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Kevin O’Hagan

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PalmaActiva protagonists num032

ENTREPRENEURS/ COLLABORATORS/ L’EQUIP / CUSTOMERS

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nº 32

Collaborators: Kevin O’Hagan“MALLORCAJS: towards the collaborative environment of JAVASCRIPT ”

Kevin O’Hagan is 26 years old, a mixture of French-Irish nationality, he studied mathematics at the Imperial College London University.He established his residence in Mallorca two and a half years ago, the place where he found his other half and his professional vocation: to become a web and mobile developer.As a self-taught developer he quickly realised that Mallorca was a great place for him to live.At present he is the organiser of MallorcaJS : a local collaborative programming community , that is growing very fast (almost a hundred members already), with the aim of sharing knowledge around the JavaScript programming language.

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In 2013 he founded in Mallorca PalmandPlay (palmandplay.com), a creative agency that offers services of web and graphic design, web and mobile development, film and corporate videos, photos, etc, with customers like Barceló Hotels, Melià Hotels, juaneda Clinic, different rural hostels, dior, lancome, as well as startups in Paris and other places of the world.

Other than that, he is the organiser of the MallorcaJS, a monthly meeting, entirely run in English, that has the aim of developing talks on any topics that have to do with JavaScript, one of the most used programming language today.

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Was it easy to initiate your relation with PalmaActiva?I had already participated in several events like master-cafe, betabeers, networking in PalmaActiva and liked them a lot. I began collaborating with PalmaActiva through Betabeers as a speaker and also as a member of the audience. I saw straight away a huge potential in PalmaActiva to organise events, that would attract people with similar interests.They have been extremely helpful at all kinds of levels.

How did you take the decision to settle down in Mallorca?Right from the beginning I knew that I did not want to depend on the island’s seasonal economy for work and saw in Computing the opportunity to develop myself as an individual and a professional. Being a remote web developer has huge advantages when you live in such a beautiful place like Mallorca, and the majority of my customers are outside of the island.

How were the beginnings of your project?As I am self-taught, I really needed a way to meet other people in my field.When I learned about the ParcBit I was really looking forward to other community initiatives for my own learning.

However, although the ParcBit has huge potential and is a great environment for entrepreneurs, I believe there is a real problem in communication and knowledge-sharing between it’s main actors. So I decided to do something about it.

“I see the Mallorca of 2035 like a technological

pole of reference”

So, what was your determination?We decided to start MallorcaJS with the idea of creating a vibrant community of passionate technological people on the island.The aim of this community is to share ideas, experiences and knowledge of JavaScript with the professional sector in Mallorca.

What are the characteristics of these MallorcaJS meetings?The events are itinerant, that means, we try and change venue to offer more visibility to our community.On the island there exists a big community of foreign residents interested in the subject, as well as companies that can benefit from this type of initiatives.

We have organised it already on three occasions with the collaboration of PalmaActiva.

Why the decision to develop these events in English?It is congruent with the language used in the development of Javascript and the Web in general. But apart from that, it has opened us the doors to the participation of foreign speakers that do not necessarily speak Spanish.

“In Mallorca people lives very well, and I want the developers of Europe to know it to attract them

here”What is the impression that generates the local participants when they discover that they have to use only English?What we realised is that the level of English of the participants is more than acceptable.Therefore with this type of events we achieve a double purpose: work on a programming language of the future, and on the other hand put in practice the international language of computing.It’s a win-win situation. Mallorca misses opportunities when the lack of English prevents it from accessing global markets.

What has been the result of the MallorcaJS events and especially the ones developed in PalmaActiva?These are events of collaboration around the JavaScript language, in which people share experiences and work with open source technology.MallorcaJS is a great place to share knowledge, ask questions, learn and teach but especially to meet new people.The events organised through PalmaActiva gave us a big visibility. In Palma there are so many interesting things happening but sometimes it is difficult to know about them.

What is the value of these events for the participants?Not only do they allow you to realise that there are people with more(or less) than you, to whom you can help or learn, which is very humbling, but it is also an opportunity to access job opportunities as a consequence of meeting people that work in the sector.

Tell us about the main professional figure of a future company, based in the technology and information?Any technological company idea carries implicitly the figure of the developer, that can assume different roles in a project, that affects the future of the company on the long-

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term. A developer is somebody that can create a digital idea. There is a lot of similarity between art and coding, that creates great ideas. The current development of businesses includes these visions.

How do Smart Cities relate to developers?That notion will be fundamental. Spain should give a push forward towards them, like it is already occurring in the rest of Europe. Smart Cities will be part of the future of Europe but they will especially be inhabited by Smarts citizens: not just people with telephones and mobile devices. Everything electrical will be connected to the Internet. This panorama will generate a lot of job opportunities for us developers. That is why I am especially interested in the digital education of children. We need to bet on digital intelligence. Screens can be a context of creative development and not just as passive entertainment.

Why do you think entrepreneurs can find Mallorca attractive to settle down?In Mallorca you do not distinguish between work and leisure because the

environment, the climate and the lifestyle lets you enjoy every

moment. The quality of life here is one of the highest in Europe without a

doubt.

Furthermore for a foreigner, it offers a great accessibility from any city in Europe in a very little amount of time.In my case for example, I take less time in flying from Palma to Paris, than from the airport to the periphery of Paris where my family lives.

How do you see the future of Mallorca?I see Mallorca in 2035 as a European technological pole, because it offers great lifestyle conditions surrounded by all the big european cities.However it is necessary to create some communication dynamics with other European cities that would allow for a change in the image the island provides.In Mallorca you can live very well and we want the european developers to realise this! I recognise that I have become an advocate of the advantages Mallorca has to offer!

What areas of improvement exist in Mallorca to generate this welcoming?It is important, overall, to improve the communication with the big community of foreigners that are residents on the island, and that contribute to the enrichment of the society. Definitely, it would project a very attractive image for potentials entrepreneurs who would want to settle on the island. At the same time Mallorca needs to generate internal dynamics to allow different groups of people to relate. The distance between residents and foreigners hampers the mutual enrichment.

I see MallorcaJS as an opportunity to surpass these barriers and boost the mutual gain.

Which is your evaluation after two years of living on the island?I have been fortunate to integrate myself very well with the Mallorcan society, and obviously to have found love.When I met my girlfriend I was amazed by her attachment to her place of origin. Now I know why.I am full of admiration for the love the Majorcans have towards their land and their culture.Professionally I have learnt a lot from the mistakes I have made and from these I have begun to succeed with new Projects

For futher information: Palmandplayinfo@palmandplay.compalmandplay.com

“The events JavaJS are spaces of collaboration in which we share experiences and works with the open source”

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