Developer conference puts city on tech map

‘FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITY’: Attendees at the Developers Up North Conference

By Rick Lyon, Co-Editor

Hull has been put in the national tech spotlight by hosting its first ever software engineering conference.

The Developers Up North Conference, held at Jubilee Central Church, brought together 100 top software developers, engineers and technology professionals from across the North for a day of learning, connection and inspiration – showcasing Hull as a thriving digital hub.

KCOM software developer and event organiser Amaka Ndukwu said: “It was a fantastic opportunity to showcase Hull and everything we have here that can make the city a genuine force to be reckoned with on the national tech stage. To attract 100 top professionals was a real coup for the city.

“Our speakers encouraged us to be proud of what we had achieved, because running a conference in a smaller city is genuinely hard. But we did it, and Hull is back on the map.”

The conference drew attendees from as far as York, Sheffield and Louth, with teams attending from organisations including MKM, KCOM, Wren Kitchens, the Home Office and Sabre Technology.

The one-day conference, organised by Amaka alongside fellow developers Damilare Bakare and Fejiro Gospel, featured a wide-range of TED Talk-style presentations covering the major issues in the tech sector, including AI, frontend performance, modern web architecture and software engineering craft.

Speakers included Jack Franklin, a senior developer at Google, and Harry Roberts of CSS Wizardry, who closed the day with a keynote speech on building for the modern web.

• All the presentations from the day will be available on the Developers Up North YouTube channel. For more information, visit www.developersupnorth.co.uk.