JCertif 2010 very succesful ! Thanks you all !

JCertif 2010, the biggest community conference in Central Africa is over. One day of keynotes and three days of workshop with hundreds of people moving between them. This was far from a “classic” event! It was a mix of technical session, life experience and a bit of an adventure.

The conference took place in the impressive room of the Congolese’s parliament (palais des congrès) with comfortable large seats and individual microphones to make the conference more interactive. About 400 people from 6 countries (Congo Brazzaville, Congo Kinshasa, Togo, France, Canada and USA) attended the conference and classes.

The sessions were in French (the official language in Congo) and English and catered to the interests of audiences ranging from beginners to experts.

I opened the conference with a presentation about the social and business impacts of Web2.0, prepared with my colleague Yann Sadok at Fujistu Canada. Then Mike Levin, an entrepreneur and Java community leader from Orlando, Florida (Cambridgeweb, codetown.us) went more deeply into how to build Web2.0 applications. Mike posted some blogs about this here.

In the second half of the conference day, Horacio Lassey the Java Leader of Togo talked about Talend Studio an Open source Data Manager. He gave a great real life demo! Alexis Moussine (the JCertif 2010 guest star) from Oracle’s GlassFish team presented GlassFish and Java EE 6 (slides). See Alexis’s blog about his JCertif 2010 experience. In the end, Stanyslas Bweta who is a technical consultant at the regional office of HCR (the UN refugee organization) presented NetBeans IDE. Stanyslas was actually meant to open the conference but just before he boarded the boat in Kinshasa to cross the Congo river, he was delayed by border officials and missed the departure. Thanks again Stanyslas for doing everything in your power to get there before the end of the conference!

I particularly appreciated the JCertif University (3 days of free training). We had planned a training session for 30 people but on the first day over 100 people were standing in line at the doors! In the end around 45 people attended the session, some standing with their laptops in their arms, and a second session had to be organized quickly. It was exhausting but exciting at the same time to see how much interest this project had generated.

JCertif 2010 had a huge impact in Congo and all Central Africa 's IT community. We have been approached by government agencies to help (tools, app server and framework) in current and future Java EE projects.

The next event will take place in August 2011 at Brazzaville. Hope to see you there.

Oracle OpenWorld San Francisco 2010

Just received the Java leader Complimentary pass from Oracle for OpenWorld San Francisco 2010!

JCertif 2010 - Last Call For Papers

Still hesitating to join JCertif 2010 http://www.jcertif.com ?
See Tasha's excellent post on Brussels JUG website
http://www.brussels-jug.be/?p=785

PS : We could offer the hotel (one night) to thank our Speakers.

JCertif 2010 a Java community event is coming

As you know, Congo Java User Group is involved in education. Once again, we will offer free courses and workshops for Sun Java Certification.

JCertif is a mini-conference that will focus on Java technology professional certifications, with special attention to SCJP (Java Programmer) and SCWCD (Web Component Developer).

JCertif goal : To provide free courses and workshop which will help people to learn the basics of Java programming language and all its secrets.
Following these workshops, attendees will have all the knowledge required to pass a Sun Java Certification Exam, all of that in 4 certification days in August.

Why Java Certification ? In Congo's employement market, sometimes a technology certification could look more competitive than college degrees.

We will organize a mock exam contest and award one (1) Exam VOUCHER to the participant with the highest score.
In Congo the voucher cost (300$) could represente 4 months salary and it's just astronomical for a lot of people (students, unemployed...).

We are talking with local sponsors but the lack of sponsors is still a big issue in our region. If you or your entreprise would like to participate or support this iniative, see breakout of
sponsorship levels ( http://tinyurl.com/27k5t45 ).

What do we need right at this moment?

• Sponsors
• Free or Promotion codes for Java tests (vouchers)
• SCJP Books (French)
• Giveaways

The mini-conference will take place in Brazzaville, Congo (Africa) on August 26-29. Schedule
is available under http://www.congojug.com.

Hope you guys will help out!

