Turkey's AI roadmap looks to boost economy and add thousands of jobs

Turkey aims to push the artificial intelligence sector to contribute 5 percent towards the country’s GDP by 2025, it has revealed in its first strategic artificial intelligence (Al) plan.

The strategy was launched in a public event held by the Presidency’s Digital Transformation Office and the Industry and Technology Ministry on Tuesday.

The strategy foresees employing at least 50,000 people in the sector as one among 24 other objectives in its plan by 2025.

The ceremony was attended by artificially intelligent characters and holograms where Turkey’s plans were presented. The five-year roadmap was launched at Turkey's Informatics Valley in Gebze, Kocaeli, and was developed with the collaboration of private, public, and academic groups.

In August, the National Artificial Intelligence Strategic Plan report was published with a preface from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stating, “The field of artificial intelligence is not a matter of choice, but one of the biggest bearers of our development goals.”

The major tenets of the artificial intelligence (Al) strategy include realising actions of decision-making, exploring meaning, and learning in dynamic conditions unique to intelligent creatures by computer or computer-controlled machines, according to the official report.

“We have made the national artificial intelligence (Al) strategy to ensure that the digital transformation is most beneficial to society,” said Musyafa Varank, Minister of Industry and Technology, indicating that Turkey is one of the few countries to develop such a plan..

“The artificial intelligence will be an indispensable part of economic and social fields in the very near future,” Varank also said while explains the plan's socio-economic aims.

The plan outlines six priorities primarily centered around supporting Turkey's Al initiatives and strengthening international cooperation in this field by training artificial intelligence specialists and increasing employment , encouraging research, entrepreneurship, and innovation, reaching to quality data and technical infrastructure, and expediting structural and workforce transformation.

The government would like to commercialise applications developed and prioritise in public procurement and boost the number of MSc graduates specialized in AI technology by at least 10,000.

“We will enter the top 20 countries in the international artificial intelligence indices,” Ali Taha Koc, Head of the Digital Transformation Office of the Turkish Presidency said during the ceremony, highlighting the importance of becoming an accurate Al data-sharing country.

The strategy forecasts a two-fold increase in market size and global AI expenditures within five years. It also strives to enhance Turkey's economic and technological independence by reinforcing indigenous infrastructure and a structural transformation.

Efforts are still ongoing to establish institutions and ‘unicorns’ similar to The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) Artificial Intelligence Institute . When compared to the 2,000 US and Chinese startups, the number in Turkey is low at approximately 200 companies.