATAM plan to continue hosting collaborative events for the community such as Google Cloud Machine Learning bootcamp, a hackathon, and a 2022 student conference and related events with other student communities. The group holds Android and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) study jams, publishes a podcast, and hosts networking events to help reach more students, create networking opportunities, and expand each university’s GDSC. Eventually, they hope to positively impact the region by encouraging budding developers to build new technologies in Latin America.

    —

    If this inspires you, sign up for the Solution Challenge and submit a project by March 31, 2022 at goo.gle/solutionchallenge and join a Google Developer Student Club at your college or university.

    Check out GDSC LATAM on social media: Twitter | FB | YouTube Channel | Instagram

    —

    Students in LATAM come together for continent-wide tech conference

    Posted by Paco Solsona, Regional Lead LATAM



    A continental community of coders

    Growing up, many students across Latin America watched eagerly as the technology in their cities became more advanced and opportunities to create the future expanded. For some, computers and web technologies presented untold potential. Still, excitement about doing right by their communities was all at the heart of it all. Now, a forward-looking group of university students from 27 different Latin American nations and Google Developer Student Clubs (GDSC) have formed a continent-wide network to chart a course forward for their continent. They are building a community of Spanish-speaking Latin American student developers that support each other, help foster leadership skills, and bring more opportunities to student developers in the region.

    Teaming up to build skills and teach other student developers

    In November 2021, this regional coalition of students came together to host a continent-wide LATAM conference, a two-day student conference (the team planned and executed it in just two weeks). The event featured ten speakers from Spanish-speaking Latin American countries and taught students about different developer technologies. Attendees learned about machine learning, automating processes using data pipelines, leveraging react to upload landing pages to Firebase, and building mobile applications with Firebase and React Native. 300 people attended the conference over two days, and the conference recordings have attracted hundreds of views on YouTube.

    Screenshot of a group of GDSC leads video chatting during a live event

    “We’re coming from a less developed region. We grew up seeing other countries that were more technologically advanced. Now, developers from Latin America are more confident that they have the skills to implement projects, produce new things, and bring advancement to the continent.” - Maria Agustina Cuello (Chichi)

    Working together with purpose

    Through working together on the conference, the organizers of LATAM conference know Latin American youth have a bright future. They are excited by the opportunity to use the power of technology and connectivity to change the world.

    Screenshot of a group of women GDSC leads video chatting during a live event

    Luis Eduardo, Lead GDSC UTP (Perú), says it felt amazing to be part of the LATAM conference: “being able to meet students from other countries with the same desire to work for the community was wonderful. Knowing that, despite being thousands of miles away, there was no impediment to being able to work as an organized team. This is what makes this family unique.”

    Screenshot of a group of GDSC members video chatting during a live event

    “LATAM conference was the opportunity to show that wherever we are, we can help others, and you will always find people with similar ideas,” says Francisco Imanol Suarez, Lead GDSC UNPSJB (Argentina).

    Solution Challenge preparations

    The group is now hosting events to teach student developers new skills and prepare them for the 2022 Solution Challenge, a global contest where students from around the world are invited to solve for one of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals using Google technologies.

    In preparing their communities to build projects, the group plans to activate the countries and regions in Latin America. The students aim to expose each other to multiple technologies in the field and plan to host theme weeks for the Solution Challenge, like a Firebase week, a UX/UI week, and a Flutter Festival.

    Students across the GDSC LATAMs are forming teams for the Solution Challenge. Some are local, coming from a single university, while others are broader, like students in Argentina working with students from Mexico. “A few months ago, no one knew how many people we would help take their first steps in the world of development. Let's hope this community continues to grow to be able to show that amazing things can be done in LATAM,” says Luis Eduardo, Lead GDSC UTP (Perú).

    Screenshot of a GDSC student giving a presentation on Google technology via video chat

    “I’m grateful to be part of this community and work with amazing team members who are so eager to work together and do activities. We want to bring all the opportunities we can to Latin American students, and gender and language are not a barrier,” says Cuello.

    What’s next for GDSC LATAM

    The members of GDSC LATAM plan to continue hosting collaborative events for the community such as Google Cloud Machine Learning bootcamp, a hackathon, and a 2022 student conference and related events with other student communities. The group holds Android and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) study jams, publishes a podcast, and hosts networking events to help reach more students, create networking opportunities, and expand each university’s GDSC. Eventually, they hope to positively impact the region by encouraging budding developers to build new technologies in Latin America.

    —

    If this inspires you, sign up for the Solution Challenge and submit a project by March 31, 2022 at goo.gle/solutionchallenge and join a Google Developer Student Club at your college or university.

    Check out GDSC LATAM on social media: Twitter | FB | YouTube Channel | Instagram

    —

    Google for Games Developer Summit returns March 15

    Posted by Greg Hartrell, Product Director, Games on Play/Android

    Image with Google for Games castle, rocket, volcano, and racetrack

    With over three billion players showing strong engagement worldwide, the games market continues to remain resilient and grow beyond expectations. As we look ahead this year, the influx of new and returning players creates a great opportunity for developers to scale their games businesses.

    The Google for Games Developer Summit returns virtually on March 15, 2022 at 9AM Pacific. From mobile to cloud, learn about our new solutions for game developers that make it easier to build high-quality games and reach audiences around the world.

