Turkey is building a robust reputation across a range of technological sectors. We examine two highly diverse but eye-catching projects that illustrate the rapid progress the country is making.
United Nations Development Programme’s International Centre for Private Sector in Development (UNDP IICPSD) and the United Nations Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries (UNTB) jointly launched the ‘Frontier Tech Leaders’ programme during a side event at the fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Doha, Qatar.
The programme, implemented by UNDP IICPSD’s SDG AI Lab, UNTB, with the support of the Government of Turkey, aims to address the digital divide in LDCs and inspire the next generation of tech specialists to develop digital solutions for community challenges. The programme will inspire and provide means for action to the youth. It will focus on encouraging young women to pursue education and careers in the field of technology, contributing to the promotion of gender equality.
Attendees came together to discuss the digital divide in the LDCs, with a particular focus on frontier technologies that are driving the fourth industrial revolution. The conversation centred on the potential of Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to transform the lives of people in LDCs.
The launch event was graced by high-level dignitaries, including Mr. Haoliang Xu, the UN Assistant Secretary-General, UNDP Assistant Administrator, and Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support , Mr Mohammad Jamal Alsaati, Special Advisor to the President, Islamic Development Bank, Mr Md. Abdur Rahim Khan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, and H.E. Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, Minister and Senior Advisor to the President of Niger. The panel discussion was joined by high-level representatives from Ministry of Economy and Finance, responsible for Industry of Djibouti, Presidency of Strategy and Budget, Presidency of Türkiye, the Islamic Development Bank and UNTB. The event was co-organised by the Government of the Republic of Türkiye, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, responsible for Industry of the Republic of Djibouti, UNDP IICPSD and the UNTB.
Mr Mohammad Jamal Alsaati, the Special Advisor to the President of the Islamic Development Bank, has emphasised that it is crucial to improve the digital skills of young people in emerging technology fields, such as AI and data science, to promote Digital Transformation and equal opportunities for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
H.E. Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, Minister, Senior Advisor to President of Niger and CEO of National Agency for Information Society (ANSI), Government of Niger, expressed his appreciation for the initiative: “To qualify for the millions of jobs of the new tomorrow, it has become imperative for young people to acquire the appropriate skills. The Frontier Tech Leaders Programme would therefore be of great contribution.”
The ‘Frontier Tech Leaders’ programme will raise a new generation of tech specialists to develop digital solutions for LDCs and strengthen local capacities. It will start with the training of LDC students in Türkiye, which would allow quick rollout and support from the local stakeholders. The participants will be supported through a Virtual Digital Business Incubation (VDBI) process that increases the potential for entrepreneurship.
UNTB’s Acting Managing Director, Dr Taffere Tesfachew, emphasised on the importance of digital technologies for the LDCs to leapfrog SDGs achievement and guide their path to sustainable development: “Youth unemployment in LDCs is a multifaceted problem that requires a multifaceted solution. And we believe that frontier technologies can be a critical part of that solution.”
The initiative will support the implementation of the Doha Programme of Action, which calls for capacity building in youth skills development as an enabler for leaving no one behind. Furthermore, the ‘Frontier Tech Leaders’ programme will also boost opportunities for South-South cooperation. Based on the pilot initiative developed in collaboration with the Government of Türkiye, the programme will be further expanded to other development partners in the following phases.
With the launch of the ‘Frontier Tech Leaders’ Programme, UNDP and UNTB aim to provide equal opportunities for the youth of LDCs through Digital Transformation and upskill young people in emerging tech areas, such as Artificial Intelligence and data science, to support the achievement of the SDGs.
Meanwhile, Turkish textile manufacturer, Tosunoğlu, has partnered with Infor to strengthen its operational processes.
Infor, the industry cloud company, announced that Tosunoğlu has selected Infor CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise. Tosunoğlu is a fully integrated manufacturing facility for fabric production that has expanded its field of business to new industries. The company strives to improve business processes and optimise its IT infrastructure with the multi-tenant cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) and digitisation solution, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Tosunoğlu was established in Denizli, Turkey, in 1986, manufacturing high-quality fabrics for residential and outdoor spaces. Aiming to produce ecological, technological, sustainable and original design textiles, it operates in more than 60 countries on six continents.
The company recently made a growth decision by expanding its business scope. It has increased the number of industries it serves and has launched new business lines leading to more complexity. Tosunoğlu’s response was a top-level decision to strengthen its operational process for hotel chains and mobility industries. Infor CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise was selected as the proven solution to meet this requirement.
Further, with quickly changing market conditions and customer needs, Tosunoğlu’s advanced project management helps make sure that projects are completed on time, within budget and in line with stakeholder expectations. Infor CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise reinforces this capability in one fully-integrated business suite. Tosunoğlu is implementing the solution through Infor partner, Enigma Business Solutions.
“For hotel chains and mobility industries, we need to be more customer-focused — fast, flexible and responsive to changing supply chain challenges. This involves putting our customers’ needs and preferences at the core of all our business decisions by collecting and analysing customer data and tailoring products and services,” said Murat Tosunoğlu, Tosunoğlu VP. “To achieve this agility, we consulted on the Infor multi-tenant cloud enterprise resource, which allows all of our departments to work with the same data. Thanks to this digitalisation step, we expect to respond more rapidly to the demands of the industries in which we have just started to operate, while also improving the existing operation process within our structure.”
Reslen Eroğlu, Enigma Business Solutions Managing Partner, commented on the partnership between Tosunoğlu and Infor: “Industrial manufacturers’ efforts to respond quickly to their customers’ expectations lead to more complications in their businesses. We enable manufacturers to become more flexible and more agile by helping them develop and manage organisational change strategies to handle complexity. In line with this, companies that use digital business applications seem to have higher growth potential, such as hotel chains and mobility industries. If digital business applications are used in the right way, a big step is taken in fostering the growth of a company. Therefore, we considered Infor CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise solution to be the best match to support Tosunoğlu in this process of growth and expansion into new operating fields.”
