For a long time, and especially in the local tech space, Intel has been viewed as hardware specialist company. In recent years however, Intel has aimed to change that, with its Developer Zone being a major part of that paradigm shift. Now, Intel's Developer Zone has landed in South Africa, and with it a wealth of tools and services for aspiring young developers and large corporates alike to leverage.

More specifically, the Intel Developer Zone is a global programme designed to provide software developers and businesses with a single point of access to a variety of tools, communities and resources.

Easier access

As such the Developer Zone acts a platform for developers to engage with peers and develop, market and sell their software. “Intel South Africa recognises the rapid growth and demand of evolving technology, the demand of customer expectation vs. experience and the need for organisations to create best-selling software and apps that not only change lives, but have a lasting impact on communities,” says Mohammed Fareed, Software and Service Group Business Development Manager at Intel South Africa.

The Intel Developer Zone makes it easy for the software ecosystem to gain access to Intel expertise, knowledge, and technology in an effort to facilitate the development of innovative software and apps that in turn deliver a higher value to the customers who purchase and use them. According to Intel, that was part of the allure of bringing the Developer Zone to South Africa, as our innovative and dynamic software ecosystem provided a great playground for developers to thrive.

Helping hand

Moreover, Intel identified three specific areas that its Developer Zone can assist. The first is a lack of a venture capitalist environment. The Developer Zone could assist in this regard, as the ease of access to services and solutions should promote an entrepreneurial spirit. The second is a lack of mobile programming training. Helping there, Intel's Developer Zone provides users not only to a host of free SDKs, but also an online community to aid in any programming issues and queries. The last area is a lack of business application development. Although Intel cannot  aid directly in this area, they have partnered with number of local organisations such as mLab, which is an incubator for mobile solution developers.

A snapshot of @Intel_Africa's plans for development/knowledge sharing over the next few years. #IntelSoftwareSA pic.twitter.com/S4OiK9rDVR

— TechSmart Magazine (@TechSmartMag) March 24, 2015

Fareed concluded that, "The Intel Developer Zone forms part of Intel’s Software and Services Group (SSG). A business unit within Intel that recognizes that software is tightly coupled with all Intel platforms and processors, SSG is a worldwide provider of software products and services, design resources, technical expertise and consulting."

Head to www.software.intel.com for more info on the Developer Zone and its offerings.