Since the inception of AWS User Group Nepal in 2018, I had envisioned an active community of cloud enthusiasts in Nepal. Our community grew through regular meetups, workshops, and webinars. With the successful completion of the first-ever AWS Community Day Nepal, our flagship event, we have reached a milestone. It has been a long-time dream come true and a moment of pride.
The AWS Community Day was an all-day event of co-learning and networking organized on December 10. Out of around 300 attendees, most of the participants were professionals in tech and IT students in their final year. Led by the AWS User Group Nepal, the Community Day had seven technical sessions and two lightning talks. I am incredibly grateful to have been one of the two keynote speakers. I shared my journey of becoming the one and only AWS Ambassador from Nepal. Along with that, I also discussed the value of community events and importance of international certifications to build one’s career. Karan Desai, AWS Solution Architect from India, also delivered his keynote.
Keynote Speaker: Karan Desai, Sr. Solutions Architect, AWS
Technical sessions included diverse topics related to AWS: DevOps as a Service (DAAS), Building ChatBot using the AWS Serverless services, Managing Kubernetes Secrets using AWS Secrets Manager, Data Engineering Using AWS, Managing Infrastructure with AWS Cloudformation, and Building ChatBot using the AWS Serverless services. The speakers shared their experience, knowledge, insights, and even integrated live demonstrations with the audience. They also had short, interactive sessions to answer queries and curiosities.
Nepal’s first-ever AWS DeepRacer Competition was the main highlight of the Community Day. We had help from a team of five AWS professionals from India to conduct it. Developers from all levels registered and explored machine learning. In the first phase, we took in 150 registrations. Few days before AWS Community Day, the AWS Team conducted a virtual workshop on DeepRacer for the registrants. They also hosted a race on the virtual track. The top 15 participants competed in the final race at Nepal’s first-ever physical AWS DeepRacer competition during Community Day. The contestants got the opportunity to explore reinforcement learning and showcase their coding skills to run the DeepRacer car and watch it be self-driven on the track. The top three winners were declared after fierce competition and much anticipation from the audience.
Besides formal talk sessions and the DeepRacer competition, the event offered an incredible opportunity to network with potential customers, tech professionals, and business partners. Representatives from tech companies in Nepal were also present at the event, including businesses like Genese Solution, Renegade Insurance, and Khalti.
DeepRacer Competition Winners
During my college days in London as an international student, I had benefited from workshops and meetups to connect with industry professionals and receive career opportunities. It has been gratifying to bring in a similar culture of building connections and peer-to-peer learning in Nepal. As an AWS User Group Leader, I feel incredibly grateful about the successful completion of the Community Day. The organizing committee and the attendees have set a benchmark for the upcoming days.
This Community Day is only the beginning of a series of cloud and AWS-related events. This year, AWS User Group Nepal plans to bring the tech community together with more of our meetups and exciting events such as the Community Day.