Apple opens first all-female Developer Academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Apple Saudi Riyadh
Apple Saudi Riyadh (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Apple has opened a new developer academy in Saudi Arabia.
  • It is an all-female academy in Riyadh, based at the Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University.
  • Students will learn coding, design, marketing, project management, and entrepreneurship.

Apple has this week welcomed students to its first-ever all-female Academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

As reported by Khaleej Times:

Apple welcomed its student for in-person learning to its first all-female Apple Developer Academy in Riyadh this week. The academy, which is Apple's first coding institution in the Middle East region is a partnership with the Saudi Federation for Cyber ​​Security, Programming and Drones, represented by Tuwaiq Academy, and Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University.

Apple's VP of Education and Enterprise Marketing Susan Prescot said that Apple was "excited to welcome the first class of women to the Apple Developer Academy facility at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University," stating that Apple's App Store ecosystem "gives anyone with an idea the opportunity to design and build incredible new apps that can change the world."

At the new academy, students will learn the fundamentals of coding, but also marketing, project management, entrepreneurship, and more. 70 percent of the trained mentors are females, and female students will be enrolled from all over Saudia Arabia and beyond. Student Lina Alismail said "It's my honor and pleasure to be part of the Apple Developer Academy family. Our first day at the academy was like a dream come true. I'm looking forward to the next days and I am grateful for all the time, talents, expertise, support, and opportunity the academy already gave me and will give to me in the future."

The academy hopes to serve more than 600 women per year on both 30-day foundation courses and longer 10-month academy programs.

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design.

Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9