As Canberrans packed up on a weekday afternoon and headed home or out for dinner, a small group gathered in a Jerrabomberra conference room armed with laptops.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Though the public servants, private sector workers and hobbyists came from different backgrounds, they united after work to speak a common language few outside those walls would comprehend.
Over pizza and beer, the Infracoders Canberra group discussed the changing world of software development and operation.
Their monthly meetings have featured guest speakers who discuss their pet projects, work strategies and careers.
They are also designed to give attendants a welcoming environment in which to share ideas, ask questions or provide feedback.
Groups such as Infracoders Canberra have sprung up across the city in recent years, focusing on everything from a single programming language through to big-picture web development and maintenance.
The casual cross-sector meetings have attracted attention from the ACT government, which has looked to the groups as part of the territory's strategy to grow the region's digital economy in the coming years.
Infracoders Canberra co-organiser James Kingsmill said the group helped deal with changing assumptions around IT work.
It follows the DevOps movement to bring software developers and operators together, rather than working on opposing goals.
"It's a balancing act between new features and stability, and it takes a lot of understanding and empathy from the people on the ground who have traditionally been enemies," he said.
"One of the great things to come out of the meet-up group is showing to other members of the community that devs and ops can work together, and we can do amazing stuff and prove to management that not only are these things possible, they pay massive dividends."
February's meeting featured two speakers. One detailed on an open-source monitoring and alerts tool, while the other showcased a program to help familiarise IT workers with an unfamiliar workstation.
Similar groups exist in Sydney and Melbourne, the latter of which inspired the Canberra organisation.
"They were really inspired by what they saw and wanted to bring back as many ideas as they could - people talking with passion about technology and culture, their jobs, their pet projects," Mr Kingsmill said.
"I moved to Canberra from Melbourne myself mid last year, so it was fantastic to find this young and flourishing DevOps community up here."
Members attend several of the technology meetings, which include specialist groups for Java, Python, Openshift, Salesforce and Wordpress users.
Representatives from the ACT government have spoken to various groups and asked what the territory can do to support their meetings, discussions and work.
The government's digital strategy, launched last year and set to run until 2019, included the provision of support and opportunities to both individuals and businesses "that accelerate their growth and influence".
