TÜSİAD/Turan: The Transformation of Our Country's Global Supply Chain Depends on the Digital Integration of SMEs
Foreks - TÜSİAD's STEP (Industry-Technology Integration Program) event, part of its Digital Transformation Program (TÜSİAD SD²) aimed at supporting the transformation of Turkey's industry, took place recently. The STEP event outlined company matches for digital transformation projects and addressed significant topics with industry experts.
During the event, TÜSİAD Chairman Orhan Turan stated, "The ability of our country to catch up with the transformation in the global supply chain is directly tied to the integration of SMEs into this transformation."
Turan also mentioned: "Throughout the day, we listened to enlightening talks from our esteemed speakers on topics such as the transformation brought by technology and artificial intelligence, sustainability, and data utilization. We also had the opportunity to meet the digital solutions offered by our participating suppliers.
Monitoring the digital solutions developed by our technology companies and start-ups at the SME level and facilitating their collaboration with larger firms according to their technology needs is a focal area for us. In this context, the TÜSİAD SD² Program is invaluable in providing a chance for our SME-level technology suppliers to deliver the digital solutions they have developed to the right addresses.
The green and digital transformation is one of the most important overarching topics on our agenda. We focus the twin transformation concept in all our operational areas, from social development to taxation, from EU relations to agriculture, and evaluate it from a broad perspective.
The twin transformation, which is based on the integration of digital and green transformation processes, is crucial for goals related to increasing added value and efficiency in the value chain. The advancements in technology and the analytics we obtain through digitalization, such as artificial intelligence and IoT, allow us to enhance energy and resource efficiency. Digital technologies have the potential to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2030. It is known that smart factories play an important role in increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. Research highlights that 64% of companies are in the early stages of digital transformation, while industry companies worldwide invest $1.1 trillion annually in digital transformation solutions. Companies are implementing all digital technologies at the factory level to enhance flexibility and resilience in production and reduce operational costs through factory automation. The combination of cost efficiency and increased flexibility generates significant returns for companies. Digital technologies integrated into value chains substantially amplify these benefits.
Thus, companies that apply innovative business models utilizing digital technologies to enhance efficiency hold a strong position amid rapidly changing competitive dynamics. In fact, this transformation has been experienced globally for some time. About 8 out of 10 organizations worldwide report experiencing a transition towards a more 'digital' and 'sustainable' world. It is significant for our large companies to center twin transformation at the board level and to expand it throughout the value chain/supply chain.
On the other hand, the ability of our country to catch up with the transformation in the global supply chain directly hinges on the integration of SMEs into this transformation. End-to-end traceable and transparent supply chains can be structured utilizing digital technologies, especially generative artificial intelligence. By anticipating problems, machine downtime can be minimized, thereby increasing operational efficiency. Therefore, we view the development of incentive mechanisms that will enable these investments at the SME level as critical.
To effectively integrate into global supply chains and to maintain our competitiveness in global markets, particularly in the EU market, we must prioritize our high-value-added production goals facilitated by twin transformation. We must strengthen support programs aimed at structuring supplier operations and investments in this direction, both for the business world and the public sector.
Creating awareness for investment decisions linked to twin transformation to resonate within our SMEs is vital. Although there are numerous opportunities for sustainable production models, we observe that most SMEs are unaware of green transformation incentives or do not know how to apply for them. Those SMEs that have received incentives are unable to utilize these opportunities effectively due to inadequate guidance. Therefore, we emphasize the importance of designing policies and incentives to inform our SMEs about the green development framework comprehensively, making necessary resources accessible, and integrating them into green production.
Generative artificial intelligence is rapidly changing global balances across all sectors. It is anticipated that this will enhance performance in functions like sales and marketing, customer operations, and software development, while unlocking trillions of dollars in value across sectors ranging from banking to healthcare. Countries producing high-tech, efficient products are achieving higher growth rates in the medium to long term.
In the overall structure of our exports, we still see that the share of medium and high-tech products is not at the desired level. The share of high-tech products in total exports from the manufacturing industry has remained around 3-4% for the last 15 years. We need to reverse this trend and take steps aimed at competitive global production. While ensuring that the investment ecosystem focuses on value-added and advanced technology production, we must also consider the elements of green and digital transformation and strategically position SMEs as critical links in the value chain.
To enhance the resilience and competitiveness of our business world, there is a growing need for accelerating the transition to an information society, increasing innovation capacity, and fostering collaboration across these domains.
In this process, we are compelled to equip our business world and society with the competencies of the digital age. It is crucial to enhance the quality of education in our universities and to ensure that young people receive sufficiently competitive education. We believe that we must allocate more of our resources to R&D, technology, science, innovation, and education to effectively manage the rapid transformation brought about by new technologies for our companies and our country.
In closing, I sincerely thank all participants and everyone who contributed. I wish success to the companies whose matches will be announced shortly during the project process. We believe that we will see new implementation examples in TÜSİAD SD² through these projects. On this occasion, I invite all companies that utilize and supply technology to become active members of the TÜSİAD SD² platform, which offers numerous collaborative opportunities aligned with your vision for both digital transformation and sustainability, and to benefit from the activities of the program. I also express my gratitude to all representatives of technology users and suppliers for their contributions to our digital transformation ecosystem.