You are here

Lab to train young Jordanians on creating educational apps

By Mohammad Ghazal - Jan 18,2014 - Last updated at Jan 18,2014

AMMAN — A smart education lab is scheduled to be launched within three months to train young Jordanians on how to create educational apps to serve the region.

The lab, to be located at the King Hussein Business Park in Amman, will provide training to university students, schoolchildren and those interested in app development for free, Amin Unsal, senior sales manager at Alcatel OneTouch, told The Jordan Times on Saturday.

Alcatel is implementing the initiative in partnership with Maysalward and the High Academy for Training and Consulting.

“There is a great demand for educational apps in the Middle East, and the app industry can be a great driver for the economy by creating jobs. The initiative seeks to realise all those objectives,” Unsal said.

The initiative, which is supported by the King Abdullah II Fund for Development, is aimed at supporting talented app developers and helping monetise their products, he added.

“After the training, which will be provided regularly, we will support those who develop the best apps by promoting their apps, connecting them with potential investors and helping them create start-ups,” Unsal noted.

Nour Khrais, founder and CEO of Maysalward and head of the Jordan Gaming Task Force, said the initiative is likely to play a key role in creating jobs for young Jordanians, especially due to the “large potential in the app industry”.

In Europe, the app industry created about 700,000 direct and indirect jobs in 2013, with 63 per cent of the total jobs for programmers. The industry generated 10 billion euros in revenues last year in Europe, Khrais said, citing EU figures.

“Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt can all cooperate to create a successful app industry that can create jobs and drive the economy, but we need the cooperation of all stakeholders to create a comprehensive ecosystem to support it,” he added in a phone interview.

up
87 users have voted.


Newsletter

Get top stories and blog posts emailed to you each day.

PDF