Tech giant Apple on Wednesday announced a new initiative to support engineering talent and accelerate growth in India’s iOS developer community.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, who landed in India late on Tuesday said the company would establish a Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru, the home of India’s startup scene.
Tens of thousands of developers in India make apps for iOS, the world’s most powerful mobile operating system and the foundation for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. This initiative will provide additional, specialised support for them.
Apple’s team will work to inspire and instruct developers on best practices, help them hone their skills and transform the design, quality and performance of their apps on the iOS platform.
“India is home to one of the most vibrant and entrepreneurial iOS development communities in the world,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.
“With the opening of this new facility in Bengaluru, we’re giving developers access to tools which will help them create innovative apps for customers around the world,” Cook added.
Each week, Apple experts will lead briefings and provide one-on-one app reviews for developers. The facility will also provide support and guidance on Swift, Apple’s powerful and intuitive programming language created to build apps for iOS, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch. Swift enables developers to write safer, more reliable code, save time and create richer app experiences. A recent report by developer placement firm Toptal shows jobs requesting Swift rose 600 percent in 2015.
Bengaluru is now home to more technology startups than any other part of India. Over one million people in the city work in the tech sector, and over 40 percent of graduates from local universities specialize in engineering or information technology.
“This is a huge vote of confidence in India’s developer community and a tremendous opportunity to gain world-class design and development expertise. Apple’s support will help drive growth and accelerate progress among the country’s vast talent pool,” said Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal.
“We have worked closely with Apple to transform the Snapdeal app and offer our users the best possible experience. Apple’s expert guidance on the interface and user experience has helped us build an app that our consumers love. We are thrilled that they will have a local presence which will amplify our efforts to develop more high-quality apps for our digital commerce ecosystem,” said Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl.
“Apple’s investment in Bengaluru through its iOS Development Accelerator will have far-reaching effects for the area’s rapidly growing and highly talented developer community. The skills and training they gain through this effort will significantly improve their app design and help them reach a broader market. Initiatives like these move the country forward in our efforts to advance a growth-led and sustainable technology sector,” said NASSCOM President R Chandrashekhar.
The iOS App Design and Development Accelerator is expected to open in early 2017.
Tim Cook is also likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his India sojourn.