Microsoft India to hold AppFest on 26 February

On 26 February, over 10,000 students from across the country are expected to gear up to code applications for a whole day at over 50 hub centres, which are currently holding training sessions for students who wished to brush up their coding skills as they registered.

According to Microsoft, the day of the AppFest would see young developers code under the supervision of Microsoft mentors, trainers and 'Microsoft student partners' (MSPs) and submit the apps online, in a bid to make it available on the Windows Store, after due diligence.

Microsoft director (strategic audience marketing) Pratima Amonkar says, on the one hand, the trends in the IT space had evolved over the past few years, creating greater opportunities for students and budding developers. On the other, the global youth unemployment rate was currently at 12.7 per cent - double the overall, she added.

She added these two things clearly indicated a gap in demand and supply - and the obvious answer: given the right skills and training, there was a lot young technology students could achieve today. She added, that was exactly what Microsoft was trying to do - bring together the opportunity and those who could utilise it.

To make app developing easier, Microsoft would be assisting the budding developers with free software including Visual Studio Express for Windows 8, and with free Windows Store registration codes through Microsoft DreamSpark.

The Microsoft AppFest would even focus on broad-based consumer applications, as also education and games apps.