BThaber Issue 1072 (English)

WEEKLY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMY NEWSPAPER

Samsung Electronics announced the “CEO Perspective of the Digital Transformation in Turkey” research results conducted for the first time in Turkey with TUSIAD’s support and Deloitte & GfK’s cooperation.

Samsung Electronics Turkey Vice President Tansu Yeğen stated that they set out with the “CEO Perspective of the Digital Transformation in Turkey” research in order to look at it from a different angle to the digital transformation process in Turkey and added: “Via the special study we carried out where we look at the digital transformation through the eyes of CEOs, leaders shaping the business world, we aim to reach important information and data to shed light on the future.

With this study for which we carried out meetings with the senior executives of Turkey’s leading 58 companies active in different sectors of the business world, we perceived the level of the digital transformation in Turkey and reached important information on which fields the digital investments are made, how the transformation process is managed and by whom, at what stage we are and what opportunities it offers.”

Footsteps of the digital transformation in Turkey Sharing the research results with details Tansu Yeğen explained that the important findings of the research show the digital transformation began and accelerating in Turkey and added: “The digital transformation is supported by senior managers in Turkey.

90% of respondents said that the digital transformation leadership is undertaken by senior managers. Nearly 40% of the companies are led by technology departments, while 20% said they plan to be led by the technology departments in the future. However, the digital transformation in Turkey is not handled as the ‘big picture’ yet.

The transformation is independently developed and managed within the framework in various

CEOs are the leaders of the digital transformation process

organizational units.

Companies are investing in individual technologies with an operational focus.”

Tansu Yeğen explained that the other findings of the study indicate that the coming period will bring significant improvements both Turkey’s economy and Turkish business world and added: “Examining the turnover from digital channel percentage of companies, we see that the turnover average is 11% for the participants. When we look at the Net Digital Strategy, 54% of respondents agreed that the ‘digital strategy must be clear and understandable”. Managers in the research are asked about their digital maturity level perception and 7% stated as the entry level; 59% as the developing level and 34% as the mature level. The total share of digital investments made by the companies showed that the average digital investment percentage of participants appears to be 27%.”

• Two in three participant companies think that they have ‘a clear and understandable digital strategy’ The participants of the research define the most important factor to be successful in the digital transformation as having a clear and understandable strategy. While two in three participant companies think that they have ‘a

clear and understandable digital strategy’; one in five companies say that they do not have a clear and understandable digital strategy.

In the research, it is visible that the companies in banking, telecommunications, retail and durable consumer goods are in a great level for creating a digital strategy and making it understandable.

When survey participants are asked about the reasons encouraging them for digital transformation, 17% chose the increase in productivity and 16% chose responding quickly to customer needs among all other options.

Looking at the rankings of options, the most important reason seems to increase productivity by 21%, to respond quickly to customer needs and competitive advantage follow it both by 19% and profitability by 12%.

• Digital investment focuses differ in end user oriented B2C and B2B companies In the research, it is seen that the companies in contact with the end customer invest more in digital marketing, mobile technology, customer experience and e-commerce than B2B companies.

On the other hand, B2B companies invest more in the internet of things (IoT), renewable energy technologies, business analytics, robots and supply chain fields compared to the B2C companies.

• The competition is expected from companies in other sectors or entrepreneurs (start-ups) According to the evaluation of the companies participated in the research, the competition is expected from the same sector they are active in by 45%, from other sectors by 30% and from 25% by start-ups. This emphasizes the importance of competition out of the sector.

Especially companies in banking, telecommunications and fast moving consumer sectors perceive other sectors and entrepreneurs as a major threat Telecommunications industry thinks that the companies from other sectors will be in new formations.

When the competitive sectors are asked to the companies which stated that the competition will arise from other sectors or startups, they indicate the technology and retail sectors.

• CIO/CTO positions remain in digital

transformation process while C level assignments responsible by digital transformation are done rapidly According to the research results, the leader in digital transformation processes in Turkey is mainly information technologies (CIO / CTO) department. However the companies are aware of the critical importance of positioning the leaders executing the process as well as the right vision and strategy in order to successfully implement the digital transformation.

In the study; Chief Digital Officer (CDO) is perceived as an umbrella position containing all assignments for digital transformation rather than a single title or position.

In the existing situation, there are managers in the position of CDO in the 38% of the companies in Turkey. However, only 26% of the participating companies stated that this position has the CDO title.

The rate is 67% in banking, telecommunications, and durable consumer goods sectors while it is only the half in the retail sector. By 80 percent, the companies without a CDO position plan to fill this position over the next 3 years.

