December 8, 2020 – The Apple Developer Academy celebrated the graduation of 400 students all over Indonesia through a virtual event today. These graduates were from three academies located in Jakarta, Surabaya, and the first batch to graduate from the academy was in Batam.

This virtual event was attended by Lisa Jackson (Apple's Vice President of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives), Prof. Bambang Permadi Soemantri Brodjonegoro, S.E., M.U.P., Ph.D. (Minister for Research and Technology/Chairman of National Agency for Research and Innovation), Emil Dardak (Vice Governor of East Java), Simon Soekarno (Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in San Francisco), and Eko Cahyanto, (Head of BPSDMI of the Ministry of Industry of the Republic of Indonesia, representing Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, the Minister of Industry of the Republic of Indonesia), as well as other senior officials from the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.

“This year, Apple Developer graduates have shown their toughness, intelligence, and incredible determination, in adapting to new ways of learning and acquiring the skills needed to develop iOS apps and participate in the rapidly growing app economy,” said Lisa Jackson. “These graduates leave the academy with important skills they can use to make the world a better place, and we can’t wait to see the extraordinary things that they will achieve”.

With the challenges caused by COVID-19, including the temporary closure of academy locations, students needed to quickly adapt to online learning, collaborating with each other but in separate places. Many of the applications developed over the past 10 months also reflect the ‘new normal’, such as provision for emergency care services, e-commerce platforms, and interactive online learning.

As part of this virtual event, four student developer groups had the opportunity to present their applications: Aura, a tool for emergency care service and de-stigmatization for people with epilepsy; Muara, an interactive distance learning for the National Museum of Indonesia; Quipy, an application that manages inventory, online sales transactions and customer’s feedback via customized keyboard shortcuts; and Aksaraya, an application that focuses on preserving traditional Javanese scripts using Apple Pencil and iPad. Aura, Quipy, and Aksaraya are available now on the App Store.

Students from the developer group were invited to Apple’s Entrepreneur Developer Camp for Women, where they will have the opportunity to obtain code-level personal guidance from Apple experts and engineers, and mentoring, inspiration, and insight from Apple’s top leaders. A total of 13 academy graduates, as scholarship winners, also previously attended three of Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conferences.

Since 2017, more than 450 students have studied at the Apple Developer Academy in Indonesia, with 400 students currently enrolled. Next year's class has attracted interest from 80 cities across Indonesia, including a 100 percent increase in female registrants compared to last year.

By collaborating with leading local institutions such as BINUS UNIVERSITY in Jakarta, Ciputra University in Surabaya, and Infinite Learning in Batam, the Apple Developer Academy has prepared students for jobs in the digital economy and fast-growing applications in Indonesia. Academic alumni in Indonesia have now worked in various industries and have contributed significantly to Indonesia's digital transformation.

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  • John Keating and his team were inspired to make the Aura application after his twin brother Dio passed away, due to a local emergency care service mistakenly diagnosing Dio’s epilepsy. Aura is a tool for emergency care services and helps to de-stigmatize people with epilepsy.

  • Anadina Harissa and her team developed Muara, an interactive AR distance learning tool for the National Museum of Indonesia, based on their interest in history and desire to enrich the experience of visiting museums for students.