Locally trained people are best positioned to understand local cultural dynamics and produce solutions tailored to local needs and capabilities. There is a particular need for user interfaces and back-end mobile and web development skills. In 2011, such conferences brought together some 800 professional developers, computer science students and small software start-ups, all with a focus on the role of breakthrough technologies in alleviating the problems facing their communities. The conferences featured workshops, training, hack-athons, demonstrations and discussions on a vision for a pan-African community of software developers.