Turkey joined the global network of Ecole 42, the world's leading new generation software developer school, with Istanbul and Kocaeli 42 schools. Turkey Open Source Platform 42 Software Developer Schools Opening Ceremony was held in Vadi Istanbul on September 7, 2021 with the participation of Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank.
Sophie Viger, Director of Ecole 42 Schools, who attended the opening ceremony via video message, congratulated Turkey for joining the Ecole 42 network of 36 campuses in 23 countries and wished the students success in this exciting journey.
Speaking at the Turkey Open Source Platform 42 Schools Opening Ceremony, Minister Mustafa Varank stated that at 42 Schools, which are designed with an innovative educational approach, students will learn coding and improve themselves through learning from each other and gamification methods, and that they are very happy to bring 42 Schools to our country. Minister Varank added that they aim to expand 42 Istanbul and 42 Kocaeli schools, which are scheduled to open on September 27, across Turkey.
Target of 500 thousand software developers in 2023
Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank pointed out that the digitalization process has gained a dizzying pace all over the world with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and stated that the ways of doing business in many areas from education to health, industry to finance, transportation to trade have changed in a technology-oriented manner. Pointing out that software is the most important element in digital technologies, Varank emphasized that they aim to reach at least 500 thousand software developers in Turkey by 2023 and continued his speech as follows:
"Software is at the heart of artificial intelligence, cyber security, the internet of things, digital platforms, mobile applications and many other technologies. Therefore, the prerequisite for being a part of the new order of the digital age is to have a strong software developer army. Today, all of the countries that lead the production of digital technologies stand out with their large software developer populations. Therefore, Turkey, which wants to become a producer of high technology rather than a market for it, must create a competent software army. We have already set this as one of our main goals in the Industry and Technology Strategy we have prepared with the vision of the National Technology Move. We envision the number of software developers in our country to be at least 500 thousand in 2023.
Foreign dependency in software will decrease
Stating that the Turkish Open Source Platform and the 42 software schools established within it will play a very important role at this point, Varank emphasized that they will reduce costs by reducing foreign dependency in software and continued his speech as follows:
"Thanks to this platform and schools that bring together all relevant stakeholders, we will increase the quality and quantity of our software developers. Thus, we will reduce foreign dependency in the software used by both the public and private sectors and reduce costs. More importantly, we will eliminate cyber security problems.
There is great cooperation here. Our Ministry, TÜBİTAK TÜSSİDE and Informatics Valley have been coordinating this project since the beginning. Istanbul and East Marmara Development Agencies are financing the project with a support of 27 Million Liras. On the other hand, our members, who are the leading companies in their sectors, support both the educational activities in schools and the projects carried out on the platform. Ecole 42, an international brand with 36 campuses in 23 countries, also implements innovative education models in our schools. Our sponsor members also play a facilitating role with the awards, human resources and infrastructure they provide".
Trainings are free of charge, employment opportunities are vast
Minister Mustafa Varank stated that they aim to train software developers who will join the employment market in the fastest way with 42 Schools and continued his speech as follows:
"With this platform, we offer millions of young people the chance to improve themselves. We also provide our young people with training models aimed directly at business life.
42 Istanbul, which we opened today, will serve this purpose. In these completely free schools, students will learn from each other through projects and gamification without an instructor. Graduates from the equivalents of these educational institutions around the world
are employed in institutions. There are many young people who find jobs even in the second year of education. Our goal here will be to train software developers who participate in employment rather than training software developers".
