NATIONAL AI STRATEGY

Ulusal Yapay Zeka Stratejisi (2021-2025)

Start date :2021

End date :2025

Name of responsible governmental body :

Presidency Of The Republic Of Turkey Digital Transformation Office (CBDDO;Cumhurbaşkanlığı Dijital Dönüşüm Ofisi)
Ministry of Industry and Technology (MoIT;Sanayi ve Teknoloji Bakanlığı)
Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK;Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu)
The Science, Technology and Innovation Policies Council (STIPC;Bilim, Teknoloji ve Yenilik Politikaları Kurulu)

Description :

The National Artificial Intelligence Strategy has been prepared in line with the Eleventh Development Plan and the Presidential Annual Programs. The strategy reveals the measures that will put our country's work in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) on the common ground between the years 2021-2025 and the governance mechanism that will be established to implement these measures.

Objectives:

Strategic Priority 1: To train AI experts and increase employment in the domain.
Objective 1.1. AI domain expert employment will be increased in line with sectoral needs and priorities.
Objective 1.2. Academic and technical capacity of universities in the field of AI will be developed and
new programs will be opened.
Objective 1.3. The number and quality of students receiving associate, undergraduate and graduate
education in the field of AI will be increased.
Objective 1.4. In line with their interests, abilities and temperaments, pre-higher education students
will be provided with algorithmic thinking, coding and AI applied training in accordance with their
education level.
Strategic Priority 2: To support research, entrepreneurship and innovation.
Objective 2.1. Public support for the development and application of AI technologies will be increased, and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms will be activated.
Objective 2.2. The number and quality of initiatives that develop original AI products, services and applications will be increased.
Objective 2.3. AI-oriented venture capital funds will be established and scaled up.
Objective 2.4. Clusters, where advanced R&D activities can be carried out in the field of AI and innovation and centers of excellence, will be established.
Strategic Priority 3: To facilitate access to quality data and technical infrastructure.
Objective 3.1. Shared access opportunities will be provided to researchers and initiatives that need high performance computing infrastructures in AI studies.
Objective 3.2. A data governance mechanism will be established for the reliable sharing of data to be used in AI and advanced analytical research.
Objective 3.3. Open source software and algorithm libraries for AI will be compiled and made available to the AI ecosystem.
Objective 3.4. Open data sharing will be generalized.
Strategic Priority 4: To regulate to accelerate socioeconomic adaptation.
Objective 4.1. An agile and inclusive legal harmonization process will be implemented so that ethical and legal scenarios can be tested and discussed.
Objective 4.2. In order to support reliability in AI studies, a governance mechanism that will facilitate fairness, data privacy and ethical values audits and algorithmic accountability will be implemented.
Objective 4.3. Scientific research and awareness on the effects and risks of AI technologies and systems on the socioeconomic structure will be increased.
Objective 4.4. Data capacity will be improved in order to evaluate the impact of developments in the field of AI on the socioeconomic structure.
Strategic Priority 5: To strengthen international co-operation.
Objective 5.1. Active participation in global data governance, trustworthy and responsible AI studies will be ensured.
Objective 5.2. Participation in cross-border projects in the domain will be ensured, with a priority in the multi-annual financial frameworks of the European Union.
Objective 5.3. Joint projects and cooperation activities will be carried out at the international level with leading organizations in the field and strategically priority countries.
Strategic Priority 6: To accelerate structural and labour transformation.
Objective 6.1. DTO will establish a public AI ecosystem and technical infrastructure to speed up AI and advanced analytics studies in public institutions.
Objective 6.2. The structural and competency transformation towards the effective use of AI technologies in public institutions will be accelerated.
Objective 6.3. TÜBİTAK Artificial Intelligence Institute will be structured in a way that cuts horizontally across sectors and research areas in order to play an accelerating role in the development of the AI ecosystem.
Objective 6.4. Works focusing on sectoral implementation domains, prioritizing experience sharing, and being public to all stakeholders will be carried out.
Objective 6.5. With regard to new professions, training and certification programs for the existing workforce will be carried out and compliance will be accelerated with sectoral cooperation.

