03.12.2024 Ankara

The Smart SME Ankara Digital Transformation Conference, organized under the auspices of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), was held at TOBB Twin Towers.

Speaking at the opening of the conference, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said that Türkiye is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of industry, trade, agriculture and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Stating that SMEs can increase their competitive advantages in national and international markets thanks to digitalization, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Thanks to the opportunities offered by digitalization, productivity in production increases, costs decrease and customer satisfaction is maximized. Digitalization is no longer an option, but a necessity.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that businesses that successfully implement digital transformation processes increase their revenues by 30 percent and the possibility of entering international markets by 70 percent.

Stating that they are determined to support the Turkish business world in their digital transformation journey, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they first started the change from their own corporate structures.

Stating that they have digitalized the services they offer to their members, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We offer many digital solutions to our businesses, from electronic document services to online membership transactions. Our members can get all the documents they need from their homes and workplaces. We also carried out a digital transformation work in the Trade Registry Gazette. With the work we have done, we have reduced the announcement publishing time, which was 10 days in the past, to 2 hours.”

- “Suppliers and SMEs come together”

Stating that the Smart SME Platform brings together more than 800 technology suppliers with SMEs and offers access to more than 2,000 digital solutions, Hisarcıklıoğlu continued:

“This platform serves as a bridge for our businesses to meet their digitalization needs and gain a stronger place in global markets. Together with Smart SME, we have trained digital transformation and innovation experts as pilots in our chambers and exchanges. We will continue to train digital transformation and innovation experts in our 366 chambers and exchanges.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that in addition to TOBB, the TOBB University of Economics and Technology is also conducting similar studies, and that Türkiye's first artificial intelligence engineering department was opened within the university and is leading the way in training qualified human resources.

Stating that the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Türkiye has also developed tools that measure the digital maturity levels of SMEs, Hisarcıklıoğlu said: “As a result of all these efforts, Türkiye's first and the world's 15^th quantum computer was built at TOBB ETU. We prepared our country for global competition in the electric automotive sector by developing TOGG, Türkiye's first natively electric national automobile. Thanks to artificial intelligence-supported systems, it is possible to reduce production errors by 90 percent. Similarly, e-commerce platforms can increase the international sales of our SMEs by 40 percent. Türkiye's technology infrastructure and entrepreneurship ecosystem have unique potential for digital transformation. Digital transformation is one of the important topics that will shape Türkiye's economic future.”

Başar Ceylan, Member of the Smart SME Executive Board, stated that the Smart SME Platform has reached over 300,000 SMEs in three years and said: “With Smart SME, we deliver our technology suppliers who have products and services in digital transformation to all SMEs in the country free of charge. On this occasion, we invite our technology suppliers to exhibit their products and services in Smart SME and our SMEs to benefit from it.”

Following the speeches, the “Digital Transformation and Innovation Experts Certificate Ceremony” was held.

(A.A.)