Microsoft Build 2020 was the first time the annual developers’ event was held completely online, because of COVID-19. Here are some interesting snippets from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during his keynote address for the conference.
“Already, we’ve seen something like two years’ worth of digital transformation in just two months. And we’ve seen how critical digital technology is in the three phases of this crisis, from emergency response to the recovery phase to the reimagining the world going forward,” said Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO at Build 2020.
How has developers come together with those on the frontlines in the fight against COVID-19?
Here were some examples that Nadella highlighted.
- At Johns Hopkins University, epidemiologists and software developers created a canonical dashboard to track the spread of COVID-19.
- Adaptive Biotechnologies is using cloud compute and AI to decode the immune system’s response to the virus.
- In the United Kingdom, a cross-section of manufacturers adjusted their production lines to build ventilators for the NHS, using mixed reality to guide workers through the process.
- The NBA is using the power of the cloud and Xbox to engage fans and maintain the joy of the game.
What would developers need to be capable of going forward?
Every organization will increasingly need the ability at a moment’s notice to remote everything, from manufacturing to sales to customer support.
“Today, over 95% of the Fortune 500 use Azure, and now more than ever, organizations in every industry are relying on Azure to support their critical workloads, from healthcare triage with AI-assisted bots, to digital twins in manufacturing, to e-commerce and retail. This infrastructure enables you to remote, simulate and automate any activity. We’re building Azure as the world’s computer,” said Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO at Build 2020.
They will also need the ability to simulate anything, from how the immune system responds to a virus, to how a fault in a wind turbine can impact the power supply.
And they will need to be able to automate everywhere to enable faster, more agile response, from triage in healthcare to the maintenance in smart buildings to curbside pickup in retail.
Nadella also covered the plethora of development tools that Build 2020 focussed upon, namely GitHub, Visual Studio and Azure.
Associated tools covered during the conference included Teams, Codespaces and Power Platform.
For Microsoft 365, Nadella shared that there were over 75 million daily active users of Teams and 1 billion monthly active devices running Windows 10 today.
Tags: Azure, Build, CEO, GitHub, Microsoft, Office, opinions, Teams, trends, Visual Studio, Windows