Celebrating 5 Years of  GDG Cloud Mbarara with a 2-Day DevFest!

This year is  special. As GDG Cloud Mbarara marks its 5th anniversary, DevFest Mbarara returns as a flagship two-day conference centered around our key theme: Build, Secure, Scale: Developers and Builders in the Agentic Era.

DevFest is Google’s signature community-driven developer conference series which brings local tech communities together globally to learn, network, and innovate.

As one of the largest distributed tech events worldwide, DevFest highlights the latest Google technologies while celebrating half a decade of growth, diversity, and talent within Mbarara’s local developer ecosystem.

We are seeking session proposals across the following key technology tracks:

1. Android

• Exceptional User Experiences:Build engaging, performant, and adaptive apps across devices:
• Latest Android Platform APIs (Live Updates, Widgets, Edge-to-Edge display)
• Camera and Media APIs
• Material Adaptive Layouts
• Android XR SDK Preview
• AI Integration: Incorporate Google's SDK solutions to add multimodal AI capabilities to Android apps:
• Firebase AI Logic Android SDK
• On-device Gemini Nano via ML Kit GenAI APIs (summarization, proofreading, etc.
• Developer Productivity: Speed up build times and reduce overhead e.g Gemini in Android Studio, Jetpack Compose, Kotlin Multiplatform

 2. Flutter

• Utilizing Flutter inside Firebase Studio
• Building agentic applications with Flutter
• AI-assisted Flutter development workflows
• Crafting high-fidelity iOS experiences with Flutter

3. Firebase

• Firebase Studio
• Vertex AI in Firebase
• Genkit
• Data Connect
• App Hosting & Firebase Hosting
• AI Monitoring

4. Web Technologies

• AI for Web Developers:Built-in AI APIs, Web AI best practices, and AI-enhanced web apps.
• Browser Extensions: Recent extension updates, testing strategies, and standardization efforts.
• CSS & UI: Engine-enabled UI components, quality-of-life enhancements, and user-centric design.
• Performance: Core Web Vitals, soft navigation performance, and DevTools optimization.
• Identity: Streamlined web forms, Passkeys, FedCM, and Fugu/PWA APIs (hardware access & WebAssembly/Wasm).
• DevTools & Automation: Modern debugging workflows, testing pain points, and DevTools UX.
• Angular Focus Areas: Angular v20, Reactivity, Signals, Hydration, SSR, and enhanced debugging tooling.

5. Go

• Go & AI: Real-world usage of AI within Go applications (SDK integrations, client libraries) or using AI tools in Go workflows.
• Language Features & Experiments: Hands-on feedback and experiences with experimental features and new language iterations.

6. Earth Engine

• Technology & Integrations:Earth Engine with BigQuery (`ST_RegionStats`, querying BigQuery tables), Python interfaces (BQ Studio, Colab), Python cloud workflows (Cloud Functions, Run, Scheduler, Compute Engine), GCS data management, and Vertex AI/TensorFlow/PyTorch image classification.
• Domain Expertise: Sustainability dataset creation and algorithm/methodological advancements.

7. Google Cloud

• Serverless & Containers: GKE, Cloud Run, Cloud Functions, Kubernetes, Istio, App Engine, Artifact Registry, Docker, Hybrid Connectivity.
• App Development: Cloud Code, Gemini Code Assist, Cloud Composer, Cloud Debugger, Cloud Shell, Cloud Source Repositories, PowerShell DevTools.
• Data & Analytics: BigQuery, AlloyDB, Analytics Hub, Bigtable, Data Fusion, Data Loss Prevention, Dataflow, Dataplex, Dataproc, Datastore, Datastream, Datalab, Database Migration Service, Cloud Spanner, Cloud SQL, Looker.
• AI & Machine Learning: Cloud AutoML, Translation AI, Vertex AI, Vertex AI Agent Builder, Video & Vision AI, Cloud Healthcare API, Deep Learning Containers, Dialogflow, Speech-to-Text, Text-to-Speech.

Have another idea?

Even if your proposed topic doesn't fit into these exact categories, we still want to hear from you! We welcome any session that inspires, educates, and elevates our community as we celebrate 5 years together.

We are looking for:

We are seeking builders who have shipped real-world projects and are ready to share their practical journeys, challenges, and solutions with our community.

