Information Technologies and Communication Authority President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu met with students at an event organized by Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University.
Addressing the students about the power of knowledge, Karagözoğlu drew attention to the changes occurring under the leadership of technology. Stating that as BTK they shape their work using the power of information, Karagözoğlu shared some data with the words, “According to fourth quarter data for 2021 in our country, the number of internet subscribers reached 88.2 million. The fixed broadband internet penetration rate per population was 21.4%, while the mobile broadband penetration rate reached 82.7%. Additionally, the monthly average usage of fixed broadband internet subscribers was at the 204 GB level, while the monthly average usage of mobile broadband internet subscribers was 11 GB. In addition, Machine-to-Machine Communication (M2M) usage is also spreading rapidly. As of the end of December 2021, the M2M subscriber number in our country approached 7.4 million. These figures were achieved with our fixed infrastructure and 4.5G infrastructure. With the implementation of 5G and beyond technologies, they will reach much stronger levels.”
Stating that as an institution they provide opportunities for young people to showcase their knowledge accumulation, Karagözoğlu said, “At this point, it is of great importance to us that our young people preparing for working life closely follow developments in 5G and beyond topics for their future careers, and strive to participate in software and hardware development processes and ongoing studies. Because now our entire life is built on digitalization.”
President Karagözoğlu: The More Domestic and National We Are, The Stronger We Become
Emphasizing domestic and national aspects in his speech, Karagözoğlu said, “The more domestic and national technology we possess, the stronger and more independent our cyber security structure will be. With this awareness, in the National Cyber Incident Response Center (USOM), which operates under the BTK umbrella, we use applications developed with domestic and national resources. USOM continues its uninterrupted watch on our cyber borders to protect our country against cyber attacks on a 7/24 basis.”
Also reminding of USOM’s international successes, Karagözoğlu said, “As a result of our cyber security efforts carried out nationwide, primarily USOM, according to the latest data of the ‘Global Cybersecurity Index’ used by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to measure countries' cybersecurity maturity, our country has risen from 11th to 6th place in Europe and from 20th to 11th place worldwide.”
Mentioning the studies conducted by BTK Academy, Karagözoğlu concluded his speech with the words, “Curiosity is the greatest learning instinct. With this instinct, you will discover the future and change the world with technology. Being the country with the youngest population in Europe is a great opportunity in terms of social and economic development. The country needs your dreams, ideas, and entrepreneurship at the center of development. With our employment policies, incentives for societal R&D studies, education and events, we will always be your supporters and helpers. Our trust in you is complete.”