BTK hosted the “Technology Day” event jointly organized by Aruba Networks and Palo Alto Networks.
The program, held at the Information Technologies and Communication Authority Central Campus, was attended by President Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, Aruba and Palo Alto Networks officials, and guests. President Sayan began his speech by providing the following information about BTK: “As you know, we are an institution that both regulates and operates. As a regulatory authority, we have ongoing work with more than 800 licensed companies in Turkey. Our duties include regulating the telecommunications sector and the postal sector. But beyond regulation, we also play an active role in operational activities such as internet regulations and cybersecurity regulations.”
Emphasizing that the organized program was beneficial both for providing education and for companies to introduce their products, Sayan stated: “Especially in reaching our country’s 2023 targets, we have ongoing work with all valuable sector representatives to advance toward the same goal in areas such as cybersecurity and the use of new technologies. We see this place as a laboratory where all the sector’s innovative products and technologies are essentially exhibited, introduced, and demonstrated how they can contribute to production and the country’s progress. We want to advance all of these together with you in this laboratory. If we have other companies conducting such activities, our doors are wide open to all of them.”
Underlining that the Cyber Incident Response Center monitors all telecom links across Turkey 24/7 with more than 100 experts, Sayan said: “In addition to these, we conducted the 4.5G auction. An amount like 4 billion Euros was transferred to the treasury. Our studies continue on topics such as 5G and innovative technologies, and the relevance of 5G with vertical sectors. Today, we primarily have two large data centers that we can call data centers. One is in İncek, and the other is the 2,500 square meter white space data center we built here. Our security experts and senior experts from the technical operations department will be with you throughout the conference. Together, we will observe the direction these new products are heading. We will share our experiences with each other,” he stated.
Emphasizing that domestic and national production is extremely important for them, Sayan concluded his speech with the following remarks: “We always expect all these participating companies to provide us with information on product development, operational aspects, feedback, and how much they can increase the domestic and national ratio. Thus, without national cybersecurity localization contribution, not just by purchasing products but by creating this ecosystem together, adding our own value, and showcasing the success stories formed with you in experience and different sectors to other countries as examples through ‘best practice,’ I believe we will be more successful. In this regard, I am saying both for Palo Alto and Aruba; we expect the ‘best practice’ applications made in Turkey to be conveyed to other countries with this experience. Hopefully, the number of such examples will increase.”
Following Sayan’s opening speech, presentations were made by Aruba and Palo Alto Networks officials.