Apple partners with British government on 'Year of Engineering' educational effort

The "Year of Engineering" Partnership that is currently underway will include AI coding workshops in all U.K. Apple Stores at the behest of the country's government.

The United Kingdom announced Tuesday that Apple has joined up in a partnership with the Year of Engineering 2018, a program of the U.K.'s Department for Transport.

The program will include AI coding workshops at all 38 Apple Store locations in the U.K., and other initiatives that will bring aspiring engineers into contact with "the engineers at the forefront of Apple technology."

Apple joins more than 1,300 other partners in the Year of Engineering program. The purpose of the program is "help transform perceptions of the profession, offering unique access to the engineers behind its ground-breaking innovations."

There has been no announcement of the partnership from Apple's side as of yet.

"Engineering careers are exciting"

The program is being spearheaded by Nusrat Ghani, a member of Parliament and the current Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport.

"The Year of Engineering is all about showing young people that engineering careers are exciting, creative and offer an opportunity to shape the future," Ghani said in a statement. "That's why we're delighted to be joining forces with Apple — one of the world's most iconic and innovative brands — to show young people what they could achieve as an engineer."

Young people offered a unique chance to meet the engineers at the forefront of new technology as @Apple announces a UK-wide programme of activities for the Year of Engineering https://t.co/xWJPLnzlRN #YoE #inspireanengineer pic.twitter.com/Y1sZa1lBap

— Year of Engineering (@YoEgovuk) April 24, 2018

Apple and the U.K.

Appel has long been active in selling their products in the U.K. The first Apple Store in Europe opened in London in 2004, while the country has been among the first outside the U.S. to get most Apple products, including Apple Pay. The Church of England announced last month that it was considered accepting Apple Pay in its collection plates.

After an audit, Apple agreed in January to pay $184 million in taxes to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

Jony Ive is the only Brit in Apple's inner circle, and last year became chancellor of London's Royal College of Art. There's been no announcement about Ive having any active participation in the program.