‘Fourth Industrial Revolution Center of Turkey’ was launched

Under the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, with the cooperation of Turkey Metal Industrialists’ Union (MESS) and the World Economic Forum, the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution Center of Turkey’ was launched. Thanks to the center, Turkey will become the focus of groundbreaking technologies and the industrial digital transformation. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that: “The better we can manage the digital transformation, the stronger we will place ourselves in the new period. The main thing is to transform our experience into a much more effective opportunity climate through international cooperation.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and World Economic Forum Founder Klaus Schwab participated to the opening ceremony of the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution Center of Turkey’ with a video message and the ceremony was held with the participation of Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank, MESS Chairperson Özgür Burak Akkol and Fourth Industrial Revolution Centers Network General Manager Murat Sönmez. Underlining that the activities of the center, which is one of the two examples in Europe, are carried out by MESS, President Erdoğan stated that: “Our aim is to make our country the base of the products and technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution in line with our “National Technology Move.” Noting that he believes that the work to be carried out in this center will contribute to economic and social life, Erdoğan added: “The better we can manage the digital transformation, the stronger we will place ourselves in the new period. Of course, every country has steps taken and experience gained in this direction. But the main thing is that all these experiences are transformed into a much more effective opportunity climate with international cooperation.” Pointing out that the human resource trained in the digitalization process is the most critical factor, Erdoğan expressed that: “We need to accelerate the digital transformation of our entire production infrastructure from software to hardware, large industrial enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises. Only in this way we can have a say so in many areas of cross-border data sharing from smart cities.” He emphasized that Turkey is no longer a country that follows behind such historic revolutions, but a country that paves the way and be a pioneer.

Center will play a key role for strong international cooperation

Varank emphasized that they are committed to making Turkey one of countries that determines the trends of the 4th Industrial Revolution and added: “With the R&D and innovation ecosystem, qualified human resources and centers we have, Turkey is a lot closer to its goals.” Participating to the ceremony with video conferencing, Minister Varank, sharing the details of the development that will strengthen Turkey in the digital transformation area, said that the road map is ready for making Turkey a technology manufacturer not only a consumer. In order to benefit from the competitiveness advantages that digital transformation provides at the maximum level, strong international cooperation is needed and Varank stressed that: “Fourth Industrial Revolution Center of Turkey” will play a key role at this point. Founded with the cooperation of our Ministry, MESS and the World Economic Forum, this center is one of the 9 centers in the world and one of the 2 centers in Europe. We will develop policy studies and projects that will accelerate digital transformation, especially in our industry, with the cooperation of public, private sector, universities and NGOs. By following the trends in the world, we will connect directly with leading academics, entrepreneurs and technology companies. Our center will design projects for Turkey and create pilot applications in order to recommend legislation to the public institutions.”

Minister Varank expressed that with the “Responsible Use of Technology” project; the basic principles will be determined for the ethical use of artificial intelligence and added: “We will carry out studies on the correct and timely use of data for the industry with the “Correct Sharing of Data for Competitiveness in the Industry” project. Even these early stage projects will take place in our center and they will provide a major contribution to the role of Turkey in the 4th industrial revolution. In Turkey, all the steps are taken with the ‘National Technology Move’ vision. Varank stated that: “We build policies, support and incentive mechanisms to serve the technological transformation of our industry with this vision. We have implemented the “Technology Focused Industry Move Program”, which is an end-to-end support mechanism from R&D to investment for the production of critical technology products with domestic resources. With this program, we will be able to produce the imported products that we have a current account deficit domestically.”

We are rising to the position of the regional center of the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’

World Economic Forum Fourth Industrial Revolution Centers Network General Manager Murat Sönmez stated that: “By participating to 4th Industrial Revolution Centers Network, Turkey is willing to adopt new Technologies, to lead people-oriented, inclusive and fair principle of governance of these Technologies.” MESS Chairperson Özgür Burak Akkol expressed that: “We are proud of such a qualified cooperation that will provide added value to all manufacturing sectors. With our move today, we are rising to the position of the regional center of the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’. Our country is becoming a regional power in the digital transformation and the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’. With this cooperation, MESS members will be able to establish business partnerships with forum members and go beyond borders thanks to the global network of the World Economic Forum. It will be possible to closely follow the digital transformation trends in the world and to cooperate with global companies. With access to the World Economic Forum’s online information network, they will be able to closely follow the digital transformation trends in the world.