DEVCON 17 Β· 17 years Β· 2009–2026

Engineering an AI-Ready Nation

Fast forward to 2026: 13 locations, a 60,000+ strong network, and 120+ free events every year.

The manifesto

What DEVCON 17 stands for

Seventeen years in, this is what we believe about building an AI-ready Philippines, and how we will do it.

  1. 01

    AI readiness starts with people.

    Not products, not hype. We invest in the Filipinos who will build, teach, and lead with AI.

  2. 02

    Every Filipino child deserves computer science.

    Hour of AI for Kids brings AI and coding to public schools, and trains teachers to keep it going.

  3. 03

    Builders learn by shipping.

    Open-source AI code camps and AI Fluency & Agentic Training end with working projects, not certificates alone.

  4. 04

    Beyond the capital, by design.

    13 locations across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, run by the people who live there.

  5. 05

    Open by default.

    Open-source tools like OpenCode, Anthropic Claude, Ollama, and more, and an open Community Playbook anyone can use.

  6. 06

    We pay it forward.

    Every speaker, mentor, and organizer is a volunteer, giving back to the community that helped them grow.

  7. 07

    We are not an events company or a tech summit company.

    Events are how we teach. The community, and the public good it creates, is what we build.

This year's theme

Engineering an AI‑Ready Nation

  • Hour of AI
    for Kids
    Computer science and AI for every Filipino child.
  • Open-Source
    AI Code Camps
    Free, hands-on open-source AI for students.
  • AI Fluency &
    Agentic Training
    Masterclass, Agentic AI Hackathon, and training for chapter leaders.
  • AI Engineering
    Internships
    Top students build real AI with industry mentors.
The formula

Institutions aligned. The rest is ours to build.

DEVCON, Amihan and Avtica, and DOST signed an MOU to deliver the formula together.

  • Human capital

    DEVCON

    Peer learning at national scale, global certifications, and AI Certification Scholarships for the first wave of Filipino FDEs.

  • Platforms

    Amihan and Avtica

    Democratizing access to AI, so emerging nations can tap the world's best models, tools, and agents.

  • Infrastructure

    DOST

    National compute, R&D funding, and the rails for science and entrepreneurship.

Volunteer-ledA community, not an events company. Every program is free and built for the public good.

Help engineer an AI-ready nation

Volunteer in your city, or join DEVCON+ to find free events and start earning points.