Apple to Open Apple Developer Academy in Saudi Arabia, First in the MENA Region

Apple plans to open its first Apple Developer Academy headquarters for the Middle East and North African region (MENA) in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, reports Saudi Gazette.

apple dev academy
The Apple Developer Academy is Apple's strategic program to ensure that students interested in technology receive proper training for programming across all of its platforms. Students are taught how to write and manage iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS apps, and are all taught under a curriculum created by Apple.

In Saudi Arabia, Apple will partner with the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones alongside the Tuwaiq Academy and the Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahaman Unversity. Saudi Arabia's Minister of Education, Dr. Hamad Al-Sheikh, called Apple's expansion of the academy into the country a "key center for producing programmers and technology developers."

One of the academy's key aims will be women's empowerment in the technology space and part of Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030" plan, which aims to diversify the economy beyond reliance on oil. The chairman of the SAFCSP (Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones), Faisal Al-Khamisi, says it is his hope that the new partnership will create more opportunities for the Saudi workforce, and the local community.

In our partnership with Apple, we will work together and strive to create an economic ecosystem for business to instill skills that enhance innovation and technology, and ensure a sustainable and prosperous future for our local community and the societies of the world that will undoubtedly benefit from the technical cadres that will receive education and training at the Apple Academy.

The first Apple Developer Academy launched in Brazil in 2013 and has since expanded to more countries, with Saudi Arabia being the latest as part of Apple's global outreach to students passionate about app development.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Top Rated Comments

TheYayAreaLiving ? Avatar
23 months ago
This is great news. Didn’t see that one coming. Hoping India is next?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Agit21 Avatar
23 months ago
Great news, I hope Apple will expand to many more regions all across the world.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Phil A. Avatar
23 months ago
Mod Note
I have deleted several posts due to them containing political content or quoting post which did: Political posts are not permitted in the general forums. Please see this post ('https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/politics-religion-social-issues-forum-closed-july-2021.2303225/') from the site owner for more information
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hot-gril Avatar
23 months ago
I'm curious where the other ones are located since this article mentions it's the first in the MENA region. It's interesting that they expanded to Saudi Arabia before Israel, given that they have an office in Israel.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
T Coma Avatar
22 months ago
Curious about how they will “just comply with local laws.” That is the popular phrase around here, right?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
23 months ago
I just hope it is somewhat divers. I wish I could code but I am too stupid for it. Took me 4 tries to finally pass „Java advanced“ (I had no choice) at Uni ? and i am sure I cannot even do „Hello World“ at this point. Must be cool if you actually get the hang of it, creating something. Instead I am on the other side, telling them what I need done
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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