Microsoft Openness Days is an open source conference and hackathon for developers

Microsoft India recently inaugurated Microsoft Openness Days, the open source conference for developers in India. The conference is aimed at helping 1000 architects, developers and cloud professionals discover and leverage the company’s Microsoft Azure cloud platform for Government and enterprise solutions. The conference includes Open Hack, India’s first Open Source on Azure hackathon, organised by Microsoft with support from the Government of Telangana. This six-hour long hackathon will offer developers the opportunity to work on and showcase innovative applications (apps) and solution ideas based on the themes of the State Government’s digital initiatives. Inaugurating the conference, Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Secretary, Information Technology, Electronics & Communications Department, Government of Telangana, said, “We are a firm supporter of technology to drive Telangana’s growth and development. We are very pleased to partner with Microsoft to host the Open Hack in our state. We are confident that the immense talent of our developer pool, combined with Microsoft’s technologies and expertise, can help achieve our digital goals and in turn, the welfare of our citizens.” Speaking on this occasion, Narendra Bhandari, General Manager - Developer Experience and Evangelism, Microsoft India, said, “We are thrilled to host this unique, first-ever conference for cloud open source developers, and thank the Government of Telangana for their continued support. It is energizing to see young talent, develop technical solutions which will help us transform into Digital India.” The Open Source on Azure hackathon will be followed by a showcase where developers will present their solutions and apps leveraging Microsoft Azure. The top six apps and the teams will be selected by Microsoft and T-Hub for further development, mentoring and to build market readiness.