How these 5 ecosystem builders are supporting advancements in software

Without the support of local tech communities and organizations like universities, law firms, accelerator programs, economic development groups, coding bootcamps and corporate partners, many advances in software would have never made it off the ground.

The methods, programs and initiatives that these groups deploy encompass a wide variety of formats and structures, but they all have one common goal — to help technologists access the knowledge and resources they need to create the future of tech.

Together, they ensure that the field continues to grow and that an expanding base of people can contribute their skills.

For the month of September, Technical.ly’s reporting has explored the theme of Software Trends for our editorial calendar. For some additional perspectives, we asked our Technical.ly Ecosystem Builder organizations the following question:

What is an exciting advancement in software that your org has supported or is currently supporting?

This could include investing in or providing resources to software-based startups, advancing education about specific software skills and practices, facilitating community knowledge sharing through events and meetups, or any other activities geared towards helping new developments arise in the software space.

Here are their replies, and if you like what you see, follow the links to organizations’ Directory Pages to learn more.

Ballard Spahr

“Ballard is always excited to support emerging software solutions. In addition to becoming paid users of several of our emerging company-clients’ innovative software, Ballard helps support those ventures by (1) making introductions to potential users, (2) sponsoring those companies to attend events (such as SXSW), so that they can market their solutions and (3) providing free content and other resources to ventures to enable them to evolve their technologies. In addition, Ballard’s licensing and technology attorneys work closely with universities, both through Ballard’s legal accelerator (BASE) and in legal clinic or ‘office hour’ programs, to ensure that innovators from underserved communities are getting the resources they need on a low-bono or pro bono basis to support commercialization of exciting new products.” — Kimberly Klayman, partner

Chesapeake Digital Health Exchange

“There is a robust open source community at Johns Hopkins, and many faculty/students are looking to build businesses around their OSS projects. When code is not proprietary, it requires new ways of approaching the intellectual property and licensing of university innovations. This fall, Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures will be introducing a new Open Source Startup Agreement to facilitate the formation of OSS-based companies.” — Danny Jacobs, senior communications specialist, Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures

TEDCO

“TEDCO supports new software innovations by providing funding and business resources to early-stage tech companies in Maryland. TEDCO portfolio companies have developed software for equity scoring and business intelligence, a wearable multimodal physiological sensing system, a personalized radio app, a meal delivery service and much more. Explore additional info here.” — Tammi Thomas, chief marketing and communications officer

Verizon 5G

“Verizon’s BlueJeans meeting platform recently started empowering its moderators to use, manage and monitor real-time audio language interpretation, allowing participants to listen in their preferred language (up to five languages per meeting). This BlueJeans enhancement can promote inclusion to a wider variety of businesses who require collaboration in multiple languages. Innovations like these increase access to skills and job training; health and wellness; social justice and community renewal — to help ensure local professionals and small businesses can grow and thrive, now and in the future.” — Pedro Romero, technology and public policy, state and local government affairs

Zip Code Wilmington

“Zip Code Wilmington’s data engineering and analytics course, B1ue N0te program, and Zip Code Prep program are all advancing education in software skills within our community.

Since 2015, Zip Code Wilmington has provided high quality software programming training to talented individuals looking to transition into great tech careers. Originally, we only had one course — Java Software Developer — which provided training in multiple object-oriented programming languages. At the request of our corporate partners, in 2020 we added a second course — Data Engineering & Analytics — which focuses on practical applications of data collection and analysis using software tools like Python, Panda, and Spark.

Although Zip Code Wilmington is an adult education program, we also offer training statewide in Delaware high schools through our B1ue N0te Youth Training Program. Also launched in 2020, our high school training program provides students, including those who are underrepresented in tech, with the practical skills and training they need to become professional software developers giving them a competitive start in a fast-growing field.

The Zip Code Prep program is one of the new programs that we will be launching in 2023 to help bridge the tech gap in our community. Look out for more information on our website in the coming months” — Kris Younger, director of education

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Want to help support software innovation in your local tech scene? Check out all the Ecosystem Builders and Technical.ly Talent companies here, and learn more about their missions.

P.S. If you’re curious about Technical.ly Talent to help grow your own org, find more info here and connect with us.

This sponsored content is a part of Software Trends Month of Technical.ly's editorial calendar. The organizations appearing in this article are Technical.ly Ecosystem Builder clients.