The second session of the Technology Chats, organized in collaboration with BTK and Havelsan, discussed software testing technologies.
The event, held at the BTK Central Campus, was attended by Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Havelsan General Manager Ahmet Hamdi Atalay, TRTEST A.Ş. General Manager Bilal Ateş, numerous industry representatives, and students.
In his opening speech at the program, Deputy Minister Sayan stated that technology is advancing at a dizzying speed. Drawing attention to the increasing influence of technology in our lives, Sayan said, “Especially with developments in artificial intelligence and sensor technologies; robotic surgery units, driverless public transport vehicles, and signaling systems have begun to be widely used. It is estimated that in the near future, most daily and professional tasks will be performed by robots. Today, we are talking about surgical interventions performed remotely. We need to ensure the integration of such rapidly developing technology, which is present in almost every aspect of our lives, with other sectors to benefit from the opportunities and areas it offers.”
Deputy Minister Sayan: We Should Contribute to the 2023 Vision by Using Information and Technology
Reminding that Turkey has been striving for the past 16 years to support research and development activities and to pave the way to knowledge, Sayan said, “There is a trend expressed by concepts such as digital transformation, unmanned factories, and the Internet of Things, and as a country, we are making intensive efforts to be at the forefront of this direction and to take on a determining role. While conducting our studies, we progress by planning both the path we have covered and the goals we aim to reach. We are in a position to contribute to almost all of the vision and targets set by our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by using technology and information. By creating economic value, by using technology in education, agriculture, transportation, reducing costs, encouraging our people to become 'selective and knowledgeable users' beyond being global customers... I could list many more things, but I will stop here. We will keep our feet firmly on the ground but will never surrender to fear or narrow boundaries. We have our past, our human resources, our country's reputation, and the support of our President. We will use these and reach the targets we have set for our country together,” thereby emphasizing the importance of the ongoing work.
Deputy Minister Sayan: We Cannot Act Without Questioning the Reliability of Technology
Stating that developments related to technology will reach even greater dimensions in the coming years, Sayan said, “The world has become interconnected like a nervous system with the Internet of Things, and this is just a small part of the new world. In the future, we will start working together with machines in many areas that we cannot even imagine now. We are at the threshold of a new era where we will literally connect with machines. This era will undoubtedly be called the second machine age. The contributions of the technologies brought by this age to our lives are felt very intensely. In this age, where we are experiencing the fourth industrial revolution called Industry 4.0, the use of information and high technology has undoubtedly become the focus of production in a way we have never witnessed before. Information and communication technologies, in addition to being a sector on their own, have become the main actor in the development and growth of other sectors.”
Emphasizing that we must question how reliable technology is, Deputy Minister Sayan said, “I believe that with the increasing widespread use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, cyber security applications also need to be developed accordingly. Of course, we are aware of this, but it is an area where concentration must never be lost. While preparing a national cyber security strategy, we also need to talk about national strategies regarding the privacy of personal data. The privacy of personal data emerges as a matter that directly affects the trust of the entire ecosystem in issues such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. Along with developing and changing technologies, cyber threats carried out using increasingly sophisticated methods and capable of causing more destructive effects in terms of consequences target critical infrastructures and systems such as energy, water, communication, transportation, banking, and finance, which have become indispensable parts of our lives. Since an outage in critical infrastructures could create nationwide traumas; large hacker groups, terrorist organizations, and even special units established by states are conducting various studies. We must learn from these experienced examples, establish strong infrastructures with cyber security ensured for a strong Turkey, and always be on high alert.”
Deputy Minister Sayan: Countries That Cannot Create a Cyber Environment Cannot Achieve Digital Transformation
Drawing attention to the fact that digital transformation is not at the desired levels in countries that cannot create a secure cyber environment, Sayan said, “Software testing technologies are exactly in our lives to address these kinds of concerns. Significant developments have occurred for testing complex software adorned with intricate algorithms from A to Z and enabling their efficient use in human life; new testing infrastructures have been developed. Testing technologies have begun to take on a vital role. Developing these technologies at a high quality will enable the safe use of emerging critical software. Additionally, automated systems will minimize human errors and operate with high accuracy rates. Just like in other technology fields, our country is showing great progress in the field of software testing technologies. Domestic and national testing systems developed by our engineers are undertaking important tasks both by including test scenarios that take into account the unique characteristics of our country and by complying with universal standards. The developed technologies are used both for testing domestic software and can be exported as standalone products. In line with the strategic targets drawn by our government, software and the surrounding technologies will continue to be one of the driving forces of our development,” concluding his speech.
Following the speeches, presentations were made in the panel on software testing technologies.