OECD AI principle adressed:

Inclusive growth, sustainable development and well-being
Human-centred values and fairness
Transparency and explainability
Robustness, security and safety
Accountability
Investing in AI R&D
Fostering a digital ecosystem for AI
Providing an enabling policy environment for AI
Building human capacity and preparing for labour market transition
International co-operation for trustworthy AI

Relevant policy area covered:

Defence
Development
Digital economy
Education
Employment
Health
Industry and entrepreneurship
Social and welfare issues
Transport

Related to a theme:

National AI policies

Direct beneficiaries:

National government
Civil society

Estimated budget expenditure (range per year):

5M-20M

Background including shifts in the policy initiative:

Within the scope of National AI Strategy preparations; In addition to public institutions and universities, interviews were conducted with representatives of the private sector, NGOs and international organizations on physical and online platforms, workshops were held and the evaluations of field experts in different disciplines were taken. In this context, the National AI Strategy was given its final form, taking into account the global trends shaped by the paradigm shift that emerged with AI in economic and social life, as well as the current situation and development goals of our country. In this direction, the vision of the National AI Strategy is determined as generating value on a global scale with an agile and sustainable AI ecosystem for a prosperous Turkey. The National AI Strategy; to realize this vision, has been designed around 6 strategic priorities, both in line with national policies and needs and taking into account the AI strategy recommendations of international organizations.

Policy initiative is a structural reform:

Evaluated:

Link to evaluation or reports:

Public access URL:

Funding from the private sector:

Type of evaluation:

Evaluation provides input to:

Evaluation performed by:

Policy instruments :

