Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Deputy Minister Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan attended the MMG-EURITECH Eurasia R&D, Innovation & Technology Summit and Exhibition.
Speaking at the opening of the program held at Bilişim Vadisi, Sayan emphasized the importance of developing technologies. Stating that the determinant of countries' welfare levels today is the technology they use, Sayan noted that dizzying developments are taking place in many areas such as artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning, deep learning, computing power, storage capacity, and cloud services.
Pointing out that leading technology companies in the world are particularly investing in artificial intelligence, Sayan said, “As the Ministry, we are also incorporating artificial intelligence into our technology, ecosystem, and supports for domestic software. We are rapidly continuing our efforts so that our country can have a say in the global market featuring artificial intelligence in the coming years.”
Touching upon cloud computing as one of the critical points of digitalization, Sayan stated, “Cloud computing provides employment opportunities to thousands of people in our country. Especially recently, we have started to hear about new professions such as cloud computing expertise, big data analysis, shared vehicle driving, and driverless vehicle engineering, which we will hear the name of frequently.”
Drawing attention to the importance of trained human resources in this field, Sayan highlighted the trainings provided by BTK Academy. At the same time, emphasizing that ensuring cyber security is very important, Sayan said, “Although digital technologies significantly facilitate our lives, if not protected, cyber attacks can reach a point where they threaten every segment of society regardless of individuals, institutions, or the state. We encounter cyber attacks in every area from personal data to trade secrets, from material gain to disinformation, from public order to state security. The National Cyber Incident Response Center, established under our Ministry to combat these attacks that also threaten our country, operates 24/7. In this center, applications such as AVCI, AZAD, KASIRGA, ATMACA, and KULE, which are completely developed domestically, are used,” he shared.
Deputy Minister Sayan: Our Citizens' Rights Are Worth Protecting
Deputy Minister Sayan also spoke about disinformation. Saying, “Just as the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens of other countries are worth protecting, the rights of Turkish citizens are equally worth protecting,” Sayan stated, “There is a need for new regulations to prevent disinformation in the internet environment and to use information. In this regard, the bill prepared to combat 'fake news' on social media and the internet, known in the public as the 'Disinformation Law,' has been submitted to the Presidency of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.”
Deputy Minister Sayan: We Are Steadily Conducting Our Studies on 5G and Beyond
Deputy Minister Sayan also chaired the session titled “Future Trends in Digital Technologies.” In his speech there, emphasizing the importance of information, Sayan shared some data regarding the sector: “The volume of the information and communication technologies sector, which was at the level of 20 Billion TL in 2003, reached 189 billion TL by the end of 2020. The number of subscribers benefiting from mobile services approached 87 million. The broadband internet subscriber number, which was almost zero in 2003, reached 87.5 million today. Our fiber subscriber number has reached approximately 4.9 million, accordingly more than 16 million citizens are benefiting from fiber internet services in terms of households. When we look at the number of households reached by fiber infrastructure and wired internet, our communication infrastructures have the capacity to provide service at speeds of 100 Mbit/sn and above to approximately 3 times the current 4.9 million subscribers. In the last nine years, monthly usage on the internet for fixed subscribers increased approximately 8 times, while for mobile subscribers it increased approximately 34 times.”
Expressing that all these data increase the need for 5G, Sayan said, “5G is a technology that will make us forget everything we know. We are steadily conducting our studies on 5G and Beyond, which enable applications such as smart cities, autonomous vehicles, smart factories, remote surgical interventions. In this direction, the support programs established have yielded significant results and paved the way for our entrepreneurs. Our projects represent only a portion of our work, including the ULAK 4.5G LTE Macrocell Base Station project for designing high-tech communication systems with domestic capabilities and continuing R&D on 5G base stations, and projects under the ÇINAR project for developing SDN and NFV-based 5G-ready core network (EPC).”
Noting that all these studies are carried out under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with the awareness of being domestic and national, Sayan said, “In this sense, one of our biggest supporters is the Communications Technologies Cluster established by BTK under the leadership of our Ministry. HTK has become an organization with more than 160 companies and over 8,000 employees in a short time. 17 companies, including 14 HTK member companies and three mobile operators, contribute to hardware and software needs on the path to 5G with domestic and national capabilities.”
After his speech, Sayan gave the floor to the panelists. In the session, Türk Telekom CEO Ümit Önal, Vodafone CEO Engin Aksoy, and Turkcell CEO Murat Erkan answered Sayan’s questions.