IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu made a detailed evaluation on the digital future of Türkiye.

Chairman Zeytinoğlu drew attention to the fact that Türkiye needs to formulate strategic policy objectives and build its digital sovereignty in the digital domain, which has become a new arena of geopolitical competition. Chairman Zeytinoğlu stated that the EU has taken important and comprehensive steps in this field, especially in the last 12 years. Zeytinoğlu underlined that Türkiye, both as an EU candidate country and as a Customs Union partner, should follow closely the digital agenda pioneered by the EU because it would be an effective guideline for Türkiye to create a success-focused digital transformation strategy.

IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu made the following remarks:

“Governments and companies around the world are taking action to establish short, medium, and long-term policies and goals on digital transformation, which they regard as the new epoch-making discovery of our century, in order to successfully achieve digitalisation and digital transformation, and to shape their digital future. Türkiye also needs to swiftly launch an inclusive digital policy programme to benefit from the opportunities and advantages of digitalisation and digital transformation in terms of social welfare, sustainable economic growth and the environment, and to establish its sovereignty in the digital space where actors are diversifying day by day. It would be in Türkiye's interest to follow the developments in the EU and harmonise its own legislation accordingly, both because of its EU candidacy process and intensive trade relations with the EU. In particular, analysing the digital strategies and policies that the EU has been continuously shaping in the last 12 years will be an essential guideline for Türkiye to create a success-focused digital transformation strategy.”

Chairman Zeytinoğlu stated that the EU has been shaping its digital future with the following initiatives: The Digital Agenda within the scope of the Europe 2020 Strategy published in 2010, the Digital Economy and Society Index launched in 2016, the Digital Europe Programme and the General Data Protection Regulation formulated in 2018, the Digital Europe Strategy published in 2020, the Digital Compass Strategy for 2030 proposed in 2021, the Cyber Resilience Act and the Artificial Intelligence Liability Directive proposed in 2022, and the "Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles" for a "people-centred digital transformation".

Emphasizing that while the EU is taking extremely crucial steps, it is also shaping the global agenda at a time when the constitution and rules of the digital world are being established and the technological infrastructure is being strengthened, Zeytinoğlu highlighted the importance of Türkiye taking part in this process and continued his words as follows:

“Considering all these trends in the EU, we recognise that the EU has adopted a wide range of strategies and policies that encompass almost every field. We also know that the EU is expanding its areas of cooperation with like-minded partners in digital transformation, namely under the umbrella of the Trade and Technology Council established with the US. Moreover, 2023 has been declared the 'European Year of Skills'. This means that we will witness steps being taken to ensure that everyone gains digital skills in all areas, which will in turn, increase the competitiveness of the EU. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Türkiye showed to the world that it is one of the exemplary and leading countries in the digital transformation of public services with the e-government service.

The 'National Technology Move and Digital Türkiye', which was published in 2019, and the 'National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2021-2025' have created a roadmap for Türkiye's digital transformation. Nevertheless, when compared to the EU, it is understood that Türkiye has some shortcomings in terms of both policy scope and financing of digital transformation. Given that the digital sphere and technology are growing and expanding with each passing day, we conclude that the need for Türkiye to adopt more inclusive digital strategies and policy recommendations is becoming urgent.

Following the strategies, policy programmes and legislative initiatives of the EU as a guidance will be fruitful for Türkiye to implement initiatives to establish its technological and digital sovereignty, to become a country that produces and exports advanced technology and to compete with digital leaders in the global arena.

And finally, in 2022, we witnessed the revival of high-level dialogue platforms between Türkiye and the EU. It is a clear fact that Türkiye and the EU's increased cooperation and high-level dialogue on digital transformation and green economy, as a chain of extremely strong positive agendas that complement each other, will be mutually beneficial. Therefore, we would like to witness strong, broadened and deepened Türkiye-EU relations in the digital field".