National strategies, agendas and plans

Type : National strategies, agendas and plans
Name in English :
Country : Türkiye
Public access URL : https://cbddo.gov.tr/SharedFolderServer/Genel/File/TRNationalAIStrategy2021-2025.pdf
Strategy mainly prioritises : Digital infrastructure for AI (e.g. cloud resources, computing power) | International cooperation on STI | Public research capabilities | Data access and sharing; data governance | Specific areas/sectors (e.g. new industrial policy, R&D targets for clean tech) | Technology transfers and commercialisation | Education and skills | R&D intensity (e.g. GERD as a % of GDP) | Business innovation and innovative entrepreneurship | AI policy governance (e.g. vertical and horizontal coordination, evaluation) | AI in the public sector | Increase public awareness and civic engagement | Facilitate experimentation in a controlled environment | Societal challenges (e.g. social inclusiveness); environmental challenges (e.g. sustainability)
- Quantifiable target, Deadline : AI policy governance (e.g. vertical and horizontal coordination, evaluation): A “National Artificial Intelligence Strategy Steering Committee” will be established in orderto ensure the necessary high-level coordination for monitoring the NAIS with a result-orientedapproach and achieve the strategic priorities and objectives more effectively and quickly in linewith the Digital Türkiye vision and the National Technology Move:• The Committee will determine the ministries that will prepare and coordinate theimplementation of the detailed action plans regarding the measures determinedin the NAIS, provide high-level coordination for the preparation of the said actionplans in harmony with each other, and ensure inter-institutional coordination bymonitoring the implementation of the NAIS and said action plans at the highestlevel.• The Vice-President will chair the Committee and secretarial services will be carriedout jointly by the DTO and the MoIT.• The Head of the DTO and the MoIT Deputy Minister will attend all meetings withinthe scope of the NAIS, and the deputy ministers of the relevant ministries, thePresident of CoHE and other representatives will be invited in line with the agenda.An “AI Ecosystem Advisory Group” that includes representatives of the private sector,academia and NGOs will be formed in order to monitor the implementation process of the NAISand to make suggestions to the Steering Committee to increase its effectiveness.Furthermore, “Action Plan Coordination Groups” will be established for the ministriesresponsible for preparing action plans and coordinating their implementation. In addition to theDTO and MoIT, representatives from public institutions relevant to the actions will be included inthese coordination groups. NGO representatives, academics and industry professionals deemedappropriate by the coordinating ministry may also be invited to join the coordination group (2025)
- Quantifiable target, Deadline : Business innovation and innovative entrepreneurship: The number of start-ups in the field of AI will be increased to 1,000.At least 5 spin-offs operating in the field of AI technologies will be established from public institutions and companies. (2025)
- Quantifiable target, Deadline : Data access and sharing; data governance: At least 1,000 open datasets will be shared via the Open Data Portal.At least 50 institutions will be included in the Public Data Space. (2025)
- Quantifiable target, Deadline : Digital infrastructure for AI (e.g. cloud resources, computing power): It will be ensured that the number of public institutions and enterprises providing access to common high performance computing infrastructures will be at least 200.At least 10 sectoral cloud platforms for data sharing will be established.It will be ensured that at least 250 municipalities actively make use of AI technologies within the scope of smart city applications. (2025)
- Quantifiable target, Deadline : Education and skills: Employment in the field of AI will be increased to 50,000 people.Employment in the field of AI in central and local government institutions andorganizations will be increased to 1,000 people.The number of graduate-level diploma holders in the field of AI will be increasedby 10,000.The number of academicians working in the field of AI will be increased to 5,000.It will be ensured that the number of postgraduate theses on social and technical fields of AI is at least 1,000.The number of individual AI project developers will be increased to at least 1,000 within Türkiye Open Source Platform.AI education workforce surveys will be published on a yearly basis. At least 50,000 employees in central and local governments will be provided with awareness training. (2025)
- Quantifiable target, Deadline : Facilitate experimentation in a controlled environment: It will be ensured that at least 20 start-ups benefit from the regulatory sandbox. (2025)
- Quantifiable target, Deadline : Increase public awareness and civic engagement: At least 40 projects will be developed in the Public AI Ecosystem.At least 20 thematic and award-winning competitions will be held in AI.At least 350,000 people will benefit from the applied training and awareness activities carried out in the Innovation and Digital Transformation Centers (2025)
- Quantifiable target, Deadline : International cooperation on STI: At least 1 global initiative will be established in the field of natural language processing.Participation in at least 100 cross-border project calls in AI will be ensured.At least 2 Türkiye-oriented international reports will be conducted in the field of Trustworthy and Responsible AI.At least 10 international competitions and project calls will be launched in the field of AI. (2016)
- Quantifiable target, Deadline : Public research capabilities: It will be ensured that the number of institutions and organizations using the Public AI-as-a-Service Platform is at least 100.AI maturity model and project management guidelines will be implemented in at least 150 institutions and organizations. (2025)
- Quantifiable target, Deadline : R&D intensity (e.g. GERD as a % of GDP): It will be ensured that the ratio of AI R&D expenditures to total R&D expenditures is at least 15%. (2025)
- Quantifiable target, Deadline : Societal challenges (e.g. social inclusiveness); environmental challenges (e.g. sustainability): At least 10 sociotechnical research projects will be conducted in AI.Research on brain drain and reverse brain drain in AI will be published on a yearly basis.It will be ensured that 1 million people benefit from digital content shared on different platforms for promotional and informational purposes every year. At least 100 AI applications that receive the Trustworthy AI Seal will be released. (2025)
- Quantifiable target, Deadline : Specific areas/sectors (e.g. new industrial policy, R&D targets for clean tech): At least 10 pre-competitive cooperation projects will be initiated in the field of AI technology, especially in image processing.At least 100 projects will be developed in Sectoral Co-Creation Laboratories. (2025)
- Quantifiable target, Deadline : Technology transfers and commercialisation: The commercialization of developed AI solutions will be supported by prioritizing them in public procurement. (2025)
Societal challenge(s) emphasised : Inclusiveness (e.g. inequality, job insecurity)
Implementation mechanism : Dedicated budget allocations | Periodic monitoring and/or evaluation of progress | Dedicated coordinating/monitoring public body

Last updated : May 24, 2023