For the location of their first Apple Developer Academy in the Middle East and North Africa region, Apple has picked Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In its first phase, the academy will be dedicated to programmers and developers, in support of efforts for women empowerment and the ongoing massive social reforms under Vision 2030.
As part of the agreement, the prestigious international company will work in tandem with the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones represented by Tuwaiq Academy in partnership with Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University.
Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Al-Swaha thanked the Apple Developer Academy for choosing the Kingdom to be the first country in the MENA region to host the global Apple academy for programming and development.
“This qualitative move is an investment in the digital minds and skills of our girls in their journey of building the innovative future of the nation and the transformation towards an economy based on innovation and digital transformation.”
On his part, the chairman of the Board of Directors of SAFCSP and the Tuwaiq Academy Faisal Al-Khamisi expressed his great happiness with this distinguished partnership with the prestigious international company Apple… Al-Khamisi said the academy will work to provide tools and training for aspiring female entrepreneurs, developers and designers to establish start-up companies and find many jobs in the field of iOS applications, through several focus tracks: programming, business applications, marketing, design, and professional skills.
MacDailyNews Take: Congrats to Saudi Arabia on landing the first Apple Developer Academy in the Middle East!
Well nice to see Apple following their high moral standards here. I do wonder why they continue to preach about taking moral high grounds when actions like this and actions in China show they are really no better than anyone else in reality. I guess at least Cook with this development can safely visit there while others of his lifestyle certainly will not be welcome or even likely out of a cell.
Amman, Abu Dhabi or Dubai would seem like better choices for this area.
Apparently The Kingdom wants to set an example.
Hopefully it won’t be fleeting.
I bet Tim Cock thinks this is “phenawmenal.”
Not the moral high-ground here for Apple, “the Kingdom” is anti human-rights … in many ways worse than China.
But they have their oil money, this makes Apple look hypocritical.
I spent six months of my life living in Saudi Arabia, so I am speaking from real-life experience of the place.