Microsoft celebrates Future Ready Champions of Code with over 100K developers and technology enthusiasts  

Hyderabad, January 2, 2023: Microsoft today announced over 100,000 developers participated in the Future Ready Champions of Code program to receive Microsoft certifications. The program, launched in December 2022, equips developers with globally recognized and industry-endorsed skills and competencies in digital and cloud technologies. Developers also participated in a nationwide hackathon to ‘Innovate for India’s Growth’ as part of the program. 
 
The hackathon saw innovative solutions and prototypes built on cloud-native architecture, leveraging the Microsoft Azure platform, around the themes of Industry innovation, Smart city and Green or Sustainable software.
 
The top three winning teams from the hackathon, shortlisted based on their innovation and impact, were from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro and IndusNet. The winning teams will receive cash rewards and exclusive invites to the Future Ready Technology Summit to be held in Bengaluru on January 5th, 2023.  
 
Ambarish Ganguly from TCS, whose solution was adjudged the best, used Azure Cognitive Services and AI to design an Agriculture Hub to serve as a one-stop destination for farmers, helping them cultivate better crops, improve yield, and enhance the quality of their lives with a futuristic and easy to use smart solution.  
 
The Wipro team of two, which stood second, built a next generation smart-search solution using Azure Cognitive Search Service to demonstrate how to boost search operations and improve productivity, employee engagement and lower operational costs. 
 
The team of five developers from IndusNet, which was adjudged the third winner, built a Smart Commercial Vehicle Tracking System using Azure IoT Services. The system provides real-time monitoring of vehicles on the move and helps fleet management companies improve efficiency and maximize their return on investment.  
 
The program also saw developers from the ITES, consulting, financial services, manufacturing and startup industries participate in a blogathon. Select blogs from the blogathon contest will be featured on the Microsoft Azure website.                      
 
Aparna Gupta, Executive Director, Customer Success, Microsoft India, said, “We are delighted to see the overwhelming response that the Future Ready Champions of Code program received from India’s vibrant developer and tech community. Our heartiest congratulations to all the developers who have completed their certifications and to the hackathon winners. India’s developer community is one of the youngest and fastest growing in the world and we continue to empower them with the richest set of technologies and platforms to enable their dreams and to build for the future.” 
 
The Future Ready Champions of Code program was supported by Microsoft’s customers and partners as they sought to use the opportunity to fast-track competency development among their developer teams. The program was also supported by government and industry partners such as AICTE, NASSCOM, ICT Academy and Foundit. 
 
Microsoft has been empowering people with the right skills and technologies through platforms such as LinkedIn, Microsoft Learn and its non-profit skilling efforts, as well as through various joint skill building initiatives with customers and partners and governments. So far, 7.3 million learners from India have been engaged through the Skills for Jobs initiative to make India future-ready with in-demand skills in areas such as cloud computing, emerging technologies like AI and cybersecurity.