At the 6^th Technology Development Zones Summit, Istanbul Teknokent was the runner up among the "Emerging Technology Development Zones".

The 6^th Technology Development Zones Summit organized by the General Directorate of Science, Industry and Technology took place in Bilkent Hotel and Conference Centre on 8^th of May 2018. According to the Technology Development Zones’ Performance Index results, the most successful technological development regions of the year 2017 received their awards in the ceremony.

According to the results of the 2017 Performance Index, Istanbul University Teknokent was at second place in the "Emerging Technology Development Zones" category. Istanbul University Vice-Rector Prof Dr Halis Yunus Ersöz and Istanbul University Teknokent General Manager Yasin Erol received the award from Vice-Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Hasan Ali Çelik.

While Istanbul University Teknokent was at third place in 2016 among the 17 developing teknokents, with this year’s results it has now risen to second place.

"Our goal is to establish Technology Development Zones in all of our 81 cities"

Speaking at the award ceremony, Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Faruk Özlü said: "Today we are experiencing the joy of reaching 77 Technology Development Regions in our country. 56 of these regions develop technology for Turkey in an active manner. In 21 teknoparks, however, construction works continue. Our goal is to establish Technology Development Zones in all of our 81 cities. "

Saying "As the ministry, we announced the establishment of 8 new Technology Development Zones in the first 3 months of 2018 and set a new record," Minister Özlü continued "In our existing Technology Development Zones, 5 thousand companies are operating. Fifth of these companies’ partners are our academicians. 47.500 research-development personnel are employed in our teknoparks. To this day 28 thousand projects have been completed while the work on 8.500 projects is ongoing. 3.4 billion dollars was earned from the export revenue of the projects produced in our teknoparks.”

Minister Faruk Özlü went on to say "Technology is a must. We continue to invest in all means to the projects that will make Turkey a technological base, make our country a science centre. Our aim is to able Turkish Industry to thrive. We think the Technology Development Zones’ mission in Turkey's road to the industrial revolution is very important. Our army of technology grows day by day. We see every researcher who produces in our teknoparks as a member of our technology army. We are increasing the quality of our Teknoparks in order to turn the information produced in universities into the technological sphere and add it value. Because we know that quantity alone is not enough, the important thing is the quality. With the contribution of Technology Development Zones, we believe that the Turkish industry will achieve its goals.”

Following the speech of Minister Özlü, the 4 categories of Technology Development Zones announced the results of the 2017 Performance Index and awarded the winners.

After the ceremony Minister Özlü visited the stands and examined the work done in the Technology Development Regions.

Translated by Ece GÖÇ