Learn more by attending user groups in Northern Ireland.

User Group	Description
	4th Industrial Revolution Challenge The 4th Industrial Revolution Challenge is an annual series of monthly headline discussions held across Northern Ireland encouraging participants to learn together how the following sectors: health, finance, energy, transport, government and food will be disrupted by accelerations in the following platform technologies: IoT, Analytics, AI, VR, 3D printing, robotics, genomics, and quantum computing.
	Artificial Intelligence Networking the Northern Ireland AI community is the core mandate that drives AI NI. This will be achieved through organising events that target a wide range of demographics that include companies, students and academia. Each of these events (Belfast based initially) will be comprise presentations, workshops and panel discussions designed to educate & stimulate discussion but more importantly highlight the amazing Northern Ireland AI community.
	Azure Meetup for anyone interested in Microsoft Azure from Belfast and the surrounding areas.
	BASH The focus of Bash is unashamedly on current and upcoming trends in software. We don’t focus on a specific language or technology but rather prefer to explore the full, rich tapestry of what is happening in the world of software. If it’s interesting and relevant then it will be on our radar.
	Charged Charged is a team dedicated to creating a friendly, inclusive environment for attendees to make new connections, work with the latest technology and learn something new.
	CryptoParty CryptoParty is a global, decentralized movement, created to promote cryptography and privacy. Our aim is to bring privacy preserving technologies to the people who need it the most and understand it the least. For more information, check out the wiki.
	Code Co-Op A bi-weekly club for adults to come together and work on fun projects to upskill themselves at Farset Labs. Whether you’re a beginner who wants an insight into the world of programming, or an experienced programmer who wants to work on a side project in a social setting - all are welcome.
	Data Art Meetup bringing artists, technologists and creatives together to show, tell, and learn about the collision between Data and Art. Learn about visualisation techniques, data aggregation, and where to get data sources to create, inform, and excite.
	Dev Ops A group for people interested in DevOps (Culture, Automation, Metrics, Sharing) who want to get together, share ideas and have a beer.
	Docker Learn, Collaborate & Dockerize! Meet other developers and ops engineers in your community that are using and learning about Docker. Docker is an open platform that helps you build, ship and run applications anytime and anywhere. Developers use Docker to modify code and to streamline application development, while operations gain support to quickly and flexibly respond to their changing needs. Docker ensures agility, portability and control for all your distributed apps.
	Functional Programming This is a group for anyone interested in Functional Programming. All levels of ability and experience are welcome. We meet monthly and together we’ll figure out how to rewire our brains to think and code functionally.
	Gophers This meetup is for those who are interested in exploring the language, and understanding what makes Go different from other modern programming languages. We also want to hear about how people are using Go in the wild! Share your hard-earned lessons with us.
	Hackers The worlds of hackers and journalists are coming together as reporting goes digital and Internet companies become media empires.Journalists call themselves “hacks,” someone who can churn out words in any situation. Hackers use the digital equivalent of duct tape to whip out code. Hacker-journalists try and bridge the two worlds.
	Hustle A laid-back event that brings designers, entrepreneurs and influencers of digital products to the Black Box to speak about their experiences, learnings and inspirations, to a room of like-minded creators.
	Java Group The Java User Group is a community of Java users who get together to share information, resources and solutions, increase networking, expand technology expertise, and above all, have fun.
	BelfastJS A group of passionate developers, designers, students, hobbyists and other curious people based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. We usually have a meetup every other month, where we have talks, presentations, and discussions on JavaScript and Web development in general.
	Lean Coffee Lean Coffee is an informal, conversational meetup for Lean / Agile practitioners, enthusiasts, or those just curious to learn more. The lean coffee format is, turn up, create topics, and vote for those topics you wish to discuss. Everyone gets a number of votes, and we talk about the most popular items. Every topic is time-boxed to 8 minutes, and as a group, we vote to keep the discussion going, or move along.
	BLUG Users, hobbyists, coders and administrators with an interest in Linux, open source technology and the FLOSS movement. A mixture of social and technical sides of Linux.
	MongoDB We are a group dedicated to increasing knowledge and awareness about MongoDB, an Open Source, document-oriented, NoSQL database. Please join us for our monthly meetings to explore this flexible and scalable alternative to traditional relational databases like MySQL, Postgres, SQL Server and Oracle.
	.Net Developers Guild the .NET stack. We will be covering everything from coding best practice, tips and hints, new developments, complimentary tooling and more. With seminars that touch on web, mobile and desktop applications it really is going to be everything .NET. If you are a .NET developer (new or mature) and want to meet up with other developers in this space then this is the group for you.
	NS A gathering of Belfast cocoaheads. This group is for anyone who’s just learning iOS right up to lead engineers who want to share their experiences with the wider community.
	OWASP OWASP, the Open Web Application Security Project, is an open community dedicated to enabling organizations to conceive, develop, acquire, operate, and maintain applications that can be trusted. All of the OWASP tools, documents, forums, and chapters are free and open to anyone interested in improving application security.
	PHP A get together for anyone interested in Open Source, PHP, Web development. All are welcome, any skill level from seasoned professional to beginner, to hobbyist. I started this group because, just like playing an instrument, the easiest way to learn is to surround yourself with others who already know how.
	Product Tank ProductTank provides an opportunity for product people in Belfast to exchange ideas and experiences about Product Design, Development and Management, Business Modelling, Metrics, User Experience and all the other things that get us excited. Events include talks from guest speakers on topics around product management, networking opportunities, and a good old-fashioned chin-wag over some pizza and a beer or two.
	Puppet Join the Belfast Puppet User Group (PUG) to gather with other Puppet users, and hear talks on Puppet, Configuration Management, and DevOps! Puppet is IT automation software that helps system administrators manage infrastructure throughout its lifecycle, from provisioning and configuration to patch management and compliance. Using Puppet, you can easily automate repetitive tasks, quickly deploy critical applications, and proactively manage change, scaling from 10s of servers to 1000s, on-premise or in the cloud.
	PyBelfast PyBelfast is a group for anyone interested in learning more about the Python programming language. We aim to hold a meetup every other month on a variety of topics, with a focus on Python related technologies. It is suitable for all levels and new people are always welcome.
	BelfastRuby Belfast Ruby is a community of aspiring and experienced developers in Belfast, Northern Ireland. We’re passionate about Ruby and Rails, holding monthly meetups to learn and share.
	UXBelfast Attendees come from any number of backgrounds. If you have any interest in product development or experience design - not just UX - you’ll find this a worthwhile. All welcome!
	Women In Tech (Lean In) Women in Tech Belfast is a Lean In circle for women whom work in any area of the tech industry. The group is to support each other, learn new skills, and encourage each other to take on new challenges. Together, we are going further and standing up for equality.
	Women Who Code Belfast Women Who Code is the largest and most active community of engineers dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers. We envision a world where women are representative as technical executives, founders, VCs, board members, and software engineers. Our programs are designed to get you there

Thinking of attending?

If you’ve never been to a user group, you have yet to discover why they are amazing. User groups provide the opportunity to learn new tricks, experience a fresh perspective, stay up-to-date in an ever-growing industry, find a new job (or a new employee), and meet new people.