Session Formats & Timelines

• Tech Talks (30 Minutes): Share your building journey, technical challenges, solutions, and key lessons learned.
• Workshops (60 Minutes): Lead a hands-on, practical session where attendees build something tangible in real-time.
• Interactive Demos (45 Minutes): Demonstrate your project through live interactions, allowing participants to experiment and engage directly.

Technical Focus Areas

We welcome sessions covering a wide range of subjects:

• Google Ecosystem: Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Firebase, Flutter, TensorFlow, Angular, Google AI / Vertex AI.
• Core Domains: AI/ML, Web Technologies, Mobile Development, Cloud & DevOps, Data Engineering.
• Emerging & Practical Tech: Open-Source Technologies, Developer Tools, UI/UX Design, Cybersecurity, Web3, Agentic Experiences, Product Management, Community Management, and Technical Writing.

What makes a winning Session?

• Concrete code snippets, real architecture decisions, and practical examples.
• Honest reflections on what worked, what failed, and key takeaways.
• Actionable insights that attendees can apply immediately in their work.
• Inspiring real-world projects that motivate others to start building.

Submission Do's and Don'ts

Do's for Submissions:

• Align with the Theme: Craft engaging proposals tied to our event focus.
• Share Real Insights: Feature practical use cases and industry trends.
• Set Skill Levels: Tailor your proposal to Introductory, Intermediate, or Expert levels.
• Respect Time Limits: Stay strictly within your assigned session duration. Each time slot includes 10 minutes for Question and Answer. 
• Define Clear Takeaways: Outline exact learning objectives and value for attendees.
• Encourage Interaction: Design sessions that foster audience engagement and participation.

Don'ts for Submissions:

• No Sales Pitches: Avoid promotional or sales-oriented content.
• No Duplicates: Do not submit multiple proposals with the same topic and content.
• Keep it Professional: Refrain from submitting inappropriate, offensive, or discriminatory material.
• Fresh Content Only: Avoid recycling or duplicating content from previous DevFest editions. If a talk was presented before, please indicate what has changed since the last presentation.

The Anatomy of a Great Submission

The evaluation committee reviews these fields carefully when selecting talks:

1. Session Title

Make it catchy, but clear. A clever title is great, but it must explicitly convey what your session covers so the committee and attendees understand the topic.

2. Description / Abstract

• Concise: Think of your abstract as a quick sample. Use a classic structure:
• Hook/Intro: Highlight a common problem or pain point.
• Body: Outline the solutions and value proposition.
• Conclusion: Summarize the core benefits.
• Complete: Specify your target audience (e.g., "If you are a Flutter developer looking to scale...") and detail 2–3 actionable things they will learn. Do not include confidential or proprietary information.
• Coherent: Ensure your writing is well-structured and easy to read. Incoherent submissions are immediately disqualified.
• Grammar Note: Write your abstract in the present tense.

3. Speaker Bio

Your bio appears on the event website  and  schedule. Highlight who you are, what you do, and include links to your social handles or technical portfolio.

4. Notes & Comments to Organizers

Use this private field to share background context, prior speaking experience, or feedback from past deliveries of this talk.

Keep references anonymous or use shortened links so your proposal remains unbiased during review.

Important Dates & Event Timeline

Mark your calendars! Below are the key milestones for our speaker selection process:

• Call for Proposals (CFP) Opens: August 10, 2026 at 12:00 AM EAT
• Call for Proposals (CFP) Closes: September 10, 2026 at 11:59 PM EAT(Make sure to submit your proposals before the deadline)
• Proposal Review Period: September 11 – September 18, 2026. (The program committee will evaluate all submissions during this period.)
• Speaker Selection & Status Notifications: By September 18, 2026. (All speakers will receive decision updates and feedback via email on or before this date.)

Speaker Benefits & Logistics

• Conference Pass: All GDG Cloud Mbarara events are completely free. Primary session speakers receive a complimentary full-access pass. Co-speakers are also eligible for free admission if they make a substantial contribution to the session and preparation.
• Travel & Accommodation: We do not offer travel, lodging, or stipend support. However, we are happy to assist international or out-of-town speakers with invitation letters for visas, as well as recommendations for local accommodation and travel within Mbarara, Uganda.

We are committed to providing a safe, welcoming, respectful, and inclusive environment for all speakers, organizers, and attendees.

We look forward to receiving your submissions.