[단독] Apple gestures to Korea, a 5G powerhouse… “Let’s make another great app like Snow”

Apple announced plans to establish the’Apple Developer Academy’ in Korea for the fifth time in the world. Lisa Jackson, Apple Vice President of Environmental, Policy and Social Initiatives, interviewed Maeil Business Daily on the 24th and said, “I know talented Korean developers who have developed applications like Snow and Kakao Bank. Korean developers are amazing in the global iOS app economy. “Our goal is to support and strengthen our capabilities for the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs and programmers in Korea who want to meet customers from around the world, like the success stories of previous Apple Academy graduates.”

Vice President Jackson, who served as Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Barack Obama administration, has joined Apple since 2013. Tim Cook is in charge of overseeing the overall policies to revitalize the Apple ecosystem and the developer academy, including the’Racism Elimination Initiative Project’, which was recently announced by Apple’s CEO (CEO).

Developer Academy is a one-year free curriculum where Apple works with universities around the world to nurture future developers. It is currently operating in Brazil, Italy and Indonesia, and will be established in Korea after Detroit in the US this year. Anyone over the age of 18 can apply regardless of major or coding experience. Support from developers from other European countries as well as from around the world, including Hong Kong, is pouring into the Italian Apple Academy. “We believe that anyone can learn to code, and we have the best instructors in the world to develop coding skills,” said Vice President Jackson. “Academy students are part of the Apple family, and some graduates are employed by Apple with excellent skills.” did. “In Detroit, Italy and Korea, we will continue to support and provide hands-on training even after graduation to ensure that all Apple Academy students have the preparation and support they need to pursue their careers.”

Apple established a developer academy in Korea that selects 200 trainees a year by investing 25 billion won as one of the 100 billion won win-win support proposals announced in the Fair Trade Commission’s provisional agreement resolution in August last year, and collaborated with local universities and startups. He said he would apply. Considering that Korea is where the headquarters of Samsung Electronics, Apple’s smartphone rival, is located, some analyzes say that it has a strategic meaning beyond a simple win-win support plan.

According to Apple, a total of 325,000 jobs have been created in Korea, including 200,000 iOS app economy-related jobs, which are on an increasing trend. Apple iOS has a higher entry barrier than Android, but the same operating system (OS) such as iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad allows it to handle a wide platform in a single language, and the market for paid apps is large, making it a very attractive market for developers. . In particular, Korea is regarded as a country with a high ransom price due to insufficient supply than iOS developers demand.

Apple Academy is evaluated as a curriculum that allows you to build basic literacy in various occupations such as entrepreneurs, creators, and programmers. Students learn not only app development and design, but also coding and marketing planning. Students form a team and create their own apps every three to four weeks, upload them to the App Store, and compete in competitions. As you create apps every month, you naturally have a portfolio of apps to prove your skills.

“I met graduates from Italy and Indonesia, and I couldn’t help but admire how the academy changed their careers,” said Jackson. “I’m already excited about what amazing things Korean students will accomplish.” Said.

Lee Jae-seong (25), who was selected as a scholarship student at the’Swift Student Contest’ at the Apple World Developers Conference (WWDC) in 2019 and 2020, and is currently working at Sendbird, said, Most of my friends from Brazil and Europe were from Apple academies,” he said. “If an academy is established in Korea, it will be a great help in revitalizing the iOS developer community and creating a lot of Korean materials that are currently lacking.”

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