Information Technologies and Communication Authority hosted Ericsson's "New Technologies Seminar."
Ericsson, which has been active in the technology field since the 1890s, organized "SME Trainings" under the auspices of BTK. President Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan participated in the program via video conference. Pointing out that Ericsson Turkey is one of the country's most established telecommunications suppliers with foreign capital, Sayan stated, "The concept of technology, in its literal sense, refers to all technical methods and techniques that make human life easier. In daily life, however, the word technology has become synonymous with information and communication. So much so that when new technology is mentioned, the first things that come to mind are developments in communication and informatics. This is actually very natural; because information and communication technologies shape daily life and societies' cultures, building new societies. You are on the side that produces these transformative technologies, conducts R&D for them, or manufactures for their implementation in life. We, on the other hand, are on the side that creates rules for the use of technology and public benefit, coordinating the relevant parties."
Sayan, who said that the information and communication sector is an endless road, continued: "The journey of technology, which began with the emergence of the telegraph in the last 10 years of the 18th century, continued with the invention of the telephone in the mid-19th century. The journey then progressed mainly through stops like 2G, 3G, 4.5G, and today we are at the 5G stop. Approximately every 10 years, our journey continues with a new technological leap. When we look at where we are as a country in this adventure of technological development, we can make two basic observations," he added: "The first dimension; as a result of the importance our country attaches to the development of the informatics sector, we are one of the countries that adapts to the most advanced technologies the fastest today. After the 4.5G authorizations, our operators started providing services with the most advanced technology. While the world is still talking about 5G technology, with our 4.5G authorization auctions, we enabled the use of 5G technology without a new authorization along with its development. Today, we can use any informatics device produced in any country in the world the next day in our country, and every mobile phone, computer, or any informatics device we use at home or at work provides us with countless conveniences in the information technologies and communication age. Aware of these benefits of new technologies, we support innovation, innovativeness, and technological developments, and we will continue to do so. The second dimension, which I consider very important for our country, is the production dimension, which unfortunately we have not been able to develop much until today."
Also speaking about the "Informatics 500 Award Ceremony" held the day before, President Sayan said, "The success of our companies and the developments in their sales clearly demonstrate the demand of our citizens for the informatics sector. However, when we look specifically at the electronic communications sector, we see that almost all of the products used in our operators' networks are met through imports. This situation is also valid for other sub-segments of the informatics sector. The mission of many of our top 500 informatics companies may be product sales, but we and the companies operating in our country need to think about which part or component of any product we sell in this country we can localize, and contribute to localization accordingly. Indeed, the importance of this issue for the future of our country has been accepted throughout the public administration, and this awareness continues to increase day by day. Therefore, it is among our most fundamental expectations that all our companies act with this awareness and contribute to the goal of developing domestic production."
Turkey Should Be Among the Countries Producing Technology
Drawing attention to the fact that Turkey should now be not only a user but also a producer of technology, Sayan stated, "The development of technologies such as IP-based next-generation communication services and the Internet of Things has accelerated studies on the design and development of 5G mobile technologies. 5G technology is directly related to the concept of the Internet of Things, M2M, Industry 4.0, and vertical sectors that will shape our near future. With elements such as high data speed, low latency, greater data capacity, energy and cost efficiency, 5G will enable significant changes in vertical sectors such as energy, automotive, health, energy, urbanization, agriculture, and entertainment. Smart cities, advanced cloud computing applications, online education and health services, augmented reality applications, industrial automations, and smart factories will be achievable with 5G. As an institution, aware of the importance of 5G and what it will bring, we have melted our country's localization and nationalization policies into one pot with the importance we attach to the transition to 5G and the adoption of new technologies, and ultimately made the development of electronic communications infrastructure with domestic and national resources one of our main goals," once again emphasizing the importance of information technologies.
Sayan, who stated that a domestic and national electronic communications infrastructure would yield very positive results for Turkey, said, "Especially in the last 1.5 years, we have conducted coordination and cooperation efforts involving all stakeholders of the ecosystem to develop our domestic and national production capabilities. The establishment of the 5GTR Forum, the signing of the 5G and Beyond Joint License-Exempt Support Program Memorandum of Understanding with the 5G Valley Open Test Field Protocol, the Communications Technologies Cluster (HTK), and the End-to-End Domestic and National 5G Communications Network Project are the products of these efforts. As a result of the works carried out with the aim of what can be done for domestic production together with producer companies, the Communications Technologies Cluster was established under OSTİM on March 22, 2017, with the coordination and support of our Institution. HTK has more than 110 members today, and these companies, with more than 7,000 employees, have the capacity to produce many high-tech products from software to hardware with domestic and national resources. As a result of the works carried out with 17 HTK member companies and our 3 mobile operators, a project has been developed for the development of the end-to-end 5G project, and project studies continue with TÜBİTAK support. In terms of its structure, it has set a precedent by bringing together producers, operators (needs owners), and the regulatory authority."
President Sayan also spoke about the ULAK project in his speech. "Not only ULAK, but each product of our companies within the scope of the 5G project is proof that there is no obstacle to production in the technology field with competitive and quality products," said Sayan, adding that establishing the 5G network with domestic and national resources is of great importance in terms of reducing the current account deficit, providing employment, and preventing brain drain. However, the issue is not limited to this. Protecting "data," which is the most important value on a global scale—in other words, our country's data—is also a very important issue. We can say that the more national a country's communications network infrastructure is, the safer its data is. Considering our country's geopolitical position, global political conditions, the terrorist incidents we have experienced, and the events we have lived through as a result of treacherous plans in the very recent past, we can easily see how crucial protecting our data is for national security. For the security of our country, for the data privacy of our citizens, we must establish our own communications network. For the security of our country, for the data privacy of our citizens, we must establish the 5G technology network that we will transition to in the very near future with domestic and national resources," he concluded his speech with this call.
Institution Vice President Gazali Çiçek also made a speech at the program. Stating that the works carried out are very valuable and world-class, Çiçek said, "We are after how to produce with domestic and national resources. We have imposed a requirement to work with domestic companies in some projects on this issue. We do not use the emphasis on 'domestic and national' because it is a popular discourse. While talking about all these, we are also trying to put forward what we can do concretely."