The OSTİM startup ecosystem was introduced to visitors at the Startup 23 Fair. The OSTİM brand was represented at the event, held at ATO Congresium, with stands representing OSTİM Organized Industrial Zone Directorate, OSTİM Foundation, OSTİM Technical University, Ostim Technopark, and OSTİM Investment.
The opening speeches of the event, held between May 4, 5, and 6, 2023, were given by Fatih Kacır, Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology; Gürsel Baran, President of the Ankara Chamber of Commerce; Seyit Ardıç, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ankara Chamber of Industry; Kutlu Karavelioğlu, Vice President of the Turkish Exporters Assembly; Orhan Aydın, Chairman of the Board of Directors of OSTİM; Nezih Kuleyn, Chairman of the Executive Board of Girişim'23; and Akın Sertcan, General Manager of Logo Yazılım.
“Everything we do, we do with our youth”
Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Fatih Kacır, in his speech, explained the National Technology Initiative. Kacır said, "The most important feature that distinguishes us from other countries is our young population. Young people develop new technologies all over the world. In the National Technology Initiative, everything we do is done with our youth. Today, there are 98 Technoparks and more than 1,500 R&D and technology companies in Turkey. Together, we have built a giant technology ecosystem."
Deputy Minister Kacır explained that many platforms in unmanned aerial vehicle technologies have been brought to life one after another by Turkish engineers, Turkish youth, and Turkish entrepreneurs.
Highlighting the technological changes taking place in the world, Kacır said, "If we are pioneers in these changes and transformations, we can create national brands. TOGG is such an initiative and brand."
Stating that Turkish entrepreneurs can participate in international space studies through the National Space Program, Kacır said, "One of our missions is to send a spacecraft that we have developed ourselves into space. We attach great importance to communication technologies. With the Communication Technologies Cluster, we have taken the first steps towards producing national 5G."
OSTİM, an entrepreneurial story
“Where there is entrepreneurship, OSTİM is indispensable,” began Orhan Aydın, Chairman of the OSTİM Board of Directors, emphasizing that the region has an entrepreneurial story. Aydın stated: “Today is 2023, and we are an enterprise that started in 1967. We represent a structure in Türkiye that transformed itself from a cooperative, developing and improving its philosophy of innovation and entrepreneurship into an ecosystem. Ankara is actually one of the leading cities in Türkiye in terms of intellectual capital. We have 23 universities and 8 Technology Development Zones here. This structure is more advanced than in other cities in Türkiye. This has been previously documented in research reports about Ankara's structure.”
With its universities, Ankara can actually be called a Silicon Valley. Stanford University is in Silicon Valley; an ecosystem has been built around the university. It seems that this is the birthplace of innovative products in the world. While we don't necessarily see ourselves as equivalent to it, we believe that, as a model, with our existing organized industrial zone, our educational institutions, our technology development zone, our vocational school, and our university, we are inductively creating a structure and ecosystem similar to Silicon Valley.
Although small and medium-sized enterprises in our region are actually established with traditional structures, we are trying to create companies through our clusters that can compete globally with firms from all over the world, showcasing and selling their products in countries all over the globe.
SMEs have a certain flexibility, agility, and dynamism, and we value these qualities. While large firms may possess certain characteristics, small businesses are absolutely indispensable. Incubation centers in new-generation technoparks, small businesses, and start-ups are particularly important. Our country has established very strong structures, such as venture capital and angel investment, to develop these businesses.
We have established all these structures in our region, from "I have an idea" to "I want to take my company public." We are showcasing these structures at our booth at the Entrepreneurship 23 event. We are aware of the importance of this event. Ankara is the most important city where this can be done. We must support these events.”
Following his speech, Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Fatih Kacır visited the OSTİM stand. After receiving information about the projects, Kacır stated, “OSTİM is an exemplary initiative. May your success encourage other Organized Industrial Zones to follow suit. I wish you success.”
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