‘Apple Developer Academy Showcase’ Held in Pohang, Showcasing World’s Top IT Talent Skills

East Asia's First Academy and World's First Apple Manufacturing R&D Support Center Established

Mayor Lee Kang-deok, "Digital Technology is National Competitiveness, Enhancing Communication and Cooperation with Apple"

The showcase (app presentation) for graduates of the next-generation creator training hub, the Apple Developer Academy, will be held on the 4th and 5th at POSTECH C5.

'Apple Developer Academy' Showcase Held in Pohang.

At the event held on the 4th, attendees included Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang; Baek In-gyu, Chairman of Pohang City Council; Kim Sung-geun, President of POSTECH; Ahn Cheol-hyun, Vice President of Apple Korea; Rowen, Global Head of Technology at Apple Academy; Ahn Hee-gap, concurrently Director of Developer Academy and Manufacturing R&D Support Center (also Director of POSTECH Planning Office); and Choi Hyuk-jun, Director of Metaverse Science Bureau of Gyeongbuk Province. The 2nd batch of academy graduates celebrated their achievements divided into 36 teams.

The 2nd Apple Developer Academy ran for about nine months from March 6 to December 8, with around 200 students participating. It holds great significance as the participants acquired various technologies for app development based on Apple’s corporate spirit of new innovation and challenge, Apple being the world’s number one company by market capitalization.

Among the 2nd batch graduates, 46 winners emerged in the annual Swift Student Challenge at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which attracts over 20 million participants each year, highlighting talented individuals capable of leading the global app development market.

During the two-day showcase, over 200 graduates will present a variety of apps they personally developed using Apple’s new technologies and operating systems, including iOS (iPhone OS), macOS (computer OS), watchOS (smartwatch OS), and iPadOS (iPad OS), displayed at individual booths.

Representative apps include ▲‘High Pitch,’ which assists with presentation practice through immediate online feedback ▲‘Mymomii,’ an app tailored to help women with developmental disabilities manage their menstrual cycles ▲‘OUTLINE,’ which suggests region-specific, especially Pohang’s unique art running courses, and supports users in completing runs through Apple’s advanced technology. These apps are notable for their practical usefulness in daily life and entrepreneurial spirit aimed at solving real community issues.

During the event, IT-related companies nationwide participated in the graduation ceremony to meet innovative talents who have absorbed Apple’s differentiated app business technologies. Graduates are expected to leverage the knowledge and skills acquired at the academy to work at leading domestic IT companies or to excel in app development, design, startups, and various fields on the global stage.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok encouraged the graduates who came to Pohang from across the country, saying, “We feel immense pride that Pohang hosts East Asia’s first Apple Developer Academy and the world’s first Apple Manufacturing R&D Support Center together.” He added, “As new digital technologies are the key to national competitiveness, Pohang City will continue to communicate and collaborate with Apple to discover new cooperative projects.”

Established last year, the Apple Developer Academy selects about 200 trainees annually following the first batch of approximately 190. It offers fully free education utilizing Apple’s excellent education system, covering coding, design, marketing, and app business technology training.

For the 2nd batch, students were selected nationwide to learn Apple’s outstanding technologies, with 17% from Gyeongbuk, 67% from the metropolitan area, and 20% from other regions. In September, the recruitment for the 3rd batch also attracted high interest, with about 210 students selected.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.