Apple has picked Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as the location for its first Apple Developer Academy in the Middle East and North Africa region.
According to the Saudi Gazette, the Apple Developer Academy will be dedicated to providing tools and training for aspiring female programmers, developers, and designer so that they can establish startups and create jobs in iOS app development.
Additionally, the move could also bolster support of women’s empowerment and other social reforms under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 project.
The Apple academy will partner with the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP) via the Tuwaiq Academy and Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University.
“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,” said Abdullah Al-Swaha, the Saudi Arabia’s minister of Communications and Information Technology.
Faisal Al-Khamisi, chair of the Board of Directors for SAFCSP and the Tuwaiq Academy, also thanked Apple for choosing Riyadh.
“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,” he added.
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So, on the one hand, Tim Cook protests the voting laws in some US states by saying:
Yet on the other hand he doesn’t protest the “voting laws” in Saudi Arabia but instead opens up businesses there where gay people get “fines, public whipping, beatings, vigilante attacks, chemical castrations, prison time up to life, death penalty and torture.” (wikipedia)
Let this post prove that I’m not always on Apple’s side. I’m on the side of human rights, which is an area where Apple does’t shine very much.
Yet on the other hand he doesn’t protest the “voting laws” in Saudi Arabia but instead opens up businesses there where gay people get “fines, public whipping, beatings, vigilante attacks, chemical castrations, prison time up to life, death penalty and torture.” (wikipedia)
Let this post prove that I’m not always on Apple’s side. I’m on the side of human rights, which is an area where Apple does’t shine very much.
Well, I suppose Apple could resolutely refuse to engage in any form of business relationship with the Kingdom (including product sales), thereby taking a notionally principled yet ineffectual stance. Or Apple could actively promote the skills of young Saudi women and enable them to gain some semblance of financial independence from their male dominated households. Seems like a win to me. I would hope and expect physical security to be taken very seriously at venue entrances.
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