Close on the heels of its MoU with the Government of Andhra Pradesh, ConsenSys India, the Indian cohort of the global blockchain specialist firm ConsenSys, has partnered with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to launch the first edition of its Indian educational initiative – the ConsenSys India Developer Program in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
The ConsenSys India Developer Program is a unique, end-to-end blockchain training program. For the first time, some of the leading developers on Ethereum will come together to teach this course, enabling participants to become proficient solidity coders. It will be held over the course of five weekends – beginning on June 9th, 2018 with an introduction to blockchain technology and deep dive into the Ethereum blockchain. On the 6th weekend there will be a two-day hackathon where students will be divided into teams to build projects based on their learnings. The hackathon will be followed by a graduation ceremony where students will be issued a ConsenSys India Developer certification on the blockchain and be given a chance to join the ConsenSys India team.
The education program is part of a broader partnership between ConsenSys India and the Government of Andhra Pradesh and signals the government’s firm resolve to make the state a hub for blockchain-based innovation. The fees for the course is USD 3000 but ConsenSys has decided to subsidize 30 percent of the total fee amount, making it available for just USD 2100. Additionally the Govt. of Andhra Pradesh has graciously decided to facilitate a loan for USD 1500 for students who are accepted into the program. Individuals wishing to avail of this facility must acquire the loan amount beforehand and pay the entire fees of USD 2100 to ConsenSys India by June 4, 2018. Program participants who graduate successfully and are hired by ConsenSys India after the program will be reimburse USD 600.
On the launch of the ConsenSys India Developer Program, Hon’ble IT Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Lokesh Nara said, “The Blockchain space in India is progressing so quickly, traditional education programs are finding it difficult to keep up with the pace. As blockchain takes off, there must be an adequate availability of talented developers adept at creating blockchain solutions. Therefore, the launch of the ConsenSys India Developer Program in Vizag is a huge step to create a blockchain development taskforce, as the coastal town continues to emerge as the hub of blockchain technology in India”
Commenting on the development, Kavita Gupta, Executive Director of ConsenSys, said, “We are excited to kick-start our first developer program in India. At ConsenSys, we are positioned to innovate on education content in distributed technology because we have the biggest developer base in the Ethereum blockchain space. Being an Indian, it is a proud moment for me to help launch the ConsenSys India Developer which will enable high quality blockchain development talent in my country. Graduates of this program will be empowered to tackle real world solutions. These are very exciting times and ConsenSys is ecstatic to be an enabler of this disruption in India.”
The ConsenSys India Developer Program will be led by Mr. Daniel Novy, one of the first developers on the Ethereum blockchain. Students will be led my Mr. Novy through the intricacies of developing and creating smart contracts and decentralized applications. He quipped, “It’s really an honor to be conducting this training together with top talents from ConsenSys in a country very well known by its excellence in software development. I’m pretty sure we will be able to build a very strong team in the region that may easily become one of the strongest team ConsenSys has in the world.”
The highly selective Developer Program will start accepting applications on April 16th, 2018. Experts in the fields of data science, computer science, engineering, software programming, PhDs, students, and hackers are all welcome to enrol.
The rigorous selection process will involve a coding test, as well as consideration of applicants’ backgrounds and experience through their resumes and githubs. The competitive process will narrow down the pool of candidates to a carefully curated class of 100- 130 enrolees.
In addition to end-to-end Ethereum centric coursework, students will be exposed to several unique topics covered during the program. They will learn how to program smart contracts and use Consensys’ proprietary developer tools like MetaMask, Infura, Truffle and uPort. Most significantly, many of the students will be given an opportunity to join ConsenSys India once the program is completed. Those who are interested in applying may visit ConsenSys India’s website: https://www.consensysindia.com/
The course will culminate in a two-day hackathon followed by a graduation ceremony where blockchain-based course certificates will be issued to the students. The graduation ceremony will be felicitated by the Hon’ble IT Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Lokesh Nara and the founder of ConsenSys, Joseph Lubin.
