See you at IDUG EMEA, in person or as virtual attendee

The 2024 IDUG EMEA Db2 Tech Conference is just around the corner, starting the next weekend. You can still register to attend either in person in Valencia, Spain, or to follow virtually via streamed sessions. Because I use this blog to find my own stuff, here are some links to keep handy.

Get ready for IDUG North America Db2 Tech Conference

In about a week (June 23-27), IDUG North America Db2 Tech Conference is going to start. Are you already registered and will attend either on-site or virtually? Agendas for on-site attendees and the virtual participants have been posted. 

"Breakfast Buffet Available" is something you only find on the on-site agenda. As I am to attend virtually, I will have to stack up food and drinks and get ready for an exciting week of technical talks related to Db2 for z/OS and Db2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows.

Registration for IDUG EMEA 2024 Db2 Tech Conference is now open

IDUG, the International Db2 User Group, just announced that the registration for its EMEA conference in Valencia, Spain, this Fall is now open. You can find the details about the currently available conference packages by going to the IDUG EMEA 2024 Db2 Tech Conference page. Right now, an early bird rate, a special rate for first time attendees, and for virtual participants is available. Moreover, you can also register for the Db2 for z/OS and for the Db2 for LUW Fundamentals courses.

What a community event: IDUG 2023 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference in Prague

IDUG and Db2 celebration with cake

Last week, we had a great Db2 conference in Prague. It was a real community event. We had more than 530 attendees, about 426 of them were on-site, the others virtual in three (out of seven) streamed tracks. During the opening of the expo on Monday, a special birthday cake was served, celebrating 40 years of Db2 for z/OS, 30 years of Db2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows, and 35 years of IDUG - the International Db2 User Group.

Last days of early bird rate for IDUG 2023 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference

Well, check out the IDUG 2023 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference website. If you want to use the early bird rate to register with a heavy discount, you have to hurry up. It is only available until September 1st. There is another rebate available, but it only works once: First-timer rate. And remember that the conference is already next month, in Prague.

I am already registered and will present. And I am eager to meet you there. So register, too...

IDUG 2023 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference in Prague in October

Screenshot of IDUG website

Summer vacation is coming up, but there are certain things to take care of before. One of such things is to register for the upcoming IDUG 2023 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference. The conference is held at the Prague Congress Centre, Czech Republic, this year and runs from October 15-19. It is the main gathering for European users of IBM Db2.

Dates for the IDUG Db2 Tech conferences in 2023

IDUG: International Db2 User Group

Just in time for the holidays, IDUG (International Db2 User Group) has announced the dates and locations for their user group conferences in North America and in Europe:

• 2023 IDUG NA Db2 Tech Conference will be in Philadelphia and is planned from May 16-19. As a change from previous years, the event will start on a Tuesday. The call for presentations is closing end of this month, December 31st. Check the website for details.
  
• 2023 IDUG EMEA Db2 Techn Conference is planned for October 16-19 Prague. With those dates, the event is back to a start on Monday. The call for presentations is not live yet, but expect it soon.

Enjoy the holidays.

IDUG 2022 EMEA conference is over - keep it going

"IDUG 2023 EMEA will be in"

The IDUG 2022 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference is over. What a week it was! Hard work, not much sleep, technical education, in-person networking, fun, and much more. After getting home, I needed two days and especially the nights to recharge, then the last week to reflect. Here are my random thoughts...

Database event in Edinburgh: IDUG 2022 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference

IDUG 2022 Db2 Tech Conference

Two months are left before the IDUG 2022 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference is to begin. After two years of virtual-only events, this conference marks a new start for the (mostly) European part of the Db2 community, the International Db2 User Group (IDUG). Last month, the IDUG 2022 NA conference in Boston, USA, showed the value of face-to-face events. Networking, formal and informal exchange of information, education, certification, and some fun. So what to expect from the conference in October?

