Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank attended the opening of the Future Üsküdar Entrepreneurship Academy.
Minister Varank, in his speech here, stated that he is very pleased to be together with the young people and their supporters, their families and teachers.
Stating that they are working hard on the opportunities they will offer to the youth, Varank said, “Today, we came together to inaugurate the Üsküdar Entrepreneurship Academy, the Future of which was realized with the cooperation of the Istanbul Development Agency and Üsküdar Municipality. As you know, Üsküdar has always attracted attention with its historical and cultural texture. it is an exceptional district, but now it is also making a name for itself with science and technology thanks to this visionary science center.
Hosting our opening today, Bilim Üsküdar appeals to all our citizens, from 7 to 77, with the services it offers, especially its planetarium, hands-on workshops and exhibition areas. While our people are meeting with science here, our children are exploring technology fields such as robotics, automotive and space.
Noting that the number of centers such as Bilim Üsküdar, which they established with the support of TÜBİTAK, is gradually increasing, Varank said, “We came together to open the Future Üsküdar Entrepreneurship Academy, located in the Science Üsküdar campus. Over 1 million of our citizens visit these science centers we established every year. Of course, Bilim Üsküdar. Üsküdar Municipality and our president Hilmi have great efforts in .
This will be one of the most popular places in our entrepreneurial ecosystem in the coming period. Because this beautiful place has been designed to produce solutions by considering all the needs of our entrepreneurs. Training, consultancy, mentoring, common infrastructures, offices, collaborations, synergy are available here. I sincerely believe that our academy, which will raise the successful entrepreneurs of the future, will make very important contributions to our country.”
Varank, who advised the young people that their first goal when starting university should be to be employed somewhere, not to be someone’s employee, said:
“Recently, I participated in an interview with young people who will just start university. In that interview, as I always recommend to young people, I said: ‘Your first goal when starting university is not to be employed in a place or to be someone’s employee. Your potential, abilities and competencies are actually far beyond that.
First of all, think about how I can establish my own business, my own enterprise, how I can stand on my own feet, how I can be my own boss. So when you start university, your first goal should be to become an employer, not an employee.’
After I said these things, I looked at the opposition media immediately started the operation. They clipped what I said from right to left. The headline read: ‘Mustafa Varank told young people that your goal should not be to find a job when you start university’. Of course, what can we tell our university graduates to those who see ‘being a secretary next to headmen’ as a great employment project?”
“The added value produced by a brilliant idea and the employment it creates can be the driving force of the economy”
Emphasizing that we are going through a period in which the global competitive environment is reshaped, Minister Varank said, “A small startup can grow in a very short time and reach the levels that the most established companies can reach in decades. The added value produced by a brilliant idea can be the driving force of the economy. In a small workshop. “An innovative product produced can transform an entire industry. The primary goal of our youth must be to establish their own business. Look, we have very successful young friends who are aware of this transformation in the world.” said.
Stating that Turkey is now headlines in the world with unicorns, Varank said, “3-4 years ago, the opposition in this country only knew about the unicorn as a mystical unicorn. Thanks to our support, they learned the other name. Today, Turkey has 6 unicorns, or turcorns as we call them, companies that have reached a valuation of one billion dollars.
However, we know that these numbers are insufficient compared to the potential of Turkey and Turkish youth. For this reason, we announced the National Technology Entrepreneurship Strategy and the Turcorn100 program to the public in recent months in order to bring the entrepreneurship ecosystem to the level it deserves together with all stakeholders. We set ourselves ambitious goals.”
Expressing that they are determined to be among the top 20 most developed ecosystems in the world, Varank continued his words as follows:
“By 2025, we will definitely reach 5 thousand angel investors, 2.5 billion lira crowdfunding, 5 billion lira public support, 2.5 billion dollar venture capital investment, 15 turcorn and 5 decacorna. Of course, it is easy to set goals, to write such goals in a document. It’s easy. Believe me, maybe thousands of strategy documents are thrown away every year in the world. However, we didn’t prepare our entrepreneurship strategy to be garbage. We based it on difficult but achievable targets.
We made our plans accordingly. In this sense, we are implementing very different programs and effective projects for our youth, which will carry us to our goals for the Turkish Century. We organize Science Olympics, Science Festivals and Science Fairs with TÜBİTAK. We are opening Experiment Technology Workshops all over Turkey. In 100 Experimental Technology Workshops spread over 81 provinces, our children learn to develop technologies in a wide range from artificial intelligence to the internet of things, from design to coding. We organize Sky Observing Events to increase the interest of everyone from 7 to 77 in space and astronomy.”
“Close to 1 million young people will compete in 41 different categories”
Reminding that there are only a few days left for TEKNOFEST, Varank said, “In its sixth year, we will hold Teknofest both in Istanbul and Ankara on different dates on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of our Republic. The number of participants of TEKNOFEST, which we have been organizing with enthusiasm since 2018, has increased exponentially every year. Nearly 1 million of our young people will compete in 41 different categories, from rocket to chip design, from hyperloop to unmanned aerial vehicles.
Thanks to the competitions we organize, our young people will already start working on the technologies of the future. This year, we are holding the final of the first TEKNOFEST at Istanbul Atatürk Airport on April 27-May 1. On the other hand, the TEKNOFEST competition marathon will start with the Robotaksi-Passenger Autonomous Vehicle Competition on Monday, April 10, in Kocaeli Bilişim Valley. Afterwards, the enthusiasm for the competition will continue in our different cities, including Bursa, Ankara, Aksaray and Istanbul.”
Varank stated that they believe that the young people who will grow up in the Future Üsküdar will produce the technologies of the future, “Just as Turkey’s Automobile Initiative started with the entrepreneurial logic, our young people who grew up in the Future Üsküdar will also produce the technologies of the future. Just as we brought the electric car to the market, the young people here will also use hydrogen. they will produce cars that work. We believe in our young people and we want to continue walking with you.” said.
Stating that they completed their evaluations in the Talent Istanbul Program, which they put into practice to train young people in Istanbul as software developers with an employment-guaranteed project, Varank said, “We are establishing 20 innovative and application-based centers in Istanbul. In these centers, we will both provide software training and enable our young people to work as software developers. We have allocated 125 million TL for this program. 20 Talent Istanbul Software Training and Employment Center, which will be established by 10 universities and 10 municipalities, be beneficial to our Istanbul.” he said.
