Made men

AT A bar called “University” in San Giovanni a Teduccio, a rundown suburb of Naples, two blown-up photos adorn the walls: Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs, founder of Apple. Nelson Ciarravolo, the owner, put them up when the bar opened two years ago, long before the news came that Apple would open its first European iOS (its mobile operating system) developer academy in the district. Locals joke that Mr Jobs’s photo may have gone up more recently. Either way, it signals that Naples has embraced the American tech giant. On October 6th Apple held the opening event for the new academy, which it will run in collaboration with Federico II University, after which the bar is named.

“We go to places nobody thought were possible”, explained Lisa Jackson, vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives at Apple, at the inaugural event. Naples lags far behind northern Italy for transport and digital infrastructure, and criminality is rife. The Camorra, a mafia gang, runs one of the biggest drug-trafficking enterprises in the world from the city. The neighbourhood in which Apple has opened the academy (it is located inside a new campus of Federico II University) used to be more dangerous. “We used to see our friends die on the ground,” recalls Davide Varlese, a cousin of Mr Ciarravolo. But things have improved over the past decade as authorities have clamped down. At least the Camorra doesn’t come asking for money in bars any more, locals say.

Apple says the point of the app academy is to go where it can have the most impact. Tim Cook, its chief executive, said the aim was partly to be a good corporate citizen. The firm will train around 200 mostly southern Italian students how to code and write apps. A similar program exists in Rio de Janeiro. The company was also attracted by the prospect of working with a network of good universities in the area. The Campania region boasts seven, and Federico II is especially strong in engineering, accounting for a tenth of Italy’s engineering graduates every year.

In addition, Matteo Renzi, Italy’s prime minister, coaxed Mr Cook to invest in Naples. He wants to show that he is focusing on the country’s south. Some also speculate that an agreement on Apple’s tax bills may have accompanied the academy’s genesis. The initial announcement in January came weeks after Apple agreed to pay €318m ($350m) in taxes to Italy’s treasury to settle a dispute. The firm may need to burnish its reputation further: in August the European Commission told the Irish government to recover up to €13 billion in unpaid taxes from it.

Gaetano Manfredi, the rector of Federico II University, points to buildings nearby the new campus. Residents themselves repainted them to welcome their new neighbours—an almost unheard of happening in the south, he says. The hope is that Apple’s facility could help stem the region’s brain drain. Youth unemployment in Campania is 53%. Dario, an engineering student who has just started at the app academy, says he hopes not to have to escape Naples once he graduates. Growing up in difficult circumstances makes you stronger, adds Antonio Caraviello, the boss of Sophia High Tech, a spin-off of the university which tests materials for the aerospace industry. Good news, then, for Apple’s new recruits.