The past two decades witnessed the rise of the technology industry. Innovative solutions, complementing each other, entered our lives easily and naturally, without major disruptions… until the sound of the COVID thunder rumbled. For one and a half year, the pandemic has not just changed reality but even turned it upside down and reshaped it in such a twisted way that sci-fi writers could have never pictured.
The reliance on digital technology has grown exponentially. Digital connections have appeared to be way stronger than physical borders. Even the sky stopped being the limit.
Trying to wrap our heads around what’s next, we decided to launch Techpora, our very own series of international IT-sector panel discussions focused on the changes that have already taken place and that will unfold in the future. IT experts from all over the world – conference organizers, business angels, community leaders – are gathering online to discuss where the technology goes and how it can contribute to society.
We have thus far brought up the following topics:
- How the global Tech industry has changed. Changes have invaded the entire industry: from attitudes towards remote work to the STEM education market, from the value of developers to employer requirements. Speakers analyzed how much the demand for developers has grown and touched upon the differentiation, merger, and vanishing of some IT professions.
- Hype cycle and technologies within the next five years. The pandemic and the remoteness have affected both the technology market and the market for IT products. It’s been a year since Gartner announced the IT trends that would drive innovation in the next decade. How have technologies and approaches to development changed? What are the current development practices? These questions were raised during the discussion.
- Technology and a sustainable future. The world is out of balance not only because of ecological and economic challenges, but also due to mental ones. Burnout and depression have become the plague of the new decade. In response to this imbalance, there is the concept of sustainability – a set of values
and practices that help bring the world into greater balance. There were debates on to what extent sustainability is a trend in the Tech industry, what are advanced sustainability solutions, and how Tech companies react to modern world problems. - Modern Frontend. Speakers commented on the modern Frontend in 2021 with its frameworks, tools, development standardization, wondering whether no-code is the future of coding and advising Frontend Developers how to move forward.
- How to grow and promote yourself as a Developer in 2021. Lifelong learning is a must for every Developer. What does it include? Do we need supplementary education or is learning from experience enough? How can already established Software Engineers develop themselves, what skills to boost, what to study, and how to map out a continuous learning route? Those were the questions we were trying to answer.
The pandemic has shown how we are all connected and what type of impact we have on each other. Techpora is not limited to an IT area. It also aims to bring up environmental and social responsibility issues. We are planning events to support sport, educational, and environmental protection initiatives.
Aside from charitable activities, the CodeWars student programming championship will be held to encourage the growth and development of young and ambitious talents. Elena Ivanchenko, HR Director at *instinctools, emphasizes the relevance of the project:
The changes of the last few years made us rethink approaches to IT and business areas. We decided to create a project that would allow specialists from different countries to exchange experience and views on these changes.
By the end of September, a total of ten-panel discussions are planned to have been organized, which makes us look forward to ten times more powerful insights.
Interested in collaborating on this or a future project? *instinctools is always happy to connect!