What is Technopolis?
Although there are nuances between them, the concepts of science park, technopolis, technopark, technopolis and research park are used with the same meaning. In our country, Law No. 4691 on this subject uses the concept of “Technology Development Zones”. When we look at the developed countries in the world, we see that similar formations are named differently in different countries. The terms Science Park in the UK, Research Park in the USA, Technopole in France, Technopolis in Japan, and Grunderzentrum in Germany have been adopted. There are also other terms such as “Enterprise Center”, “Innovation Center”, “Excellence Center”, “Industrial Park”.
Economic and social conditions vary in different countries around the world and even in different regions of the same country. For this reason, technopolises show a very different structure in terms of their organization, objectives, services they offer and administrative structures. Therefore, it is difficult to make a single and inclusive definition for technopolises. In our country, according to the Law No. 4691 on Technology Development Zones, Technopolis is defined as:
It is the gathering of companies using high/advanced technology or oriented towards new technologies under one roof by making use of the facilities of a certain university or high technology institute or R&D center or institute.
In addition, technopolises are institutions established in or near a university, high technology institute or R&D center or institute that operate to transform a technological invention into a commercial product, method or service and thus contribute to the development of the region. The most important feature of technopolises is that they are sites or technoparks where the academic, economic and social structure is integrated.
Technopolises in the World
The first technopark applications in the world were initiated in the USA in the early 1950s as a result of the desire of American academics to turn their knowledge and R&D experience into economic value and go to the market. “Science Park” type organizations were established around universities in order to develop university-industry cooperation, especially in industrial-intensive regions. The first Technopark was established in the USA in 1951 under the leadership of Stanford University in California. In this region, now known as Silicon Valley, the world’s leading companies producing high value-added products are located. Technopark applications did not make much progress until the 1970s. As a result of the economic crisis in the 1970s and the rise in oil prices, costs increased and production decreased worldwide, paralyzing the economy. In order to get out of this situation, countries searched for a way out of this situation; especially in countries such as the USA and Japan, the industry initiated close cooperation with universities and research institutions by engaging in new R&D activities. In Europe, the collapse of traditional industries such as iron and steel and coal and the large-scale unemployment that began in these years left European countries in a very difficult situation and accelerated the process of developing advanced technologies. The most important technoparks established in these years are as follows:
The Research Triangle – USA
Sophia Antipolis – France
Herriot-Watt and Cambridge – UK
Tsukuba Science City – Japan
Technopolises in Turkey
With the opening up movement in our country in the 1980s, the issue of technopolises came to the forefront with the realization that it was not possible to compete in international markets without producing technology. The State Planning Organization (SPO) first raised the issue of technopolis as a policy in the 1989 program of the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (1984-1989). The work on this subject accelerated, and two experts on the establishment of science and technology parks assigned by the United Nations Fund for Science and Technology for Development (UNFSTD) at the invitation of SPO came to our country in 1990 and made examinations. As a result of these studies, Technology Development Centers were established in METU and ITU in cooperation with KOSGEB and TÜBİTAK MAM (Marmara Research Center) Technopark was established and started its activities. As a result of intensive efforts, the Law on Technoparks was enacted in the Official Gazette on July 6, 2001 under the name of “Technology Development Zones Law” numbered 4691. On June 19, 2002, the Implementation Regulation of the relevant law was published in the Official Gazette.
TECHNOPOLIS IN SDÜ
(Lakes Region Technology Development Zone)
SDU Lakes Region Technopolis was established with the contributions of the universities, local administrations and chambers of commerce and industry of the two provinces of the Lakes Region (Burdur and Isparta) and acts in line with the mission of transferring the dynamic structure of universities to industry and creating an innovation culture in the region.
Especially the fact that it is a joint initiative of Burdur and Isparta provinces, in other words, it has a regional characteristic, has imposed an important task on the Göller Region Technopolis in terms of regional development. The acceptance of SDU Göller Region Technopolis as a “Technology Development Zone” was published in the Official Gazette dated 08.09.2005. Its legal entity was announced as Göller Bölgesi Teknokenti Yönetici ve İşletici A.Ş. in the Turkish Trade Registry Gazette dated 01.03.2006.
Göller Bölgesi Teknokenti Yönetici ve İşletici A.Ş. has a structure consisting of 7 partners. These partners are: Süleyman Demirel University, Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Isparta Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Isparta Commodity Exchange, Burdur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Burdur Provincial Special Administration Directorate and ISBAŞ (Isparta Municipality Bims Building Elements San. ve Tic. AŞ.