IDUG EMEA 2022 Tech Conference: Call for presentations open

Submit your Db2 presentation now

This is a rather short (and quick) post. Have you seen that the CfP (Call for Presentations) for the Db2 conference in Scotland scheduled for October is open? The IDUG 2022 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from October 22-26 this year (for sure, I promise!). Because IDUG is the International Db2 User Group and hence is organized by users and lives from user participation the conference planning committee is hoping for many submissions by users.

Do you know how to install Db2 or connect to it? Have you successfully retrieved query results, in a program written in Python, Node.js, Cobol, Go or C++? Have you provisioned Db2 on Cloud, pulled the container image with Db2 Warehouse and deployed it? If you answered yes to one of these questions, go ahead and submit a presentation, share your experience!

I expect the CfP to be open until end of April.

If you have feedback, suggestions, or questions about this post, please reach out to me on Twitter (@data_henrik) or LinkedIn.

Get educated: The IDUG Virtual 2021 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference is coming up

The virtual Db2 conference is coming up

Do you remember meeting in person, at a conference? Well, hang on to that memory because the International Db2 User Group (IDUG) conference for EMEA is going to be virtual again this year. The "IDUG Virtual 2021 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference" is scheduled for December 6-10. If you have not registered, I recommend doing it. Here are some highlights and links to explore further.

OBS on Linux: Green screen and virtual camera for video conferencing

OBS Studio: My monkey enjoys the beach

Similar to many of you, part of my work and hobbies consists of video conferencing. For some time now, I have been using OBS Studio (Open Broadcaster Software) to create a virtual camera on my Linux system. Recently, I had to upgrade my kernel. It required to recompile some file and reminded me that I wanted to blog about it. As usual, this is how I remember all the interesting stuff. So what is needed to create a virtual camera with OBS Studio and can you use a green screen for some beach feeling like shown?

Details available: IDUG EMEA 2020 as virtual conference

In August I already mentioned that the Db2 conference IDUG EMEA 2020 goes virtual. Now, the details are available, including the agenda - so-called virtual grid. The virtual conference will offer three tracks. One is for Db2 for z/OS, one for Db2 (LUW), and one track is dedicated to application development topics. Pricing is similar to the Db2 North America conference with $199 for a regular ticket and $99 if you are IDUG premium member. So, with no further ado, head over to the IDUG website, check out the agenda and register. I hope to see you in November.

BTW: I recently participated in another virtual conference. The organizers sent out some goodies ahead of the conference, including yummy cookies.

Get some REST with Db2

Db2 has a REST API

Many of the IBM Cloud services have a REST API, an overview of REST APIs is here in the IBM Cloud docs. Recently, I realized that I had not yet tried the Db2 on Cloud API and the API for Db2 Warehouse on Cloud. Thus, last Friday I took some time to test out some code using one of my Db2 instances on IBM Cloud. Here is what you need to get started....

After IDUG is before IDUG: Back from Db2 conference in Charlotte, NC

Last week the IDUG NA 2019 was held in Charlotte, NC. It featured 8 parallel tracks dedicated to Db2 for z/OS and Db2 for LUW and emerging technologies. In addition, two tracks for hands-on labs and workshops were offered. Personally, I delivered three presentations, moderated and attended sessions, and was active on Twitter. So what was on? Continue after the snap of Twitter photos from last week.

Twitter photo feed from IDUG NA 2019

Enterprise digitalization and cybersecurity: How companies struggle

Cybersecurity Workshop at Zeppelin University

Last Friday, 25.01.2019, I attended the Cybersecurity workshop of the "Bodensee Innovationscluster Digitaler Wandel" (digitalization). The innovation cluster is organized by the Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen. It tries to bring together companies from the wider Lake Constance region that are impacted by digitalization. The researchers have identified four topics that will be addressed:

Cloud app development with Db2 - Db2 Aktuell Conference

Db2 Aktuell conference in Germany

Next week I will give a talk at the Db2 Aktuell conference in Berlin, Germany. My presentation is about developing Db2 applications in a cloud environment. Regardless whether you are new to "cloud apps" or to Db2 application development, there is always something to learn.

