The groundbreaking ceremony for Dijitalpark Teknokent, a joint project between Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University and the Turkish-German University, was held on Tuesday, July 7.
Planned to be built on a total area of 50,000 m2 with 45,000 m2 in Çekmeköy, Istanbul, and 5,000 m2 at the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Campus in Rize, the foundation of the first two blocks of Dijitalpark Teknokent was laid in Çekmeköy on Tuesday, July 7, with the participation of Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank. In addition to Minister Varank, the ceremony was attended by the Rector of the Turkish-German University (TAU), Prof. Dr. Halil Akkanat, Rector of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University (RTEU), Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Karaman, Chairman of the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Development Foundation and Chairman of Dijitalpark Board, Nusret Bayraktar, General Manager of Dijitalpark, Prof. Dr. Tahsin Engin, and officials from the Çekmeköy district organization.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, Minister Varank stated that they mediate the creation of an ecosystem with an R&D and entrepreneurship culture and qualified employment through technoparks as the Ministry. He said, “I sincerely believe that the technopark whose foundation we are laying today will strengthen our universities on their path to becoming entrepreneurial and innovative universities. When it reaches full capacity with its campuses in Istanbul and Rize, we are talking about a significant investment hosting 4,000 full-time R&D personnel and 300 entrepreneurs, congratulations.”
Varank mentioned that they have provided approximately 15 million TL in grants so far for the construction of the infrastructure, administrative building, and incubation center of Dijitalpark Teknokent, and will continue to support it in the future. He added that it will play a critical role not only at the national level but also globally, with innovative and competitive national and local high-tech products, towards achieving the country's development goals.
Emphasizing that the R&D and innovation ecosystem is not a luxury but a necessity, Minister Varank said:
“To meet this need, under the leadership of our President, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. Since 2002, we have made significant investments to make the R&D and entrepreneurship ecosystem in our country effective. Today, our 207 universities, with nearly 8 million university students, approximately 1,600 R&D and Design Centers, 88 Technology Development Zones, and 183,000 full-time researchers, are the main actors of this ecosystem.”
Varank also mentioned that they have provided around 15 million TL in grants for the infrastructure, administrative building, and incubation center of Dijitalpark Teknokent and will continue to support it in the future.