TUTED is preparing to celebrate May 17 Faydabul.com wants to change the search rules Search engines are putting great efforts to help users reach results quickly and facilitate search on the internet. Users get the results they are looking for most of the time, although they may also be forced to lose a considerable amount of time. Aiming at eliminating the time the users lose while searching, Faydata plans to facilitate these searches via Faydabul.com.

Faydata CEO and Co-Founder Kenan Altun told us about the development process of Faydabul.com, the benefits offered to users and their future projects: “As we all do, I also look for houses, offices and cars in certain websites and lose time while doing it. I always needed a platform where I can express my needs and the individuals and companies who can meet my needs would get back to me.

In the search I did on this issue, I saw no such support existed in Turkey and decided to take action in this regard.

Depending on our 20 years of experience in information technology and software, we

took some steps to create a platform that can meet our needs. For a platform that requires a significant advertising budget, we found an investor support and developed Faydabul. com under the Faydata Information Technologies Marketing and Trading Inc. Since April 1, Faydabul.com started serving and increasing the number of end users and corporate members every day, carrying out marketing activities especially for corporate clients.

I have not seen a website in the style of Faydabul.com, neither in Europe nor the United States, in my research. It is possible to find Turkish websites just like Home Advisor in the USA; we haven’t been able to spot a similar platform to ours, neither in Turkey nor in the USA. Our concept is very different.

At present, more than 30 sectors are serving for the needs of car rental, real estate lease-purchase, hotels, restaurants, agency services, technical services and all kinds of end to end services that you can think of through Faydabul.com.”

All Telecommunication Businessmen Association (TUTED) is preparing to celebrate May 17, World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. In event will be held on May 17, in Ankara with the participation of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Binali Yıldırım.

The theme of this year’s event is ‘Information and Communication Technology Entrepreneurship for Social Impact’.

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is used as a medium to raise awareness about emerging opportunities through the use of internet, information and communications technology and to help

closing the digital divide.

TUTED Chairman Dr. Dilek Ataman Bağdatlıoğlu explained her views about the event: “As it is known, the history of the telecommunication field international organization dates back to

the 19th century. ITU was founded in 17 May 1865, by 20 founding members, including our country with the name of International Telegraph Union in Paris.

Herewith, every year May 17 is celebrated as the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. Each year, the theme of the organized event is determined by the ITU Council. The theme of 2016 is “Information and Communication Technology Entrepreneurship for Social Impact”. In this context; especially mediumsized enterprises will be emphasized with this theme and the importance of the sustainable development acceleration and the discovery of new technologies.”

Software developers will meet at camp Founded in 2014 by four computer engineer entrepreneurs focused on web-based feedback applications Pisano realizes a project in order to bring new software developed into the sector under the supervision of their software team. The candidates will receive free training from Pisano team and guest

instructors from leading companies in the industry for 6 weeks and have the greatest opportunity for self-development and also to be a part of the team at the end of this program. Pisano Software Development Team Leader Ömür Turan stated that: “Our goal is to make Pisano Software Camp

traditional by repeating it every year.” Application address is kamp.pisano.co and the deadline is June 15. The interview period continues until June 17, the winner candidates will be announced on June 24.

After the camp period of July 11 - August 19, an evaluation will be held on 19 August.

Don’t get stressed by the electricity bill The Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) lowered the limit of the determination of free consumer as 120 TL per month for the year 2016; millions of consumers now have the opportunity to change their electricity supplier.

Consumers who easily change their electricity suppliers with electricity tariff comparison website EnCazip obtain significant savings in electricity bills.

This information is given by

Çağada Kırım, Co-founder of EnCazip and Co-founder Onur Orakçıoğlu added: “Our goal is not only to find the cheapest electricity tariffs for consumers, to ensure that the competition in the sector improves for the consumer’s favor.

We do this to increase competition in a sense.”

About the structure offering consumers the right to choose the electricity supplier, Cağada Kırım and Onur Orakçıoğlu gave the following information:

“The situation of consumers who would change supplier in the electricity market is shaped by the decisions of the taken by EPDK. In accordance with EPDK decisions, the upper bill limit has been gradually reduced since 2001.

As of 2016, thanks to a decision taken by EPDK, anyone with a monthly electricity bill of 120 TL can change the electricity supplier. Relatively low limits compared to previous years

are the biggest factors for consumers to change the supplier. Free consumer limit needs to appeal to all consumers. In the future, these limits are expected to decline and in the end liberate. EPDK’s decision in this regard will play the key role on electricity market growth.

The priority in our business model is to provide maximum benefits to consumers. EnCazip’s interests are directly proportional to the

interests of consumers.

As we do not charge any fees from consumers, we are helping to keep their money in their pockets.

We earn our income with the small fees we receive from suppliers. The more we can get the consumer safely and easily change the electricity suppliers and save money, the more we can earn money. Based on this, our priority is to ensure maximum benefit to consumers without any charges.”