IT Usage in Turkey

IT growth

It was Tubitak, the state-owned Turkish Science and Technology Research Commission, that first introduced IT and the IT culture to Turkey. Computer technology was first used by the banking sector.

Major customers

Though the government is an important investor in computerization, the private sector accounts for the larger slice of the IT market pie. Within this group, banks are the major players, followed by the other financial institutions, the travel ind ustry, and the automotive and other industrial concerns. The major government customer is the army.

Customer sophistication

There has been minor penetration of computers into areas such as health and agriculture. The use of computers in Turkish manufacturing is steadily improving, especially for process control, but use of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) is limited. Large newspapers and press, TV organizations, graphic workshops and advertising agencies have all adopted computers in their work. Almost all businesses, small and large, now use personal computers for accounting.

Effect of the European Union on IT in Turkey

Turkey has long been struggling to enter the European Community as a permanent member. Pressure from the European parliament have been and are still exerted pushing Turkey towards more democratization and greater investments into improving educa tion, industry and technological status. This factor is the main drive for Turkey's present and increasing technological sophistication. With virtually no telecommunications infrastructure in 1980, the country has leaped to a leading position in telecommu nications infrastructure among European countries.

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