The secret is in the credentials

Regardless of whether an application is deployed as container to a Kubernetes cluster, as Cloud Foundry app, or is written with Cloud Functions, it always needs to figure out how to connect to the (Db2) database. If the database is provisioned as a service (DBaaS) the related credentials are issued. By binding the service to the app or its components, the application code can extract the connection details from the credentials and access the database.
Depending on the technology the credentials are stored in package bindings (Cloud Functions), in VCAP environment variables (Cloud Foundry),  or secrets (Kubernetes).

Make it fast

Having a functional app does not mean to have a well-performing app. It requires skills in database app development and in database administration. Understanding what data is needed by the app and cutting away "fat", i.e. unnecessary data and processing, helps improving overall performance. It means restricting columns to a minimum, applying the right predicates, optimizing for the desired result set and more.

Meet in Berlin

Interested to learn more? Let's meet in Berlin next week at the Db2 Aktuell.

Upcoming Db2 events for the German and European crowd

Upcoming Db2 events

Are you back from vacation and need to get an overview of upcoming Db2 related Events? Here we go.

• Db2 Aktuell: Already this September 24-26 in Berlin, the conference offers tracks on Db2 on the mainframe and Db2 LUW. You can proof your knowledge and get certified. There is a "bring your co-worker" offer, making it a nice team event.
• DeDUG (German Db2 User Group): The next DeDUG meeting is special in two kinds. It will be sponsored by and feature Scott Hayes (DBI Software) as speaker. And it is held at the IBM Watson Center in Munich on October 19th. As usual, it is a free event.
• IDUG 2018 EMEA Conference: Last but not least on my list is the annual International Db2 User Group conference in Europe. It runs from November 4-8 and takes place on beautiful Malta. It is THE family gathering of the European Db2 community. Don't miss it.

If you have feedback, suggestions, or questions about this post, please reach out to me on Twitter (@data_henrik) or LinkedIn.

Db2: Some Friday Fun with XML and SQL recursion

Recursion is fun!?

Right now, Michael Tiefenbacher  and I have to prepare our joint talk "Some iterations over recursion" for the IDUG Db2 Tech Conference in Malta 2018. The title of our talk promises some fun, coding up some of the sample SQL already is. Yesterday and this morning I tested a little query I wrote and brought down my machine (not Db2). In April, I wrote about two different kind of recursive queries, standard SQL and Oracle syntax. Today, let me give you insights to a nasty recursive query that features SQL, SQL/XML and XQuery.

Now on GitHub: Understand and build chatbots the easy way

Recently, I posted about a then upcoming Meetup and my talk about chatbots. Here is a quick follow-up. To compile stuff for that presentation and some other upcoming talks, I created a GitHub repository "chatbot-talk2018". I has lots of links to get started and to deepen understanding around chatbot technology. Moreover, it contains a presentation in Markdown for GitPitch for you to use and extend. And finally, I wrote this brief introduction to some chatbot terms or concepts:

• Intents are what the user aims for, the desired action or result of the interaction. An intent can be to retrieve a weather report.
• Entities are (real or virtual) subjects or objects. For the example of the weather report, entities can be the city or country, e.g., Friedrichshafen in Germany, or date and time information such as "today afternoon".
• A dialog, dialog flow or dialog tree is used to structure the interaction. Typically, an interaction lasts longer than the user providing input and the chatbot returning a single answer. A dialog can be highly complex with several levels, subbranches, (directed) links between dialog nodes and more.
  For a weather chatbot, a dialog could be constructed that, after a greeting, asks the user about the location and time for a weather report, then asks if additional information, such as a weather outlook for the next few days, is needed.
• Slots are supported by several chatbot systems. Slots are used to specify the data items that need to be specified in order to produce the result of an intent. To return a weather report, e.g., at least the location and maybe the date or time is needed.
• Context is state information that is carried from step to step for a specific user interaction. The context typically stores the information that is already gathered as input (see "slot"), result-related data or metadata, or general chat information, e.g., the user name.

If you have feedback, suggestions, or questions about this post, please reach out to me on Twitter (@data_henrik) or LinkedIn.