Unlocking the Power of Community and Collaboration through Code 4 GovTech💫

Hola👋! This blog is dedicated to sharing my journey in the Code 4 GovTech mentoring program which is an amazing community-focused coding program. I will be outlining my learnings, key takeaways as well as my experience in the community. So without further ado, let's dive in!

What is Code 4 GovTech? 🤔

For the unversed, Code 4 GovTech is a coding program with a mission to bring Digital Public Goods into the limelight and create a vibrant community of open-source contributors that can contribute to the long-term growth of Digital Public Goods in our country. You can read more about them and what they do here.

With their flagship program launched last year, they introduced a unique model this year with two programs :

• A mentoring program where the students receive 1:1 mentoring from industry experts while contributing to innovative projects under various reputed organizations like Sunbird, Beckn Foundation, Thoughtworks, and an attractive stipend of 1 lakh rupees!

• A community program where students can contribute to various issues submitted by participating organizations and get involved with the organizations to boost their open source contributions and network with like-minded coders.

The First Steps 🐾🚀

I came across the opportunity while browsing through Unstop and was immediately intrigued. I am a huge fan and supporter of open source and truly admire the work people put in to create and maintain these amazing open source products so many of us use daily. However apart from a brief stint in Hacktoberfest 2022(it's coming again this year so make sure to keep an eye👀), I hadn't dived deep into the open source world. Call it cold feet or hesitation, I was just not sure if I had anything worthwhile to contribute. But we all start somewhere and Code 4 GovTech was that golden opportunity for me💫.

After a lot of contemplation, I joined the Discord group and was introduced to the participating organizations and the problem statements that they had provided. The problem statements covered a wide variety of domains including DevOps, Machine Learning, LLMs, Web and App Development, etc. Each organization also had a few dedicated mentors who were super helpful and always available to clear doubts and share suggestions. Participants were encouraged to explore the various problem statements, interact with the mentors to explore the project to understand its impact and get their hands dirty with good first issues. Throughout this entire phase, both the mentors and the organizing committee were always at the student's disposal guiding them on their journey.

Let us not forget about the amazing community that I got to be a part of! There were over 5000+ students on the discord channel and we collaborated to help each other in project setup, exchange ideas, clear doubts and cheer each other on the way. The participants were from such different backgrounds with some being seasoned coders and some novice enthusiasts but everyone had the zeal to contribute to these amazing open-source projects and leave their mark💪. I truly got to learn so much by being a part of this collaborative community!

Choosing the Problem Statement 💻🛠️

While going through the problem statements, I was sure that I wanted to do something related to web development given that I already had some experience in it. However, at the same time, I wanted to try something new and explore technologies that I didn't have much experience in since this journey was all about learning. I scouted several projects and was impressed with the Sunbird projects and the Bahmni project. The organizers nudged us to interact with our mentors and I took that advice and started to set up the project, ask for clarifications, explore solutions and discuss the implementation.

While all projects had their pros, I was especially drawn to the Bahmni project, under which I had to create a Patient Portal for patients to view their visits to a particular provider and access their medical records digitally, saving them the hassle of physically visiting these hospitals/clinics. I interacted with my mentor Angshuman Sarkar Sir, discussed my ideas and sought actionable feedback. I prepared a detailed proposal for the problem statement, submitted it with only an hour left before the deadline and hoped for the best.

I was ecstatic to receive the news that among 1400+ proposals, I was among the lucky 103 contributors who were shortlisted for the 2023 cohot🥳🎆.

My journey in the C4GT 2023 cohort 🛣️

Throughout the 2 month coding period, we were not only engaging with our respective organizations but also with the entire community as a whole. Frequent doubt-solving sessions, ice-breakers and fun activities planned for the cohort helped us network with each other, and learn about all the projects people were involved in and all the amazing work that these contributors were doing.

Our program kicked off with a 4 day intensive boot camp, where we learned about Digital Public Goods, interacted with industry experts who had spearheaded the Digital Public Goods movement in our country and attended hands-on workshops on Git and GitHub(super helpful), coding best practices, time management and many more informative sessions. We were also encouraged to add our weekly milestones, updates and progress so that we can look back at our awesome achievements. Offline catchups were arranged for the cohort to interact with one another and drive forward the powerful dialogue on Digital Public Goods and open source.

Not only did I get to be a part of the C4GT community but also the Bahmni community which was the project I was involved in. The community was a mix of developers, contributors, volunteers and implementors, all helping each other out and working together 🤝. We were also encouraged to create a document highlighting our specific problem statement and attend weekly Zoom calls to share our progress with the entire community and gain valuable feedback. I was impressed with the Bahmni system that they had built and was motivated to give my best to this project.

The entire team was super helpful and we attended regular standups to discuss blockers, seek help, and put forward our suggestions and ideas. It was due to the constant help and support I received, was I able to accomplish my milestones and make an impactful project. I got the opportunity to interact with my fellow contributors who were selected under Bahmni and help each other out.

We also had a midpoint demo showcase of our project where we presented our progress to the super mentors who gave us actionable tips and advice on areas of improvement and the importance of having a user-focused lens. The midpoint demo served as a great learning tool for the entire cohort and helped them achieve their desired milestones.

Throughout the 9 weeks, I outlined the product architecture and all the various components and how they will interact with one another. I built a React frontend app and a Spring Boot microservice from scratch and learned so much about frontend and backend technologies, docker, ReactJS, Spring Boot, microservices, Rest APIs and Carbon Design system. I am more than grateful to have embarked on this journey and accomplish my milestones.

Advice for future contributors 👩‍💻

Although I am not super qualified to dish out advice, here are some things that helped me personally in my journey

• Don't put yourself down. It is alright if you are not familiar with the entire tech stack or if this is your first time contributing. We all start somewhere and it's about grabbing that golden opportunity when it is presented to you

• Don't get intimidated. Sure there might be people who have more experience and more accolades but everyone has something meaningful to contribute.

• Interact with your mentors. I cannot stress this enough, it is not sufficient to submit a long proposal to get selected for such programs, you have to interact with your mentor if you wish to get shortlisted

• Be curious. Ask doubts and seek for help. It is the best way to learn!

Conclusion ⚡

I am super thrilled to have been a part of the Code 4 GovTech 2023 cohort and have truly learned so much in these past few weeks and made some lifelong memories. My experience is a testament to the power the open-source communities hold and how they can boost your learning journey🚀. I hope that you found my experience and advice helpful and all the best to all you aspiring coders💯