IT community from Azerbaijan: GDG Baku

Malik Mamedli, city — Baku, cloud engineer, @huseynmalik

About the community

My classmate Elvin Mirzazada and I were inspired by Google’s decision to create a new community. At first, we didn’t know what it was, but after speaking with Developer Relations Manager Baris Esugey, we learned a lot about GDG and its goals. Three more friends from university joined us, and in 2019 we founded GDG Baku. Google Developer Groups is a well-known technology community supported by Google worldwide, and it was surprising that we hadn’t heard about it until 2019. The main goal of GDG is to bring together local developers and technologists to explore various technical topics and develop new skills through practical workshops, trainings, and events in both offline and online formats.

Five years have passed since our first event in Baku, and much has changed. We continue to help developers and IT enthusiasts learn and grow. At our meetings and trainings, we discuss technical topics that can sometimes be complex, but participants get the opportunity to collaborate and network.

As community organizers, we strive to create a healthy ecosystem for developers.

Community members

Creating and growing communities in our country is not easy, but we have been working on this for over five years now. We constantly attract new members, most of whom are students or recent university graduates, and some are even still in school. Community culture is still new to our country. People do not always understand the benefits they can gain from participating in a community.

We organize various meetings, and so far, ML/AI events are particularly popular, attracting more people.

Becoming a member of the community is simple: just search for GDG Baku on Google, find our page, and join. The benefits of membership include receiving notifications about internal meetings via email, helping you not miss any events and stay updated on training news. Community members also enjoy discounts from our partners. We try to share opportunities with our members first, and then publish information on social media and other platforms.

Events for community members

Students and recent graduates aim to build a strong portfolio on social media, especially on LinkedIn. Therefore, we strive to organize events that are beneficial for them. In August, we completed a five-week certification program on Google Cloud and machine learning. Participants received instructor-led training, learned how Google Cloud works, and earned numerous virtual badges — certificates of course completion on the platform googleskillsboot.google.

Additionally, we organized a hands-on Build with AI workshop, where each participant added an AI project to their portfolio and received a badge from Google. I believe these events are special, and it is rewarding to see our participants learn, gain experience, expand their network, and build their portfolios.

Although we are an IT community, we are happy to welcome people from other fields — our doors are open to everyone.

How the community helps with development

First, we strive to provide technical content to our participants so they can improve their knowledge and advance their careers. One of the advantages of our meetings is the opportunity to easily communicate with highly skilled developers and technical experts, which opens up new career opportunities.

It is also worth noting that for speakers, participating in our events helps establish new connections and create social impact as volunteers on an international level, since GDG is a globally recognized organization.

Successful projects

As a developer community, we organize DevFest every year. Since 2019, we have held five DevFest events in Baku. This is the largest developer event in our country. In 2023 and 2024, we gathered more than 30 speakers — 50% of whom were international — and 700 participants. For us, this is a huge success.

Another popular event is Google I/O Extended. In 2023, we gathered 230 participants, and in 2024, the number increased to 250. The event helps participants learn about cutting-edge technologies and connect with speakers.

In 2024, we organized the first offline Women Techmakers event in Baku, dedicated to International Women’s Day. This was an important event for raising awareness about women in technology. We gathered more than 150 women and invited 8 successful speakers. This is one of the few tech-focused events aimed at women. IWD Ambassadors Lala Ibadullayeva and Laman Aliyeva were also key organizers of this event.

Plans

Our main goal is to attract as many people as possible in Baku and the region. Since we are newcomers to the innovative ecosystem, we want to draw the attention of students and IT enthusiasts in the region.

Contact information for those who want to join the community or propose collaboration:

official community page: https://gdg.community.dev/gdg-baku/

GDG Baku Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/gdg.baku/.