Contact us directly via info@congojug.com

Java Certification SCJP 6 : CongoJUG offers free courses and workshops

Once again, the CongoJUG offers free workshops for Java Certification (SCJP 6).
Come and participate in sessions that will help you learn the basics of Java programming language and all its secrets.
Following these workshops, you'll have all the knowledge required to pass the official examination of Sun Microsystems if you wish.

Location: Brazzaville, Congo
When: August 2010

Space is very limited (15 maximum) ... So sign up quickly: http://www.congojug.com/

Oracle/SUN Collateral damage - James Gosling Moving On

Kinda sad news !
I had the chance to talk with him at JavaOne 2008. http://tinyurl.com/yeep6zg
I hope it will remain around Java. Wish the best for you James !

http://nighthacks.com/roller/jag/entry/time_to_move_on

JUG-AFRICA is now a member of the Java Community Process (JCP) program

I'm pleased to announce that JUG-AFRICA is now a member of the Java Community Process (JCP) program.

Any member of affiliated JUGs is also part of the JCP through their association with JUG-AFRICA.

JUG-AFRICA is an umbrella Group for Java User Groups located in Africa and is intended to promote communication between JUGs across the african continent.

For the latest detailed information about the ongoing activities and our cooperation plan, see http://tinyurl.com/yl386um

JUG-AFRICA on Java.net front page today

It sounds really great !!
Take a look... http://java.net/

Thanks to Kevin Farnham the Java.net Editor

Kevin post : http://weblogs.java.net/blog/editor/archive/2010/03/02/jug-africa-promotes-continent-wide-collaboration
or
http://bit.ly/9QMdPQ

My new blog on Java.net : http://www.java.net/blog/bonbhel/

À suivre...

I have just launched CongoJUG new Website. www.congojug.com

Congo Java User Group has new Website (French). Take a look !!
www.congojug.com

Thanks

Oracle strategy for JavaOne/JUG/Java champion

I have participated in the conference call today morning lead by Justin Kestelyn and Mary Lou Dopard from Oracle about JavaOne and Java communities.

This is my understanding and what I heard.

JavaOne :
2010
- JavaOne 2010 will still run at Moscone Center (San Francisco, Ca)
- No change on content (focus on Java technology)
– No change in process and revue
- CommunityOne still on the agenda
After 2010
- JavaOne will become a traveling event (China, Russia, India etc.)

JUGs and Java champion programs:
– The Java champion program will be supported and will not be merged with Oracle programs like ACE (good news for our Java champion Hakim…)
– The JUG program is still on the agenda, support will continue

Others:
- Java.net: Only the logo will change, the content stays the same

What about Africa?
During the conference I asked if Oracle had plans for some Java or Oracle events in Africa. Justin’s answer was something like this: No plan for JavOne in Africa but we could expect some regional events in the next years.

What’s your feeling about that?

Did you say JUG ? Java User ... What ?

Is it still possible to ask this question in 2010?

Isn’t the answer obvious ?

Well no ! It was the question I was asking myself three years ago, even though I had been working as a consultant and Java trainer for seven years. In 2007, my ex-colleague Éric Marcoux (Oracle ACE Director) suggested I join JUG Québec (Canada). I said JUG ? Java User…What ?

Several months later, I went to JavaOne 2008 and when I saw so many developers, architects, engineers from so many countries and so many amazing projects...

... and heard Matt Thompson (ex-SUN) and nearly 40 JUG Leaders talk about importance of the Java community at «Think Globally and Act Locally» session and met Micheal Levin the co-founder of the impressive West African JUG in Senegal, the question wasn’t «What’s a JUG?» anymore but rather «How can a sense of community and belonging be fostered among Java developper in Africa ?». For me the need of JUG-AFRICA became evident.

After talking with Java developpers across Africa, I think JUG-AFRICA could help address questions such as :

• How to take part in international and regional events ?
• How to increase the visibility of the communities accross the world ?
• How to create link with Java communities across the world ?