Our University’s Strategic Thinking Club held the “Strategic Meetings Week’21” event with the participation of experts in the field of technology. Our students showed great interest in the event, which was held under the theme of “International Relations and Technology” in the form of five separate sessions, at the Aşık Paşa Conference Hall in Goztepe South Campus of our university on 8-9 December 2021.
In the first session on Wednesday, December 8, our university’s International Relations Department Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Dr. İsmail ERMAĞAN gave his speech titled “International Relations and Technology”. ERMAĞAN emphasized the importance of technology in terms of international relations and emphasized the role of industrial revolutions in the economic development of countries by giving examples from technological developments. Mentioning the elements of Industry 4.0, ERMAĞAN evaluated the existing technology centers in the world and their effects on international relations. ERMAĞAN ended his presentation by giving examples of the technologies that caused breaking in the 21st century, and answered the questions from the students.
The second session started with the speech titled “Industry 4.0” by Siemens Board Member Ali Rıza ERSOY. ERSOY stated that the industry sector is on the verge of a new reform thanks to the rapidly developing technology opportunities, and countries are investing in digitalization in production technologies to strengthen their industries. Stating that Industry 4.0 has started to be used especially in the automotive sector in Turkey, ERSOY underlined that technology and the internet of things should be used effectively and efficiently for economic growth, job creation and employment increase, social stability, more economic productivity and increase in society‘s welfare. He emphasized the need to focus on the field of information and technology both in terms of education policy and production processes.
The third session was attended by Istanbul Technical University faculty member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Deniz TÜRKPENÇE’s presentation titled “Quantum Technologies”. Starting his speech by talking about what quantum technologies are, TÜRKPENÇE gave examples of how quantum programming and quantum technologies can be used in various sectors. He gave information on the current state of quantum technologies in Turkey and around the world.
The fourth session started with Project Coordinator Hüseyin NAS’s speech titled “Technology Projects and Personal Experiences in Turkey”. NAS, who held positions such as project manager and R&D team manager in the institutions where he worked in the field of Information Technologies, gave information about the development and status of technology projects in Turkey. He shared his personal experiences in business life and gave various advice to the students.
The fifth and last session was held with the speech titled “Software Industry in the World and Turkey: Being a Software Developer” by Hüseyin POLAT from IND Software. Touching on the place and importance of artificial intelligence in our lives, POLAT pointed out that there are application possibility in many fields such as education, health, automotive, finance, security, robotics, space exploration, e-commerce, games, social media and entertainment. He also stated that the developments in the software sector will increase the economic productivity in the country in every field.
In the first session on Thursday, December 9, Bilkent University faculty member Prof. Dr. The event continued with Erdal ARIKAN’s speech titled “5G: Technology and Economic Dimension”. In his speech, ARIKAN first talked about the historical evolution of mobile communication systems. Talking about the potential of 5G technology to bring revolutionary innovations in the field of communication, ARIKAN stated that it can be used in a wide variety of areas, not only for mobile phones, but also because it provides communication between devices and that it should be taken into account in terms of economic development policy.
In the second session, the speech titled “Biotechnology” was given by CEO of Genomedis company Dr. Sevgi SALMAN ÜNVER. SALMAN ÜNVER talked about the effects of the era of biotechnology, which started at the intersection of technology and biology, in many areas such as health, environment, agriculture and industry. He mentioned that product innovation in biotechnology is a different, long and costly process based on R&D investments, and the outputs are products with high economic value.
The third session was held with the speech titled “Turkey and Space” by Space Agency President Serdar Hüseyin YILDIRIM. YILDIRIM, the first president of the Turkish Space Agency, which was established in 2018, gave information about the activities and future goals of the agency since the day it was founded. Stating that space and aviation are among the priority sectors in economic development all over the world, YILDIRIM emphasized that important steps have been taken in this sense in our country together with the Turkish Space Agency.
In the fourth session, MEF University faculty member Prof. Dr. Erhan ERKUT participated with his speech titled “Technology and Transforming Professions”. ERKUT stated that universities could not meet the needs of the business world and recommended that young people should constantly improve themselves in order to find quality jobs. He stated that the most important problems of the society, which are also prominent in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, will shape the world in the future, and that students should be prepared in these areas. ERKUT stated that the problems related to the economy of old age and urbanization will increase in Turkey, technological developments will make coding a necessity for every profession, and the need for people who understand artificial intelligence and technology will increase. He listed areas such as clean energy technologies, industrial waste treatment, health, artificial intelligence, logistics, and cyber security among the sectors that will grow in the future.
In the fifth and last session, Ali Hulusi ÖLMEZ, co-founder of Bulut Klinik, took place with his speech titled “Entrepreneurship and Sharing Experience”. ÖLMEZ shared his entrepreneurial experiences with students about Bulut Klinik, a platform that brings doctors and patients together through a mobile application and web page, and gave examples of how small enterprises can be developed. The event ended with the answers to the questions from the students.
