Can Turkey mint enough STEM kids to become a global tech player?
Al Jazeera
Turkey wants a home-grown high-tech industry that is also world-class. Can it unleash the STEM potential of its youths?
Istanbul, Turkey – Behind the displays of fighter jets and attack helicopters on show at Istanbul’s Teknofest last week sat what is arguably Turkey’s best hope for realising its high-tech ambitions.
The rows of air-conditioned tents housed teams of mostly secondary school and university students competing in dozens of contests showcasing inventions created on home computers and in science labs across the country.
Although many visitors to the aviation, space and technology festival came to see attractions such as the fly-bys of the Turkish Stars aerial display team at Ataturk Airport, it is the young innovators who will likely make or break Turkey’s future economic competitiveness.
