WEEKLY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMY NEWSPAPER
E-transformation is accelerating in public Announced by Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, ‘2017-2019 Medium-Term Program’ Expenditure Programs are said to be used especially for public infrastructure investment to support growth, incentives, regional development, in education and R&D. Public procurement is stated to be used as a tool for technological developments and boosting domestic production. Prepared by the Ministry of Development; covering the period 2015-2017 and starting the budget process, ‘Medium Term Program’ (OVP) has been designed to achieve 2023 targets and in the grounds of Turkey’s more competitive and innovative economy. OVP’s basic purposes are while upgrading the growth performance, decreasing the current account deficit, reaching the inflation target and thereby to strengthen macroeconomic and financial stability. Structural reforms that our country needs for a new development initiative will be implemented during the OVP period. In this context, 10th Action Plan’s priority transformation programs and action plans will be implemented. The level of realization of this action plan will be increased with regular monitoring. OVP’s macroeconomic framework was prepared taking into account the risks and opportunities arising from the outside world. OVP’s purposes are improving the investment environment, increasing the depth of the financial markets in product and service diversity, improving the quality of public revenue and expenditure and the labor market, education and the judicial system, informality, state aid, good governance, local authorities and the completion of structural transformations and reforms launched in regional development areas.
In this context; 25 priority transformation programs of the 10th Development Plan are aimed to be effectively implemented. ‘New Information Society Strategy’ will begin to be applied In the program; increasing the contribution of total factor productivity to growth and moving to more balanced growth structure in terms of production factors are planed through policies for increasing productivity in manufacturing industry. The negative contribution to growth of total factor productivity in 2013 and 2014 is projected to rise rapidly during the program period. In ‘Macroeconomic Policies’ – ‘Growth’ sub-title, it is said that via the widespread use of Information and Communication Technologies, especially services that provide a high value-added production and exports will be increased and the ‘New Information Society Strategy’ will begin to be implemented. The following points are noted in the title: the production structure that is R&D-based, innovative, environmentfriendly and creating high added value will be supported and commercialization and branding process of products will gain functionality and micro reforms will be accelerated in these areas. Existing incentives policies to be implemented effectively
for increasing exports, technological development and the realization of new investments, especially in the manufacturing sector; and investment incentive system will be revised according to the needs. Bureaucratic and legal processes for investors and businesses will be improved; legislation will be updated in accordance with international standards and best practices. Policies on transforming natural resource wealth and diversity of agricultural products into production and competitive advantage via technology support will be focused on. Natural resources will be used efficiently; waste will contribute to the economy. Public procurement will be used as an effective tool for technological developments and increasing domestic production. SMEs’ R&D, innovation and export capacities will be developed and their branding, institutionalization and innovative business model developments will be supported effectively. Institutional capacities and cooperation levels of all agencies and organizations that provide services and support in the entrepreneurship ecosystem will be increased. Organized industrial zones, technology development zones, industrial zones and small industrial site applications will be developed; incubators and business development centers will be enabled to increase quantity and quality of effective services; clusters will be supported. New business opportunities with environment-friendly approach, income sources and opportunities for the development of products and technologies will be supported as well as green growth. Credit loans will be more easily granted in order to increasing investment in machinery and
equipment in the private sector manufacturing industry. Industries that create added value in urban transformation, creative industries, high-tech and environmentally sensitive production and energy efficiency will be supported. IT is prioritized In the program; it is stated that in public investments; PPP (Public Private Partnership) model, education, health, drinking water and sanitation, science and technology, information technologies, transportation and irrigation will be given priority. In addition, R&D activities towards carrying economy to an internationally competitive structure and the tax policies supporting the production of high value-added products will be implemented and the tax system will be developed to meet the emerging needs of technological and international developments. The program includes the following topics: KIT’s will focus on high valueadded products by developing the technological infrastructure and R&D activities; they will take advantage of domestic energy resources and evaluate new opportunities for exports. Investments that will provide high technology industry inputs creating import dependency to be produced in the country will be supported. Domestically produced products using domestic inputs will be preferred in public procurements. Original design activities will be encouraged in export products for consumption, qualified designers will be trained, patent registrations and international brand creations will be supported, promotion and marketing supports will be developed according to the needs of exporters. Necessary mechanisms for e-commerce to contribute to the increase in exports and not increase the consumption product import needs will be developed.
Alternative financing methods will be created to facilitate access to finance for SMEs and entrepreneurs. In order to perform structural transformations in industry and to improve the quality of the labor in the market especially in the field of research, skilled labor migration from abroad will be accelerated. IT ınfrastructure used in public financial management and audit becomes integrated In ‘Macroeconomic Policies’ – ‘Financial Policy’ sub-title, it says: “Spending programs will be prioritized particularly in public infrastructure investment areas to support growth, incentives, regional development, education and R&D support.” On the other hand; it is stated that the IT ınfrastructure used in public financial management and audit will become integrated in order to increase the effectiveness of public spending. Technological highlights are as the following: The quality of service will increase in the public by accelerating e-transformation and decreasing service costs. The allocation of public R& D spending will be in favor of industries of high foreign trade deficit in private sector investments. Transfers that are made for the purpose of agricultural support will be revised within the framework of increasing efficiency, productivity and added value. The effectiveness of social programs will be evaluated, in this area, the coordination among the public sector, private sector and NGOs will be developed and duplication will be avoided. Supervision models considering the past behaviors of health care providers will be developed; software, hardware and training infrastructure will be strengthened in the field of risk analysis and data mining.