Your SIGNAL 2017 conference briefing

Twilio has a made a whole bunch on announcements at their SIGNAL.2017 conference this year. So if you didn't make it to the conference, here's briefing on some of the major talking points.

Twilio launches Functions - A Serverless Environment for Rapidly Building on the Twilio Cloud Communications Platform
Functions is a serverless environment that empowers developers to focus on application experience rather than the web infrastructure required to run it. With Twilio Functions, developers and businesses no longer need to navigate the complexity of setting up, configuring, managing and scaling web infrastructure for their communication applications.

IoT Blueprints - a step by step instruction kit that shows IoT developers how easy it is to add API-driven cellular connectivity to their projects. They also announced that starting this fall, every Twilio Programmable Wireless SIM card will be shipped with identification and authentication capabilities via x.509 certificates. Customers like iBeat, a smartwatch that provides on demand emergency response for those experiencing a heart attack or Limebike, who has built a connected bike, are using their platform.

Twilio.org Awards First $1 Million in Grants as Part of Its Pledge 1% Commitment - Twilio.org announced that it has awarded $1 million in grants to nonprofits as part of the Twilio.org Impact Fund. The first nonprofits to receive funding are CareMessage, The OpenGov Foundation, Mission Asset Fund, Fast Forward, Democracy Works, Trek Medics, Lesbians Who Tech and #YesWeCode.

Tanmay Bakshi - A 13 year old software and cognitive developer as well as YouTube star joined the keynote stage to fly his Twilio SMS-powered drone. Tanmay learned to code at age 5, had his first app in the App Store by 9 and at 13 has committed to helping 100,000 kids and coding beginners to innovate through coding by the time he is 15.