"In the Turkey e-Government Comparison Report, 10th Place"
Assoc. Prof. Dr. İzzet Gökhan Özbilgin, the President of the Public Informatics Association, who participated in the 10th International Management Information Systems Conference, provided information about digital transformation efforts in the public sector in Turkey. Emphasizing Turkey's significant achievements in public digitalization, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özbilgin stated, "In the e-Government Report prepared by the European Commission, Turkey ranks 10th among the countries implementing digital transformation in the public sector. We are a country that successfully implements digital transformation in the public sector."
The "10th International Management Information Systems Conference" was held between October 18 and 20 at Yeditepe University's August 26 Campus in Ataşehir. The conference, organized under the leadership of Dr. Assistant Professor Çağla Özen, the Head of the Department of Information Systems and Technologies at Yeditepe University, covered a wide range of topics related to the digital world, including "Metaverse Foundations: Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, and NFTs," "Cybersecurity and Cloud Computing," "Data Science, Big Data, Data Analytics, and Data Governance," "Internet of Things, Digital Twins, and Applications," "Digital Transformation and Industry 5.0," "Artificial Intelligence and Applications," "Society 5.0 and E-adaptation," and "Game Development, Gamification, Virtual, and Augmented Reality."
Prof. Dr. Vahap Tecim, the Head of the Department of Management Information Systems at Dokuz Eylül University, Research Journalist and IT and Telecom Expert Füsun Sarp Nebil, Assoc. Prof. Dr. İzzet Gökhan Özbilgin, the President of the Public Informatics Association, and Sezayi Buğdaycı, the Head of the Department of Management Information Systems at Eti Maden Enterprises, participated in the conference's panel with the theme "Sustainability in the Digital Age."
Assoc. Prof. Dr. İzzet Gökhan Özbilgin, who took part in the panel moderated by Dr. Assistant Professor Çağla Özen, mentioned the e-Government Report prepared by the European Commission and stated, "We have consistently moved up 4-5 places each year, and now we are in 10th place. We are a successful country in implementing digital transformation in the public sector."
THE REPORT EVALUATED 35 COUNTRIES
The report, published by the European Commission on September 27, 2023, included a total of 35 countries, including 27 European Union countries, European Free Trade Association countries, and candidate member countries. According to the results of the European Commission e-Government Comparison 2023 Report, Turkey ranked 10th among the 35 countries in the overall average. The top 5 countries in the overall average were Malta, Estonia, Luxembourg, Iceland, and Finland, while the bottom 5 countries were Cyprus, Romania, Albania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.
"WE NEED TO USE TECHNOLOGIES IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY WAY"
Assoc. Prof. Dr. İzzet Gökhan Özbilgin emphasized the importance of sustainability through digital transformation and said, "Through digital transformation, we can achieve sustainability. What is sustainability, in fact? It is the ability to transfer our resources to the future. We missed that opportunity. How did we miss it? We consume and pollute seriously. One of the most important ways to save this is to use digital elements. Therefore, the more we use technological elements, the more we can solve this problem. But at the same time, we are also polluting. Currently, China is the top polluting country. America is second. In fact, we are third, the biggest polluters. Of course, we can't give up these technologies. Therefore, while using them, we also need to learn how to clean up. We need to increase our awareness. We need to use technologies in a more proper and environmentally friendly way. For example, data centers are critical in this regard because they consume a significant amount of energy. We need to make the use of resources in these places more efficient. However, it's not just corporate; we also need to take personal measures."
"EDUCATING PEOPLE IS IMPORTANT WHILE TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES"
Dr. Assistant Professor Çağla Özen said, "We talked about people at the conference because people are at the center of sustainability. As technology advances, our people need to be educated in some way and become smarter in their journey towards being super-smart individuals."
"WE NEED TO UTILIZE TECHNOLOGY TO OPTIMIZE RESOURCE CONSUMPTION IN THE DIGITAL AGE"
Dr. Assistant Professor Çağla Özen, who used the expression "We can think of sustainability in the digital age as the use of technology and innovation for sustainability goals," also stated, "That is, various projects in the field of information technology can be an example for reducing carbon footprint. Our resources are depleting. We live in a world where we are responsible for leaving it to future generations. Therefore, we need to utilize technology to optimize resource consumption."
"THREE IMPORTANT TOPICS TO WORK ON IN THE SUSTAINABLE DIGITAL AGE"
Dr. Assistant Professor Çağla Özen, who stated that there are three crucial aspects of sustainability in the digital age, continued her words as follows:
"One of them is 'cybersecurity.' Because as transformative technologies rapidly enter our lives, we must ensure their security. In addition, there is the data produced by these technologies, 'Big Data.' But as important as collecting big data is analyzing it. So, data science is a very important and open-ended subject. Finally, of course, storing the data we collect. Therefore, 'cloud technologies' are extremely important."
Sezai Buğdaycı, the Head of the Department of Management Information Systems at Eti Maden, also stated, "Digital systems are indispensable for our world today. So, we must be present in the game. Therefore, digital environments will be our greatest helper in making the continuity of the processes we will perform from now on easier, facilitating the continuity of life, and saving time."
