07.10.2019 İstanbul
Speaking at the ‘Role of Intellectual Property for a Strong National Economy Summit,' organized by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Turkey National Committee, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President and ICC Turkey National Committee Chairman M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, said, “On the one hand, we have to produce policies to support those who produce ideas, and on the other hand, to protect those ideas.” Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the infringement of intellectual property rights is theft.
The
summit, which started with the opening speeches of TOBB President and the ICC
Turkey National Committee Chairman M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, ICC Secretary
General John Denton, Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Fatih Kacır and
Ankara University Rector Dr. Erkan İbiş, was held at the Istanbul Hilton
Bomonti Hotel and Conference Center. National and international experts
attended the summit.
- TOBB and ICC working on
intellectual property rights
In
his speech Hisarcıklıoğlu, reported that TOBB and the ICC Turkey have spent significant
time pursuing increased awareness for intellectual property rights in Turkey.
Stating that there are two reasons for this, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “First of
all, we embrace this issue morally. The violation of intellectual property
rights is no different from theft. It is unconscionable to defend the
intellectual property theft and the unfair competition resulting from it. We
need to spread this awareness to the whole of society and the private sector.
Another important reason for this great effort is our desire to increase our
economy to a higher level. The power of the knowledge economy is beyond doubt.
At the core of the knowledge economy are creative ideas, which meet technology
and become exportable products.
In
today's world, inventing, producing new ideas is the greatest service you can
do to this country.
On
the one hand, we have to produce policies to support those who produce ideas,
and on the other hand, to protect those ideas.”
- 21st century’s oil is
knowledge
Stating
that it is impossible to make Turkey a country with advanced technology
exporters and global brands without first establishing the infrastructure and
regulations to protect innovation, technology and brands which it produces,
Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “If we want to produce the next Google, Uber or Apple, we need
to protect our brands, patents, technologies and knowledge. Because, with
digitalization, copyrights also gain different dimensions, and it is important
not to fall behind. Because in the 21st century, knowledge is the
most important force. Knowledge is the oil of the 21st century. Just
like in oil; you must find it, drill it, process it, use it, and sell it. See,
last month, 178-year-old Thomas Cook, the world's largest travel company, went
under. The 20-year-old booking.com or hotels.com continue to increase their activity,
because they rule the knowledge. This is the new world. If you ignore
technological change, you can't survive. If you insist on antiquity and refuse
to adapt to the new, you will disappear.”
Stating
that supporting SMEs, increasing R&D activities and university-industry
cooperation is very important, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the importance they
attach to university-industry cooperation is the launching point of TOBB-ETU they
established in 2003. Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Now, our students receive patents in
the companies they collaborate with. We became a university that got our first
patent from USA with the technologies we produced in our technology transfer
office. We need to increase these examples in all our universities and spread
them to our private sector.
We
as TOBB, the National Committee of ICC Turkey, TOBB University of Economics and
Technology are always ready to do our part. Because we are entering an era of innovation
based growth model for Turkey in which it will need technology, brands and
patents more than ever.”