Apple Plans to Offer New 'iOS Foundation Program' at Five Universities in Italy

Apple this week opened its first iOS Developer Center at the University of Naples Federico II's new San Giovanni a Teduccio campus, located in a coastal suburb east of Naples, Italy, and the company is already planning on expanding the initiative due to its popularity.

At an event celebrating the opening of the Developer Center that was documented by Italian site Maccitynet.it, Apple's vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives Lisa Jackson told gathered students about an upcoming iOS Foundation Program, designed to teach many more students about the fundamentals of iOS app development.

A shorter version of the longer course at the iOS Developer Center, the iOS Foundation Program will see Apple teaming up with "at least five universities" across the Campania region to offer a three to four week course in app development. Apple expects the iOS Foundation Program to be available to 800 students during its first year, expanding from there.

Jackson shared few details on the upcoming program, but said it is aimed at introducing students to the iOS ecosystem.

It's a great opportunity to magnify the wonderful beginning here. It's a great opportunity to work with students and teach across the region and advance our work and the work you're doing at the first academy in Europe.

With both the iOS Developer Center and the iOS Foundation Program, Apple is hoping to give students the skills and understanding they need to transition from the education they receive in school to actually developing an app. According to Jackson, it's important to Apple to "unlock the potential of young developers" and make sure the app economy is open to everyone by giving young people the "crucial skills and support" to get into app development.

Apple's first official iOS Developer Center opened to students yesterday, with 100 students able to attend starting this week and 100 additional students starting in three months. Apple had thousands of students apply for just 200 available spots, which is why the company is planning to team up with additional universities.

The nine month course will teach students how to write code and create apps for Apple's iOS devices. Thanks to scholarships created in partnership with the University of Naples, students will attend for free and will be provided with current-generation MacBooks, iPhones, and iPads.

While the iOS Developer Center and the iOS Foundation Program are limited to Italy at this time, it stands to reason that Apple could potentially expand the experience to additional countries should it prove successful. Apple has also recently introduced Swift Playgrounds, designed to help children and beginning coders learn to use the company's Swift programming language to develop apps.