Let's join forces to develop national and original software
Türkiye Açık Kaynak Platformu’nun 42 Okulları öğrencilerinin istihdam olanakları ile buluşturulmasında en önemli destekçisi olacağını belirten Mustafa Varank, ‘’Platform bu hususta gençlerimizin yanında olacak. Eğitim sırasında yarı zamanlı çalışma ve bittikten sonra da tam zamanlı çalışma konusunda destek verecek. Gençlerimiz gerçek projeler ile sektörün değerli firmalarıyla çalışma fırsatı bulacak. Yine platform üye firmaları da öğrencilerle eğitimleri sırasında öğrencilerle tanışabilecek, takip edebilecek ve istihdam etme şansına sahip olacak. Burada herkesin ihtiyacına cevap veren bir eko sistemi beraber inşa edeceğiz. Hedefimiz ülkemizi kritik teknolojilerin üreticisi haline getirmek olacak. 2021 yılının ikinci çeyreğinde %21,7’lik rekor büyüme oranıyla ortaya koyduğumuz tablo açık bir şekilde ortada duruyor. Şunun altını çizerek belirtmek istiyorum. Biz Türkiye olarak büyük işlere talibiz. Büyük işleri gerçekleştirebilmenin yolu ise birlikte çalışmaktan geçiyor. İşin özü iş birliği. Bir nevi kazan kazan anlaşması. İşte bu yüzden ben yazılımcı şirketlere, girişimcilere ve hatta öğrencilerimize sesleniyorum. Sizin bu platforma, bu platformun da size katacağı çok şey var. Gelin hep birlikte güçlerimizi birleştirelim, milli ve özgün yazılımlarımızı geliştirelim’’.
Mustafa Varank noted that 42 Kocaeli will start operating as of September 27, following 42 Istanbul, which started training with 400 computers in Vadi Istanbul under the venue sponsorship of Evyap, and added that new schools are planned to be opened in different provinces of Turkey if 42 Schools are efficient.
Rabia Özkan, a student of 42 Istanbul, took the floor at the opening ceremony and shared her experiences. Stating that she graduated from the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department of Medeniyet University this year, Özkan said that when she learned that 42 Schools would be opened in Turkey, she immediately applied and stated that they had a different and exciting learning experience with the method of cooperation and learning from each other.
Plaques of Appreciation were presented to Founding Members and Sponsoring Members
In addition to the Consul General of France Olivier Gauvin, Elodie Laugier (Head of Economics Department), Solene Permanne (Press Office), ISTKA officials, MARKA Secretary General Dr. Mustafa Çöpoğlu, Informatics Valley General Manager A. Serdar İbrahimcioğlu and experts from TÜSSİDE project team also attended the Turkey Open Source Platform 42 Software Schools Opening Ceremony. The ceremony ended with the presentation of plaques to the founding members and sponsors of the Turkish Open Source Platform.
At the ceremony, the founding members of the Open Source Platform of Turkey, Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Aselsan; Hançeri Sayat, Baykar Logistics Coordinator; Dr. Mehmet Akif Nacar, General Manager of Havelsan; Ömer Uyar, CEO of Intertek; İrfan Yılmaz, Deputy General Manager of Kuveyt Türk; Prof. Dr. Zeynep Gürhan Canlı, Vice Rector of Koç University; Cavit Yantaç, Deputy General Manager of Microsoft; Zafer Şen, CEO of OBSS; Kerem Kızıltunç, Corporate IT Director of Turkcell Technology; Dr. Mehmet Beytur, Deputy General Manager of Support Services and Purchasing Management at Türk Telekom; Ali Serdar Yakut, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Development & IT at Turkish Airlines; Rahmi Aktepe, President of the Informatics Association of Turkey; Aslı Derbent, Board Member of TUBISAD; Prof. Dr. Hasan Municip, President of TÜBİTAK. Mehmet Beytur, Deputy General Manager of Support Services and Purchasing Management at Türk Telekom, Ali Serdar Yakut, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Development & IT at Turkish Airlines, Rahmi Aktepe, President of the Informatics Association of Turkey, Aslı Derbent, Board Member of TÜBİSAD, Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal, President of TÜBİTAK, Serkan Sevim, Board Member of TÜSİAD, Mehmet Bütün, IT Director of Vakıf Participation, Davut Güngör, Group Manager of Ziraat Technology, and Mehmet Evyap, CEO of Evyap, the venue sponsor, were presented plaques of appreciation by Minister Mustafa Varank. A souvenir photo was taken with the Platform's sponsor members AWS, Veripark, Globalnet, SAP, Profelis.
To watch the Opening Ceremony Click here.
For information about Turkey Open Source Platform Click here.
