BDEN Meetup #2 Recap: Platform Engineering, Security & Networking

Our second Belgian Developer Experience Network (BDEN) event has come to a close, and what an incredible evening it was! 🚀

This time, we delved into Platform Engineering and Kubernetes, exploring both the challenges and practical solutions developers face today. The event brought together an engaged audience, lively discussions, and valuable insights from our expert speakers.

Key Takeaways from the Talks

🔐 Bypassing Security Controls in the K8s Ecosystem

Speaker: Philippe Bogaerts

Philippe took us on a deep dive into Kubernetes security risks, highlighting how attackers can bypass security controls and exploit vulnerabilities in cloud-native environments. He showcased real-world examples of security misconfigurations and shared best practices for protecting workloads.

One key message? Security can’t be an afterthought—as developers, we need to build with security in mind from the start.

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🛠️ Monitoring Applications Running on K8s with OpenTelemetry

Speaker: Evelien Schellekens

Evelien walked us through how OpenTelemetry simplifies observability in Kubernetes, making it easier for developers and platform teams to monitor applications effectively. Her talk covered practical ways to collect and analyze metrics, logs, and traces without breaking the bank, and the live demo gave attendees a real-world look at how powerful OpenTelemetry + Elastic can be.

The key takeaway? Better observability doesn’t have to come with a big price tag—it’s all about leveraging the right tools efficiently.

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Networking, Food & Community

After the sessions, we gathered for a relaxed networking event over delicious pizza 🍕. It was great to see developers, platform engineers, and security enthusiasts exchanging ideas, sharing experiences, and making new connections. Events like these remind us of why BDEN exists—to bring developers together, learn from each other, and grow as a community.

What’s Next?

A huge thank you to everyone who joined, asked insightful questions, and contributed to making this event a success! We’re already planning our next BDEN meetup, so stay tuned for details.

We can’t wait to see you all again soon!

#BDEN #Kubernetes #PlatformEngineering #DevSecOps #Networking #Observability #OpenTelemetry