Insights into Turkiye's Technology Development Journey.

• Author: Temel, Serdal

Introduction

One of the main goals of all countries is to provide a better quality of life for their citizens. To achieve this, governments develop and implement different policies to enhance the competitiveness of firms, as they are the main drivers of job creation in society. (1) In modern economies, the main role of the government is not necessarily to be an entrepreneur itself but to provide a very efficient ecosystem in which companies and entrepreneurs can be more innovative and competitive. However, it is challenging for governments to do this because simply developing new policies and creating grant schemes, while necessary, are not sufficient. To achieve the desired outcomes, transformations are required in many areas of an economy.

By way of example, Turkiye, an emerging economy, has been working to enhance the technological development capacity in the country for more than a decade. Up until the 1980s, Turkiye had implemented an import substitution economy model, which limited foreign trade and access to goods and services developed in other countries. (2) This policy created a type of competitive 'comfort zone' for firms in Turkiye; they could sell their products to the local market and achieve high-profit margins as they had no pressure from international competitors. Firms also had little incentive to be creative and innovative to gain a competitive advantage. When Turkiye shifted its policy from import substitution to an export-led policy in 1980, Turkish consumers were easily able to obtain goods and services developed in other counties, which harmed the Turkish manufacturing industry. At that time, firms started to compete with other innovative and technology-oriented firms in the world. However, it was very difficult for firms in Turkiye to compete because, until that time, they had not made innovation a priority, nor had they built their internal capacities. (3)

To help firms gain competitive skills, Turkiye created several mechanisms and schemes in the early 1990s and indeed continues to actively develop new strategies to improve the innovation levels of firms. With the help of the institutions that implemented such schemes, Turkish firms started to learn how to conduct R&D and innovate. The number of supportive institutions and mechanisms has increased since the 1990s, and the number of firms benefiting from them has grown. The resultant skills and capacities have also attracted many international firms, which have invested in Turkiye. Furthermore, the competitiveness of firms has improved in many areas, with an increasing number of new goods and services, patents, and startups. Notably, academic entrepreneurship has become a hot topic and the main target of universities and science parks. Universities are particularly focused on not only developing a high number of patents but also commercializing these patents. All these efforts have improved Turkiye's ranking in the Global Innovation Index. However, despite all its initiatives, Turkiye is not at a sufficient level of innovation and R&D concerning impact. In this commentary, I provide a brief overview of the journey of technological development in Turkiye and discuss how Turkiye could improve its impact over the longer term.

Beginning of R&D and Innovation in Turkiye

R&D, innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology development support programs in Turkiye started later than those in most developed countries around the globe. At the beginning of the 1990s, some organizations were created by the government to enhance the R&D and innovation capacity of firms and help them increase their competitive power.

One of the first such organizations, which was established in early 1990 to support the R&D and innovation activities of firms, was the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization of Turkiye (KOSGEB). KOSGEB mainly helps small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) stay competitive by introducing new technologies and innovation. KOSGEB closely monitors firms, their performance, and needs and introduces new programs to not only improve the technology development capacity (i.e. R&D and innovation) of the firms but also to facilitate their access to international markets, their recruitment of talented staff, their digital transformation, and entrepreneurship. KOSGEB has been a crucial organization for firms for two reasons: first, it mainly provides grants, and second, it has centers in all the cities of the country, which makes it very easy for firms to access KOSGEB support programs.

Shortly following its establishment, KOSGEB created Technology Development Centers (TEKMER), which aim to support technology-oriented small and new businesses, foster university-industry collaboration and create technology-based academic startups. KOSGEB established these centers in cooperation with local actors, such as universities and regional chambers of commerce and industry. TEKMERs are physical buildings that provide tax exemptions, free incubation, and easy access to government financial support for technology-focused entrepreneurs. By virtue of their structure, TEKMERs represented the first institutional implementation of the Triple Helix model in Turkiye. Between 1991 and 2017, 44 TEKMERs were established in 26 different cities across Turkiye.

A second organization that supports firms' R&D and innovation activities in Turkiye is the TUBITAK Technology and Innovation Support Program

Directorship (TEYDEB). Established in 1995, TEYDEB aimed to support the R&D and innovation activities of firms of all sizes, including large businesses. Since its launch, TEYDEB has been developing different programs to enhance the R&D, innovation, and technology development capacities of firms, including via the awarding of grants. Furthermore, TEYDEB aims to accelerate university-industry collaboration, and for this reason, a specific support mechanism, the University-Industry Collaboration Support Program, was created. This program has motivated numerous firms to conduct R&D projects in collaboration with universities...