Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The 14 technology-focused working committees established within the TOBB Türkiye Software Council gathered with their chairpersons and members at the TOBB Twin Towers.

The meeting of the technology-focused committees, which is one of the important steps in the process initiated in line with the goals of developing our software industry, increasing domestic production, employment, and exports, and transforming with domestic technologies, saw strong participation from industry stakeholders. The meeting also created promising opportunities for cooperation and sectoral interaction.

Within the framework of the program, information was provided on the process carried out and the working system of the committees during a meeting with committee chairs moderated by TOBB Software Council Chairman Ertan Barut and Vice Chairman Salih Kükrek. Vice President Salih Kükrek, who is responsible for the committees, emphasized that they expect the committees to develop annual work plans that will contribute to the Assembly’s agenda in their respective technological fields. Assembly Advisor Tuba Akgözlü stated that they will provide all kinds of contributions and support for the committees’ guiding and supportive work with the committee working guidelines they have prepared.

In the afternoon session, the chairpersons and members of 14 committees gathered in a workshop format. Chairman Ertan Barut delivered a comprehensive presentation under the vision of “Information Technology is Indispensable, Software is Our Future” and “Software is a Strategic Sector and National Strength.” He informed the Assembly about its strategic goals for solving sectoral problems and, in particular, growing the domestic software ecosystem, its roadmap, and its work and projects related to the legislation and regulations it follows. He also shared plans to increase the visibility of domestic producers and confidence in domestic software through this collaboration. Barut said that they expect the committees to be more sensitive to the sector’s priority issues and to bring their recommendations to the Assembly’s agenda through collective wisdom and data-driven analysis. Salih Kükrek introduced the committees and their areas of work in his presentation. Afterwards, the committee chairs and members introduced the organizations and activities they represent one by one, followed by a presentation of the working guidelines for the committees.

The meeting highlighted that committees are expected to develop policy recommendations for the sector’s development and produce measurable outcomes through regular meetings and activities, while also tracking legal regulations and generating outputs addressing sectoral issues and proposed solutions.

Committee members had the opportunity to discuss cooperation issues among themselves and with domestic producers in other committees, as well as consult on sectoral needs and expectations in their own regions.

Technology-focused committees established within the Software Council:

·         Open Source Software

·         Blockchain, Web3 Software

·         Cloud and Infrastructure Software

·         Industrial Software, Industry 5.0

·         IoT, Autonomous, Robotics Software

·         Digital Transformation in the Public Sector

·         Enterprise Applications, Digital Transformation

·         Logistics, Supply Chain Software

·         Mobility, Intelligent Transportation Software

·         Game, XR Software

·         Cybersecurity and Resilience

·         Sustainable Software, Green IT

·         Artificial Intelligence, Data Science

·         Mobile Applications

In his closing remarks, Chairman Ertan Barut stated, “As the Software Council, we will continue to take concrete steps to encourage and support the development and growth of our software sector, increase production, employment, and exports, and achieve our country’s transformation goals with domestic technologies,” and thanked all participating companies, public institution representatives, and academics.