Türkiye's Informatics Council sets to reconvene two decades later

The Türkiye Informatics Council has been gearing up to reconvene after a 20-year hiatus, marking a significant milestone in the country's digital transformation journey.

The Digital Transformation Office of the Turkish Presidency is spearheading efforts to elevate Türkiye's position in the global economy, aligning with the new norms of digital transformation and data-driven value chains. These efforts are geared towards realising the Century of Türkiye as the "century of the digital."

To achieve these goals, the country will strive to raise awareness at the national level, involving all stakeholders, including public institutions, the private sector, academia, and non-governmental organisations.

The informatics councils held in 2002 and 2004 became the guiding principle for the country’s efforts with the vision to “strive towards a society of information.”

To address the rapidly developing generations of digital technologies, preparations have begun to organise the third Informatics Council after a hiatus of two decades.

Planned to be held at the end of the year, preparations are handled by working groups formed under six headings from TOBB Software Council of Türkiye, TUBISAD Informatics Industry Association, Turkish Informatics Foundation, YASAD Software Manufacturers Association, and BGD Information Security Association, all of which work under the leadership of the Turkish Informatics Association.

Tech roadmap for Informatics Council

The coordination and the general organisation of the Informatics Council will be carried out by the Digital Transformation Office of the Turkish Presidency.

The topics to be discussed at the Informatics Council include “digital skills and agile workforce harmonisation”, “taking a stronger place in the global data economy,” “next-generation sustainable development”, and “digital sovereignty and resilience.”

At the Informatics Council, macro-level goals and policy suggestions will be put forward for 2030 and beyond.

Two phases of workshops have been planned so far for the working groups, and with more than 200 stakeholders participating in three preliminary workshops in the Turkish capital of Ankara, three more workshops will be held in Istanbul.

The secondary workshops to be organized in May under the coordination of informatics NGOs will be carried out later, where a wider range of stakeholders will be reached and informatics-oriented policies and solutions for 2030 will be discussed.

Then, a report will be published by the council, and digital transformation and next-generation technologies will be brought to the agenda, with a road map reflecting the expectations of all parties.