Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Ömer Fatih Sayan stated that through domestication efforts, export doors will open completely. He added, “Turkish goods, will especially be exported to new markets such as the Middle East and to well developed western markets.”
At the opening of the Kamu-BİB'21 Domestic and National Technologies Summit, organized by the Turkey Informatics Association (Türkiye Bilişim Derneği) at the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK), Sayan stated that developments in R&D and innovations will carry the country one step further in regards to domestic and national production.
Sayan stated that this situation would not only help reduce imports, but would also make great contributions to the economy and companies in terms of exports. He added:
“Domestication efforts will open export doors for us completely. Turkish goods, will especially be exported to new markets such as the Middle East and to well developed western markets. The government has taken serious steps to reduce import and to increase export along with reducing the current deficit.”
Sayan stated that we are entering a new era where 5G technologies not only connects people, but also connects object from the smallest to the biggest and that as of 2025, it is projected that there will 100 billion different connections in the world of which only 10% of these connections will actually be realized between people.
In addition to adopting domestic and national production as a policy, Sayan added that children, young people and researchers should be encouraged to dream. He continued, “In order to do this, with the inclusion of our education system, it has become one of our priorities to carry out systematic studies to develop methods that support the inner curiosity of children and young people of all ages, and help expand their creativity and minds.”
“I invite our citizens to use domestic products”
BTK President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu emphasized that in order for Turkey to be stronger and more competitive in the future, it has to domestically produce technology.
In order to reach the goal of developing domestic and national technologies within the framework of the 2023 strategy, Karagözoğlu called for manufactures to produce domestic and national products and for citizens to use these products. He added:
“In order for domestic and national technological products to reach a point and to contribute to this country’s economy, people must immediately rid themselves of the idea that ‘imported products are better in quality, safe, durable.’ It is essential that we give domestic and national technological products and companies a chance.”
Karagözoğlu also provided information on the operations carried out by BTK to transfer to 5G technology with the highest possible amount of local and national resources in comparison to the other countries of the world. He also noted that many points have already started to give the first signals of 5G technology and that among these points Turkey is one of them.
Karagözoğlu went onto further explain that tests related to 5G were carried out, and that operators have finalized their technology competencies and business plans.
“The main point is domestic and national technologies”
President of TBD Rahmi Aktepe said that the main theme of the Kamu-BİB event was to emphasize “domestic and national technologies,” which was established to contribute to the formation of information policies and to contribute to the e-transformation of the public.
Türksat Software Development Director Ahmet Savaş, who spoke at the panel titled “Open Source Software Ecosystm,” stated that as Türksat they have surpassed the ‘should show support’ stage when it comes to the support of institutions regarding open source software. He emphasized that they have implemented many projects along with Belgenet, by using open source code and added, “Since 2005, we have started to use software developed by us.” Savaş stated that the e-Government Portal is operated with 95% - 98% open source code, and added that “Last year alone the e-Government Portal oversaw 2.5 billion transactions.” He also added that developing countries should act more courageous when it comes to open source software.