    Join us for the keynote at 9AM Pacific followed by over 20 developer sessions on-demand. We’ll share deep-dives and updates on the Android Game Development Kit, Google Play Games beta on PC, Play Asset Delivery, Play Console, and more. The summit is open for all. Check out the full agenda today at g.co/gamedevsummit.

    ML Olympiad: Globally Distributed ML Competitions by the Community

    Posted by Hee Jung, DevRel Community Manager

    Blog header image shows graphic illustration of people, a group, and a medal

    We are happy to announce ML Olympiad, an associated Kaggle Community Competitions hosted by Machine Learning Google Developer Experts (ML GDE) and TensorFlow User Group (TFUG).

    Kaggle recently announced "Community Competitions" allowing anyone to create and host a competition at no cost. And our proud members of ML communities decided to dive in and take advantage of the feature to solve critical issues of our time, providing opportunities to train developers.

    Why the ML Olympiad?

    To train ML for developers leveraging Kaggle’s community competition. This is an opportunity for the participants to practice ML. This is the first 2022 global campaign of the ML Ecosystem team and this helps build stronger communities.

    Image with text that reads Community Competitions make machine learning fun

    ML Olympiad Community Competitions

    Currently, 16 ML Olympiad community competitions are open, hosted by ML GDEs and TFUGs.

    Arabic_Poems (in local language) link

    • Predict the name of a poet for Arabic poems. Encourage people to practice on Arabic NLP using TF.
    • Hosts: Ruqiya Bin Safi (ML GDE), Eyad Sibai, Hussain Alfayez / Saudi TFUG & Applied ML/AI group

    Sky Survey link

    • Stellar classification with the digital sky survey
    • Hosts: Jieun Yoo, Michael Mellinger / NYTFUG

    Análisis epidemiológico Guatemala (in local language) link

    • Make an analysis and prediction of epidemiological cases in Guatemala and the relations.
    • Hosts: Alvin Estrada, Julio Monterroso / TensorFlow User Group Guatemala

    QUALITY EDUCATION (in local language) link

    • Competition will be focused on the Enem (National High School Examination) data. Competitors will have to create models to predict student scores in multiple tests.
    • Hosts: Vinicius Fernandes Caridá (ML GDE), Pedro Gengo, Alex Fernandes Mansano / Tensorflow User Group São Paulo

    Landscape Image Classification link

    • Classification of partially masked natural images of mountains, buildings, seas, etc.
    • Hosts: Aditya Kane, Yogesh Kulkarni (ML GDE), Shashank Sane / TFUG Pune

    Autism Prediction Challenge link

    • Classifying whether individuals have Autism or not.
    • Hosts: Usha Rengaraju, Vijayabharathi Karuppasamy, Samuel T / TFUG Mysuru and TFUG Chennai

    Tamkeen Fund Granted link

    • Predict the company funds based on the company's features
    • Hosts: Mohammed buallay (ML GDE), Sayed Ali Alkamel (ML GDE)

    Hausa Sentiment Analysis (in local language) link

    • Classify the sentiment of sentences of Hausa Language
    • Hosts: Nuruddeen Sambo, Dattijo Murtala Makama / TFUG Bauchi

    TSA Classification (in local language) link

    • We invite participants to develop a classification method to identify early autistic disorders.
    • Hosts: Yannick Serge Obam (ML GDE), Arnold Junior Mve Mve

    Let's Fight lung cancer (in local language) link

    • Spotting factors that are link to lung cancer detection
    • Hosts: abderrahman jaize, Sara EL-ATEIF / TFUG Casablanca

    Genome Sequences classification (in local language) link

    • Genome sequence classification based on NCBI's GenBank database
    • Hosts: Taha Bouhsine, Said ElHachmey, Lahcen Ousayd / TensorFlow User Group Agadir

    GOOD HEALTH AND WELL BEING link

    • Using ML to predict heart disease - If a patient has heart disease or not
    • Hosts: Ibrahim Olagoke, Ahmad Olanrewaju, Ernest Owojori / TensorFlow User Group Ibadan

    Preserving North African Culture link

    • We are tackling cultural preservation through a machine learning model capable of identifying the origin of a given item (food, clothing, building).
    • Hosts: elyes manai (ML GDE), Rania Boughanmi, Kayoum Djedidi / IEEE ESSTHS + GDSC ENIT

    Delivery Assignment Prediction link

    • The aim of this competition is to build a multi-class classification model capable of accurately predicting the most suitable driver for one or several given orders based on the destination of the order and the paths covered by the deliverers.
    • Host: Thierno Ibrahima DIOP (ML GDE)

    Used car price link

    • Predicting the price of an imported used car.
    • Hosts: Armel Yara, Kimana Misago, Jordan Erifried / TFUG Abidjan

    TensorFlow Malaysia User Group link

    • Using AI/ML to solve Business Data problem
    • Hosts: Poo Kuan Hoong (ML GDE), Yu Yong Poh, Lau Sian Lun / TensorFlow & Deep Learning Malaysia User Group

    Navigating ML Olympiad

    You can search “ML Olympiad” on Kaggle Community Competitions page to see them all. And for further info, look for #MLOlympiad on social media.

    Google Developers support ML Olympiad by providing swag for top 3 winners of each competition. Find your interest among the competitions, join/share them, and get your part of the swag for competition winners!