BlackBerry have officially announced the launch of the new Developer Enterprise Groups which builds on the foundation of the previous Developer Groups Program.
BlackBerry created the Developer Groups Program in 2010 to encourage local developer groups to share ideas, experiences and help new developers to start building apps for the BlackBerry 10 platform. Over a period of time, this slowly started to include bringing Android developers to the platform to port their existing to Android apps and other consumer-related activities.
Here is BlackBerry’s definition of “Developer Groupâ€Â:
Developer Groups are local, community-led, and provide developers with shared learning interests with the opportunity to network and get support. These groups receive regular platform and program updates from BlackBerry, and have access to exclusive discounts, developer events, and conferences.
Enterprise Developer Groups will work similarly to regular Developer Groups but focus largely on mobile app development for businesses and enterprises. These groups will be run by a developer group manager who is in charge of recruiting new members, organizing regular meetups and supporting BlackBerry. The Developer Group Manager is encouraged to engage developer group members in various initiatives, including keeping the group up-to-date on new development tools as well as new products and solutions launched by BlackBerry.
According to BlackBerry, there are currently 57 Enterprise Developer Groups around the globe, our very own BlackBerry Developer Group Scotland (Enterprise) being one of them.
Due to BlackBerry’s focus now being firmly centered on the Enterprise, there has been a lot of work going on in the background with the previous developer groups. Most new groups have been converted from regular Developer Groups which have members with a strong interest in the enterprise segment or have been working in that space for the past few years. For example, our own BlackBerry Developer Group Scotland has been completely focused on the Enterprise space for the last six months.
Enterprise Developer Groups will be entirely focused on the Enterprise Workspace and in BlackBerry 10 development, training and more.
BlackBerry are helping existing consumer focused Developer Groups transition to the developer programs run by Amazon. With the Amazon Appstore pre-loaded on BlackBerry OS 10.3, starting with the BlackBerry Passport, these groups have access to BlackBerry customers and more.  The Amazon Appstore is available in 238 countries and preloaded on Fire tablets, phones and TV. The Appstore is also integrated into the overall Amazon shopping app experience enjoyed by millions of Android customers.
If you’re a mobile developer working in the enterprise space and are willing to start a developer group, you can apply to start a new group in your area. If you are based in Scotland and want to learn more information about the BlackBerry Developer Group Scotland, you can find out more here or simply contact us.[signoff predefined=”Enjoy this?” icon=”icon-users”][/signoff]
