ESIS Extension / Turkey / IS Promotional Activities / Update Memo 6

Bilisim 2000 Fair and Conference which is the biggest yearly IT event in Turkey was held during this period. This year’s event was organised as a CeBit event. Both the fair and the conference were big successes this year. The fair attracted over 185 000 visitors, over 800 companies, and over 1500 journalists and the total exhibition area was 24 000 sq meters. The conference attracted 2900 participants and some of the events were repeated due to high demand.

An initiative lead by the IT Group of parliamentarians in the Grand National Assembly drafted a law for the establishment of a separate ministry to deal with information society and information technology issues.

Turkish Informatics Foundation made a declaration stating the draft law for the establishment of a National Information Security Council included many regulations which are in conflict with privacy of personal and commercial information and therefore might endanger development in a free environment.

A report produced by Interpro estimates that the total market size for the year 2000 as 26.2 billion USD, with the shares of IT and Communications estimated as 22% and 78%, respectively.

The Internet Technologies Society INETD organised a panel meeting to discuss DNS policy issues.

Two by-laws were introduced in this period, one on regulating installation of GSM base stations, and the other on digital TV broadcasting.

ISPs and Turk Telekom discussed reliability of TTNet, Turk Telekom’s commercial Internet backbone in the Internet Higher Council meeting.

The 8^th 5-year plan prepared by the State Planning Organisation was approved by the Grand National Assembly. The plan identifies information society issues, information technologies infrastructure (Internet etc), and information technology applications as one of the most important areas.

Higher Council of Internet formed a working group to investigate policy issues related to DNS. DNS service is currently provided by Middle East Technical University in Turkey.

Several leading IT companies were listed in Istanbul Stock Exchange in this period. Istanbul Stock Exchange introduced a separate index, called the technology index for high tech companies. Turkcell was also listed in NYSE.

Turk Telekom announced that the third communication satellite of Turk Telekom, Turksat 2A would be launched in the last quarter of 2000. Also announced was launching another satellite called Anatolia I.

Several IT companies were established in Turkey in this period as joint ventures of Turkish and Greek IT companies. This is a direct result of the Turkish-Greek Information Society Forum.

Bilisim 2000 Fair and Conference was held during this period. Bilisim fair and conference series is the biggest yearly IT event in Turkey. This year’s event was organised as a CeBit event, by a joint venture company of Interpro, organiser of Bilisim events up to this year, and Deutsche Messe, organiser of CeBit, specially established for this purpose. Both the fair and the conference were big successes this year. The fair attracted over 185 000 visitors, over 800 companies, and over 1500 journalists and the total exhibition area was 24 000 sq meters. The fair played an important role in increasing the technology awareness of the general public in IT. The conference attracted 2900 participants and some of the events were repeated due to high demand. The theme of the conference was e-Turkey, and many issues were discussed under this theme. Both the fair and the conference were publicised very well, obtaining very good coverage on the TVs and in the newspapers.

An initiative lead by the IT Group of parliamentarians, which currently has 65 members, in the Grand National Assembly drafted a law for the establishment of a separate ministry to deal with information society and information technology issues. The draft law was submitted to the prime minister by the Group. The draft law is now being discussed in the IT sector and in the IT media.

Turkish Informatics Foundation declared that the draft law for the establishment of a National Information Security Council includes many regulations which are in conflict with privacy of personal and commercial information and therefore may endanger development in a free environment. The draft law is being criticised as having a too much large scope in identifying what is related to national information security.

A report was produced by Interpro Market Research Centre on the national ICT market. The report estimates that the total market size for the year 2000 as 26.2 billion USD, with a distribution of the shares of IT and Communications estimated as 22% and 78%, respectively.

The Internet Technologies Society INETD organised a panel meeting to discuss DNS policy issues.

Two by-laws were introduced in this period, one on regulating installation of GSM base stations, and the other on digital TV broadcasting.

Internet Higher Council hold two meetings in this period. Most of the discussion was between ISPs and Turk Telekom on the TTNet, Turk Telekom’s commercial Internet backbone. ISPs complain about the reliability of the network.

Higher Council of Internet formed a working group to investigate policy issues related to DNS. This was due to ongoing discussions on DNS issues. ISPs have long been complaining about the heavy bureaucracy involved in domain name applications. DNS service is currently provided by Middle East Technical University in Turkey.

4. Other main or important tools used for promoting the IS development or raising awareness

Several leading IT companies were listed in Istanbul Stock Exchange in this period, including NETAS, leading telecom equipment producer, Alcatel, Logo, a leading software company, and Escort, the leading PC manufacturer, Aselsan, a leading military electronics manufacturer, and Turkcell, the largest GSM operator. Istanbul Stock Exchange introduced a separate index, called the technology index for high tech companies. Turkcell was also listed in NYSE.

Several IT companies were established in Turkey in this period as joint ventures of Turkish and Greek IT companies. This is a direct result of the Turkish-Greek Information Society Forum formed by Turkish Informatics Foundation and SEPE, Greek Association of IT companies.

Please note that this report has been prepared under the sole responsibility of the ESIS II contractors.
It does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission, nor does the Commission accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of information contained herein.
The ESIS Team of contractors welcomes any additional information or corrections.