Interview: Collaborative Projects 2.0

What is Collaborative Projects 2.0?
 

Collaborative Projects 2.0 (CP 2.0) is an Artech initiative aimed at enabling different teams of colleagues and friends to create value that can benefit the GeneXus Community as a whole.

The proposal was launched during the XIX GeneXus International Meeting and will end with an awards ceremony at the XX GeneXus International Meeting.

It represents a new challenge with new awards, and will provide the GeneXus Community with more examples, applications and knowledge. In this way, both GeneXus and GeneXus Server will be extended in every sense, in order to develop mission-critical applications of higher quality using more tools.

It is a teamwork proposal, where team members can be in different geographic locations, something typical today.

In a few words, what will the Community have to do to participate?

The participating teams will develop applications using GeneXus (Knowledge Bases category) or GeneXus extensions (Extensions category) that add value to the GeneXus Community in its broadest sense.

The Knowledge Bases category will include applications that serve only as examples due to the technology they use, or that can later be used as useful tools for the mission-critical projects that Community members develop every day, or even if they stand out for any other reason and thus add value.

In the Extensions category, for example, we can have extensions to the GeneXus IDE, GeneXus Server or applications capable of connecting to the Knowledge Bases for some purpose (using GX4GX, MSBuild Tasks), or User Control libraries. In sum, software parts that extend GeneXus and add value by providing more productivity and helping create better final applications.


Why is it important for the Community to be part of Collaborative Projects?

By entering in Collaborative Projects, teams have a chance to grow and gain knowledge, experience and international visibility.

Who can participate?

To participate in a project, team members must be registered with www.gxtechnical.com. Each team will have a designated contact who will be responsible for communicating with Artech about everything related to this initiative.

How does the contest work?

During 2009 and 2010, the teams will develop their ideas and publish them on the Public GXserver or Assembla spaces using these tools, with Artech’s support through GeneXus Trial or Full licenses, GeneXus SDK and logistics in general (forum hosted by Artech, exclusive GeneXus Server testing spaces when developing GeneXus Server extensions, online space to publish examples of solutions, and so on).

As I was saying, all projects participate in one of two categories: Knowledge Bases or Extensions.

The entire initiative will last one year and will be divided in three stages called "sprints" in order to present the project and, at the same time, continue to develop and strengthen it. Each stage ends with a voting in which the projects and the value they provide are evaluated by the Community. These stages are as follows:

• From now until December 2009 (the online vote will take place on December 10)
• From December 2009 until April 2010 (the date of the vote has yet to be determined)
• From April until July 2010 (the date of the vote has yet to be determined)

In each one of these stages, points will be added for the final evaluation (at this point it’s worth noting that of the three voting instances, the two of them with the most votes will be taken into account). Finally, the winners will be given awards at the XX GeneXus International Meeting.

What teams can be voted for?

Among the participating teams, any team that meets the following requirements can be voted for, depending on its category:

Knowledge Bases Category

- Project published on the Public GXserver

- Objectives and description documented in the CommunityWiki (and/or in the KB itself).


Extensions Category

- Project published at http://www.assembla.com/spaces/gxusercontrols  or http://www.assembla.com/spaces/gxextensions.

- If applicable, a KB published on the Public GXserver.

- Objectives and description documented in the CommunityWiki (and/or in the KB itself).


Will everything related to CP 2.0 be documented in the CommunityWiki?

That’s right. Everything will be under www.gxtechnical.com/cp . We also have a page to register projects, where you will find information about the projects and the team members who will develop them.

What is the deadline for registration?

Projects will be accepted until June 1, 2010. However, given the features of the scoring method, I recommend that those interested in participating sign up from the beginning to increase their chances to win. (Act Now!)

As you said, teams are advised to start participating now. In the event that someone wants to participate but doesn’t have a specific idea, are there any existing ideas that could be developed?

Yes, we have created a page in the CommunityWiki with ideas that could become feasible projects for CP 2.0.

The Community wants to know: What are the prizes?!

For each category, the following prizes will be awarded to each team:

1st Prize: One-year subscription of 2 GeneXus (IDE + Generator), 1 GeneXus Server Professional licenses

2nd Prize: One-year subscription of 1 GeneXus (IDE + Generator), 1 GeneXus Server Professional licenses

3rd Prize: One-year subscription of 1 GeneXus Server Professional license

The teams in the first 5 positions will receive invitations to attend the welcome dinner at the XX GeneXus International Meeting.

All members will receive a certificate of participation and there will also be surprise prizes for every participant.


How can I participate?

If you're interested, you can sign up at the corresponding page or send me an email (armin@artech.com.uy) containing the project's Category, Name, a brief Description and the Team Members.

For more info: Armin Bachmann (armin@artech.com.uy)
www.gxtechnical.com/cp