The Technology Production Of Turkey

We should be a society that produces technology instead of consumes it in the coming years

Robot technologies have started to find utilization in Turkey since the 1990s. Thus, the number of robots in our industry as well as the relevant usage areas has increased considerably, especially in the automotive industry. Statistics show that Turkey is among the leading countries in the world in terms of manufacturing infrastructure and capabilities. On the other hand, considering that Turkey manufactured its first industrial robot over the past 25 years, the conclusion emerges that we should be in the upper level on a global scale. When the current situation is analyzed, we see that on the level of the final product delivered to the end user we are at a certain point, but that we are largely dependent on external sources in quality and the development and production of complementary products and critical semi-finished products and technologies that make up the final product. This situation leads our country to position itself as a quality and affordable manufacturing base and practitioner rather than a developer in the international technology race.

 TECHNOLOGY IS BEING DESIGNED IN OUR COUNTRY

Designing and prototyping of high technology products with our competent and talented engineers in our country emerges as pleasing news. However, the main building blocks such as servo motors, drivers and precision gears are fully procured abroad, pricing is shaped in line with the manufacturer’s marketing strategies and the difficulty to access capital are important headings at this point. So much so that similar initiatives emerge like a flash in the pan because of the factors I have mentioned and disappear before commercialization. However, I do not think it is right to generalize at this point, because there are also good examples that refute this. Taking the automation sector as an example, the lack of servo motors, pneumatic cylinder-valves, precision gears, bearings, electronic cards, driver technologies, competition problems, cost problems due to scale economy and the lack of component technologies affect the costs of end products and our competitiveness in the market.

DREAMS COME TRUE

On the other hand, talking about concepts that we used to see only in science fiction films and which did not exceed utopian thoughts such as industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, electrical automobiles that enable autonomous driving and smart robots means that we have now arrived at a distinct evolution of industrialization with groundbreaking technologies. In the years to come, we should be a society that produces rather than consumes these technologies. This situation presents a unique opportunity for our country to exist in international markets. In order to realize this situation, it is necessary to adopt a general technology strategy as a country rather than individual or firm based initiatives.

IT SHOULD BE ATTACHED NECESSARY IMPORTANCE TO HUMAN RESOURCES

In terms of software, engineering and design, it is very important to anticipate the human resource problems of these new sectors with the human resources to be established in parallel with this situation. In this context, provided that universities and the industry increase their cooperation, the future will change Turkey’s position significantly. Furthermore, it must not be overlooked that Turkey which currently provides added value by thinking, developing and producing with high technology, will be a desirable base for international companies to invest and cooperate with.

Altınay Technology Group Coordinator Lütfi Okay