The first center will be in partnership with an unnamed institution in Naples, and will feature an Apple-supplied curriculum that teaches students how to make iOS apps. The official announcement is light on other details about the program, such as how long it’ll take, if tvOS or watchOS are also covered, or if it includes any kind of official certification.
Apple says that European iOS developers have collectively earned €10.2 billion in App Store sales, but what’s really emphasized in the announcement is the number of jobs created in Europe: up to 1.4 million, according to Apple’s estimate, based on recent research by the Progressive Policy Institute. In Italy alone, the estimate is 75,000 jobs “attributable to the App Store.”
The story behind the story: Apple is always proud—and rightly so—of the robustness of its iOS economy, giving out impressive numbers during keynotes and earnings calls to show how well companies and developers are doing in the iOS App Store. Supporting students and teachers who want to study app development is a good thing to do, but as The Verge points out, not everyone in Europe is an Apple fan—the announcement comes while European Commission whether Apple owes up to $8 billion in back taxes.