Details

The forum was co-organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Turkey, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as well as the European Union Research and Application Center of the Izmir University of Economics.

The main focus of the event was to bring together like minded, young scholars, entrepreneurs and researchers from various academic backgrounds and professions in the hopes of contributing to a broad and diverse debate with respect to the challenges that we face with increased digitalization and rapid technological innovation.

The five panels of the forum covered a broad range of topics, reaching from the role of digitalization in the economy, entrepreneurship, labor, as well as trade in a globalized Europe, the role of digitalization in innovation and drivers for change in various sectors. The different academic backgrounds of the participants allowed for an interdisciplinary discussion and an exchange of Turkish and German viewpoints on how to address those challenges and make use of the opportunities that digitalization offers.

Presenters addressed points ranging from how government incentives could foster digitalization, to digital business ventures between Germany and Turkey, the role of artificial intelligence, migration and digitalization, all the way to digitalization in education which ultimately allowed the participants learn from one another’s field of research and expertise. The presentations were structured in an interactive manner, provoking interesting discussions between the presenters and their audience.
The event was not just limited to presentations, but it also included a field trip to the biggest production plant of Hugo Boss A.G which is located in the Ege Free Trade Zone just outside of Izmir. The trip to the plant enabled the participants to first hand observe the role of digitalization and artificial intelligence in the production process of high quality designer garments. The participants were given a short lecture by one of the senior executives of the plant, which was then followed by a tour through the 9000 square meter plant.

The participants also enjoyed the company of two special guests. The German General Consul of the Consulate in Izmir gave opening remarks on the central theme of the forum during the opening session, addressing current challenges with digitalization and technology and possible solutions. Additionally, the participants also had the great honor to host the newly elected mayor of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer, as well as the mayor of Bornova Dr. Mustafa İduğ at an evening dinner.

On the last day, the organization team held a session to hear out the participants on their valuable feedback regarding the comments that they had about the event and the participants overall expressed their satisfaction with the organization, the field trips and the special guests and they found them to be of great value and positively contributing to their learning experience. Moreover, they also believed that the diversity of national and educational backgrounds of the participants enabled them to be exposed to various different perspectives and ideas and learn from the multitude of ideas that the presenters addressed.