• Tue. Mar 19th, 2024

North East Connected

Hopping Across The North East From Hub To Hub

Open Source Conference Shines Spotlight on the North East

Screen Shot 2015-07-15 at 10.49.48DIGITAL luminaries from around the world are set to descend on the North East, as part of a major Drupal event, taking place in July.

Drupal Camp, a conference that was held in Sunderland for the first time last year, is once again being held at the Sunderland Software Centre, and is expected to attract people from across the UK, as well as Holland, Finland and Switzerland among other countries.

The event is an opportunity for digital experts and agencies to hear about the latest Drupal developments – including the planned release of Drupal 8, the latest version of the platform – as well as more about how Drupal can help businesses develop more innovative websites, online databases and mobile applications.  Drupal – like more well-known platforms such as WordPress – is an open source web development platform, but it allows the build of more complex websites that can integrate into every aspect of an organisation.

Adam Hill, a director at Sunderland based Drupal business Consult and Design International, is one of the coordinators of the event.  He said: “Drupal Camp was a huge success last year, and we are really keen to build on that and grow this year’s event.

“The spirit of open source software is all about collaboration – sharing ideas and growing a community that helps and supports each other – so we expect lots of people to come along to share thoughts and ideas.  And with Drupal 8 on the horizon, it’s a really interesting and exciting time for the Drupal community.  We’re really looking forward to a bigger, better DrupalCamp with amazing speakers from the UK and abroad.”

The event will take place between Friday, July 24 and Sunday, July 26.  The full line-up is now available, with more than 25 speakers confirmed over the three days.  The event also includes a ‘sprint’, a chance for developers to collaborate to tackle challenges and actually contribute to building Drupal itself. Mentors will be there so everyone is welcome to come and learn some code.

Cllr Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “Sunderland is well established as a place for software and digital technology and the fact that we will be hosting this event, which will be a flagship Drupal event nationally, is fantastic for the city.

“Sunderland Software Centre is such a prestigious location for businesses in this field, so it is really quite fitting that it will be the base for an event that brings together skilled developers from across the UK and beyond.”

DrupalCamp events run right around the world, and the UK has hosted them in Scotland as well as London, Manchester and Brighton.  The Drupal community includes 33,000 developers with one million Drupal sites now live.  People interested in signing up to attend the event can do so by visiting www.drupalcampnorth.org.  For more information on Drupal, visit www.drupal.org.

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