Signing ceremony held for Innovation Campus training program!

February 17, 2020

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A signing ceremony was held for “Innovation Campus” training program which was established jointly by Samsung, UNDP, Istanbul Technical University and Turkey Informatics Foundation, with the participation of DaeHyun Kim, President of Samsung Electronics Turkey, Claudio Tomasi, UNDP Resident Representative for Turkey, Mehmet Karaca, Rector of ITU, and Çağdaş Ergin, Secretary General of TBV. Students enrolling in 240-hour education programs will benefit from opportunities to take part in contests with application projects, receive career consulting services as well as entire equipment and mentor guidance needed to carry out projects.

Samsung Electronics which shapes the future from today with its products and services, continues full steam ahead with its work within the context of global corporate citizen vision. In collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Istanbul Technical University (ITU) and Turkish Informatics Foundation (TBV), “Innovation Campus” training program formally began. DaeHyun Kim, President of Samsung Electronics Turkey, Claudio Tomasi, UNDP Resident Representative for Turkey, Mehmet Karaca, Rector of ITU, and Çağdaş Ergin, Secretary General of TBV attended the signing ceremony which took place at ITU.

The training program to be conducted at ITU aims to give young people a practical understanding of technologies that will shape their future in order to raise a generation equipped with forward-looking skills. The training program which is part of a mission to raise problem solvers equipped with skills of the future worldwide, intends to contribute to the enrichment of comprehensive and sustainable development of the world by raising new talents.

“At Samsung, we are happy to be keeping up our social responsibility projects with yet another new one,” DaeHyun Kim, President of Samsung Electronics Turkey, said at the ceremony. “We are fully aware that good quality education lies at the base of a successful future. That is why this collaboration that we signed today carries great importance for us. With this new training project whose contents were reshaped in order to focus fully on the subjects of software, coding, internet of things and artificial intelligence, we aim to support young talents. At the end of the training sessions which will last 3 months, our young people will find the opportunity to equip themselves with application projects in light of Samsung’s comprehensive curriculum, UNDP’s international development notion, Turkey Informatics Foundation’s sectoral experience and ITU academic staff’s profound knowledge.  Naturally, it’s not just all about courses. Discussions about technology will take place under the leadership of experts and with live examples, we will introduce the meaning of success to the students. During the trainings, we will also provide the students with career consulting as well as all of the equipment they need to carry out projects.”

Claudio Tomasi, UNDP Resident Representative for Turkey, also spoke at the signing ceremony: “Equipping of young generations must be strengthened in order to fully materialize the social transformation potential of digital economy. This new project will not only prepare young people to become pioneers of the Industrial Revolution, but also enable each of them to become instruments of sustainable development by encouraging them to work toward Global Goals with the skills they will have.”  

ITU Rector Prof. Dr. Mehmet Karaca, mentioned the importance of these training sessions to be held at ITU which has a mission of being an educational institution that ensures innovation and supports entrepreneurship.

Karaca said that developing and exporting new technologies will have a key role in the development of Turkey adding, “The trainings to be held under the leadership of ITU’s highly specialized academicians supported by all our stakeholders, in line with the new university concept, will earn our students a new vision and find the opportunity to develop themselves on the field of information technologies. I sincerely hope that out of this training program will come the novel ideas which will shape Turkey’s future vision, guide its innovation drive and make Turkey a global country that exports technology.”

Speaking at the signing ceremony, TBV General Secretary Çağdaş Ergin said, “There is no doubt that the digital transformation which will shake all institutions and processes will also bear tremendous opportunities for the economies as well as the communities. At Turkish Informatics Foundation (TBV), we believe that it is very crucial for Turkey to use this process as an opportunity for promoting its welfare level through a dedicated and swift planning. Turkish Informatics Foundation believes that this project which it will implement together with Samsung, UNDP and ITU will serve to the objective of supporting the creation of a qualified workforce by promoting the country’s digital skills which is the first and no doubt foremost step that should be taken for Turkey’s economic boom.”

Strong demand for the training program

Over 4 thousand of students applied for the training, while these applications were assessed based on 5 basic criteria of having basic STEM knowledge, programming knowledge, programming experience, being interested in a program, and having a career objective for their future. Following the evaluation of thousands of applications, 25 students were qualified to join the courses initially which will be coordinated by the Data Processing Department of Istanbul Technical University (ITU) at ITU’s Ayazağa Campus. The courses will be free of charge and take 240 hours, with 160 hours of lectures and the remaining 80 hours practice and project. Students enrolling in 3-month training program will benefit from opportunities to take part in contests with application projects, receive career consulting support as well as entire equipment and mentor guidance needed to carry out projects. Students will receive a certificate at the end of the courses. The courses whose objective is to adorn the young people between 18 to 25 years of age with crucial and technical skills will start with the Internet of Things (IoT). The students will also get “Career Consultancy Course”. The Career Consultancy Course which will be consisted of 5 sessions will cover self-assessment, job-seeking as well as preparing a résumé and job interviews. The program will continue in the future with new application and selection processes.

Internet of Things Training Program [1]

Lecture + Practice (8 weeks)

1st Week                             Introduction to IoT

2nd Week                            IoT Device

3rd Week                            Linux and C Programming

4th Week                             JAVA Programming

5th Week                             Networks and Protocols

6th Week                             Node.js and Sensor Control

7th Week                             Python Programming

8th Week                             IoT Platform and Data Analysis

Capstone Project (4 weeks)

9th Week             Galaxy Upcycling and Design-Oriented Thinking

10th Week          Capstone Project Guidance and Development

11th Week          Capstone Project Development (cont.)

12th Week          Capstone Project Test and Final Presentation

Career Consultancy Training

  • Talent Wars
  • Self-Assessment
  • Preparing CV
  • Interview Skills

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems, storage memory, system LSI, and LED solutions. For the latest news, please visit the Samsung Newsroom at http://news.samsung.com.

About UNDP

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in around 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. tr.undp.org

About Istanbul Technical University (ITU)

Istanbul Technical University (ITU) is one of the world’s oldest technical universities with a long history of 250 years, known for as the architect of numerous scientific and technological advances and succeeds in firsts. Projects in areas such as energy, computers and informatics, automotive and aerospace, which are very important for today's world, are carried out in cooperation with global partners. In addition to ITU, which has more than 400 R&D labs and 15 research centers, ARI Teknokent is also a science, industry and technology center where nearly 800 R&D projects are carried out. For more information please visit: www.itu.edu.tr

About Turkey ICT Foundation (TBV)

Turkey ICT Foundation (TBV) has established in April in 1995. The Founder and the current board chairman of TBV is Faruk Eczacibasi. With its 186 institutions and total of 437 members including 251 real person, the main purpose of the foundation is to contribute to the establishment of information and technology based background in order to enable Turkey to transform into information society and to work for a developed Turkey which competes with the world by following new business and life models that technology develops.

TBV; continues its studies in many important fields such as information society, education, gaming, digital transformation, smart cities, digital agenda of European Union, regulation in public and collaborations with non-governmental organizations without giving a break in order to conduct scientific research and development activities, conduct economic and social studies and create and implement projects to increase the share of information, communication and telecommunication sector in economy.


[1] The training program is subject to change.