BTK President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu attended the Caspian Innovation Conference held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on December 5, 2018, hosted by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan.
Within the Bakutel 2018 event, under the theme “Digital Connectivity for Sustainable Development,” the Caspian Innovation Conference was attended by Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Mehmet Cahit Turhan, Deputy Minister Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, and some senior bureaucrats.
At the Caspian Innovation Conference, in addition to sectoral challenges, topics such as broadband, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), e-services, ICT-based ventures, Industry 4.0, and cybersecurity were addressed.
BTK President Karagözoğlu delivered a speech in the conference session titled “The Future of Mobile Broadband: 5G and Beyond,” where Minister Turhan served as the opening speaker.
President Karagözoğlu emphasized that Turkey's legal and regulatory framework is well-positioned to develop 5G, noting that next-generation mobile communication technologies like 5G and beyond will shape all vertical sectors, starting with the communications sector, including energy, manufacturing, health, and automotive.
BTK President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu stated that, as BTK, they support the establishment of the “Communications Technologies Cluster” to increase the share of domestic and national production in communication technologies and to ensure that investments in communication technologies, starting from 4.5G, are met domestically and nationally. He expressed expectations that the outputs of ongoing efforts by 16 SMEs and 3 mobile operators to develop 5G technologies will be ready in 2020, and noted that ULAK Anonim Şirketi also has a roadmap for developing basic communication technologies in addition to 4.5G and 5G base stations.
In his speech, Karagözoğlu also provided information on current activities in information and communication technologies and 5G in Turkey.
During the visit to Baku by Turkey's delegation, chaired by Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Mehmet Cahit Turhan and including Deputy Minister Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan and Authority President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, they attended the opening of the Bakutel 2018 event and paid a courtesy visit to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev.