The meeting "Productive Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: Higher Education Council-Sector Meeting" was held by the Council of Higher Education.
President of the Council of Higher Education Erol Özvar: "The technical studies we have been carrying out for a long time on digitalization, artificial intelligence and big data have begun to turn into concrete steps."
“Micro-qualifications cause the review of the traditional learning structure of higher education”
The "Productive Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: Higher Education Council-Sector Meeting" meeting was held by the Council of Higher Education, hosted by Istanbul Technical University (ITU). In his speech at the opening of the meeting, President of the Council of Higher Education Erol Özvar said that they organized such a meeting with the participation of technology managers and rectors from leading companies in the business world, in order to evaluate the effects of artificial intelligence on higher education from the perspective of sector professionals. Stating that the technical studies carried out within the Council of Higher Education on digitalization, artificial intelligence and big data for a long time have begun to turn into concrete steps, Özvar continued: "In parallel with the rapid developments in the field of digital technologies, we are developing Computer and Software at the undergraduate level in order to meet the qualified human resources needed in all relevant sectors." In addition to our Departments of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, 'Artificial Intelligence Engineering' and 'Artificial Intelligence and Data Engineering' departments have opened different programs at the graduate level in 12 universities. It is also planned to open new programs based on artificial intelligence in the coming period.” Özvar noted that as the issue of digital security becomes increasingly important in the digitalizing world, they opened 4 new Cyber Security Vocational Schools within Ankara, Ege, Gebze Technical and Istanbul Technical Universities to train qualified intermediate staff in this field. Pointing out that the base scores of schools are at very high levels, he said, "This shows that young people's awareness of technological developments, especially in the digital field, is at a high level in our country."
Erol Özvar: “The technical studies we have been carrying out for a long time on digitalization, artificial intelligence and big data have begun to turn into concrete steps.”Özvar, “There are 10 Application and Research Centers on Artificial Intelligence in Turkey”
Özvar pointed out that in addition to the developments in education and training in the field of digital technologies and artificial intelligence at universities, academic units for research in this field have also been established, and stated that the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Institute within Boğaziçi University is the most important example of this. Özvar also emphasized that there are 10 Application and Research Centers at various universities with different names such as artificial intelligence, robotics and artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence in medicine, artificial intelligence and intelligent systems, artificial intelligence and data analytics, artificial intelligence systems and data science.
“Micro qualifications are rapidly becoming widespread”
Özvar, President of the Council of Higher Education, described it as an innovation with transformative potential for higher education and working life; He emphasized that micro-credentials, which offer short-term, flexible and more accessible opportunities to learners in the context of gaining skills, competence and expertise, cause the review of the traditional learning structure of higher education, unlike traditional teaching degrees and certificate programs. Emphasizing that micro-qualifications, which are described by the European Commission as flexible and inclusive learning opportunities and offered by various public and private service providers, are rapidly becoming widespread in Europe and around the world, Özvar said that, in coordination with the developments in the European Higher Education Area, the micro-qualifications framework will be established in the Turkish Higher Education System. He stated that the studies on its development and implementation are carried out by the Council of Higher Education. Özvar said, "At the end of the studies, we plan to realize regulations compatible with the European Higher Education Area, with evaluations to be made together with stakeholder opinions."
“Demand for artificial intelligence-based information technology and mobile software-based communication will increase.”
Özvar said that the achievements related to digital competencies are among the easiest areas to record non-university achievements, to meet certain standards, and to accredit them within the framework of legislation. Özvar stated that artificial intelligence-based information technology and mobile software-based communication will gain more importance in the coming years and will become more demanded not only in engineering fields but also in all other social and humanistic fields in higher education life, and emphasized that they are working to integrate these two fields into all programs. Erol Özvar hoped that the meeting would be productive and thanked the participants for their contributions.
Opinions of Industry Representatives
Following the speech of Özvar, President of the Council of Higher Education, technology managers from leading companies in the business world and rectors who attended the meeting expressed their opinions and suggestions regarding productive artificial intelligence in higher education. While sector representatives pointed out the importance of the correct and effective use of artificial intelligence, they emphasized the necessity of including artificial intelligence-related courses in the curriculum.
Faruk Eczacıbaşı: “If we can evaluate the opportunities, we can make a leap forward as a country”
Eczacıbaşı Holding Executive Board Member Faruk Eczacıbaşı stated that with the widespread use of productive artificial intelligence, there will be changes in every layer of society, and emphasized that this change will spread to all fields of humanities, social sciences, literature, art and theology. Stating that the architecture of the field of artificial intelligence is an important sector, but the sector that really interests them is the mass that can use the products produced here and produce products on them, Eczacıbaşı said, “We foresee that the people who will be trained in these programs will be able to use them well. "What we want is for thousands of young people to work in their own fields using these tools." he said. Pointing out that artificial intelligence creates the opportunity to minimize the difference between the most developed and the least developed country, Eczacıbaşı said, "If we can evaluate the opportunities, we, as a country, can make a leap forward in every field with our young generation."
Barış Karakulluçcu, İşbank New Generation Entrepreneurship Group President, Stating that Turkey has important entrepreneurs in artificial intelligence, he explained that through their work, they have known more than 1300 artificial intelligence startups, including Turks, in a short time. Pointing out that technology and artificial intelligence should be mandatory not only in certain departments but in all fields, Karakullukcu said, “The more applications our young people produce regarding technology, the happier we will be. We do not have the luxury of missing this trend of technology. "We would like Turkey to be the country that implements the most ambitious practices in the world, not in Europe." he said.
Ali Tan Kutluay from Cerebrum Tech He also noted that in order to prevent the workforce from being negatively affected by the development of artificial intelligence, it is necessary to provide people with the capacity to benefit from it and use it, instead of exposing them to the danger of suddenly becoming unemployed.
Microsoft Turkey Customer Experience Leader Barbaros Günay, experts in productive artificial intelligence in a week While stating that what they can do can now be done in a day and that the need for personnel has of course decreased, he added: "However, there is also the possibility that those employees who will do the work of many people by themselves using artificial intelligence will produce mediocre work." said. Günay told the young people, "They should use those tools very well, but they should also add their own creativity and improve them, because the tools they use may soon become unusable." he advised.
Çağatay Öz Doğru, CEO of Esas Holding, Emphasizing that a strategy based on technology sectors is required for Turkey's development, he said, “A strategy is needed as if the entire country is a single technopark. We must work like the whole country is a technopark. “We cannot go any further with traditional industries.” he said. Öz Doğru stated that technology courses should be compulsory for all departments and said, "We should be one of the top ten technology bases in the world." expressed his opinion.
Levent Kızıltan, Co-Chairman of Türkiye Artificial Intelligence Platform AITR He noted that we should not focus only on the technological values of artificial intelligence because this development changes the entire social structure and the world, from relations between countries to relations between individuals. Emphasizing that it is necessary to explain well the effect of artificial intelligence that transforms society and the individual to all students and raise awareness, Kızıltan pointed out the high cost of deep learning models that can be developed in our own language on artificial intelligence and stated that they expect support from institutions working on this subject.
İşbank Deputy General Manager Sabri Gökmenler de tExpressing that there is a need for engineers who will create the infrastructure of technology-based development moves, he said: “First of all, digital, data or informatics literacy needs to be maximized. Without this, the contribution of engineering will be insufficient. We should also produce computer, informatics, data and artificial intelligence engineers. "We need to focus on quality, not quantity," he said.
From Amazon Web Services (AWS) Kivanc Uslu, Pointing out that the biggest catalyst in the development of artificial intelligence is cloud computing, he noted that cloud computing should also be included in the curriculum.
KPMG Chief Executive Officer Murat Alsan He also said that there is knowledge and experience that has not been accumulated in the sector and academic life, but due to the "doctoral" requirement, people with this knowledge cannot teach students. Alsan stated that this obligation could be removed in order to transfer the competencies in the sector to students.
Ford-Otosan Chief Technology Officer Hayriye Karadeniz He also emphasized that Turkish universities provide good education in basic sciences and that Turkey has the opportunity to become a producer group in this field. Karadeniz pointed out that there are now robots and machines in addition to computers and software, and stated that it is essential to increase the competencies of the users.
Gebze Technical University Rector Prof. Dr. Hacı Ali Mushroom, He explained that dealing only with the technological aspect of the business would not be enough. Pointing out that awareness should be created in all segments of society, Mantar said, "We need to think about how we can obtain value-added services." said.
İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Rector Prof. Dr. Kürşat Aydoğan He stated that the programs should be broad, not narrow, and emphasized the importance of creating curricula that young people can look at from a broader perspective.
Koç University Rector Prof. Dr. Metin Sitti, Pointing out that the industry is ahead of the academy for the first time, he said, “We need to continue research and go beyond the user in order for artificial intelligence to turn into added value. It is okay to understand artificial intelligence and use it correctly, but we need to design it in a way that produces added value and be a producer, not a user. For this reason, we need to give more importance to research.” he said.
ITU Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Koyuncu, Pointing out the importance of providing artificial intelligence literacy to students in a good way, "useful areas of use need to be highlighted in the eyes of society." said.
METU Rector Prof. Dr. Mustafa Verşan Kök, He explained that they attach great importance and support to artificial intelligence projects. Stating that they will hold an artificial intelligence meeting in the coming period, Kök stated that they have determined the mission, strategy and stakeholders of this meeting and will announce it soon.
Boğaziçi University Rector Prof. Dr. Naci İnci Pointing out that artificial intelligence can spread to all fields, including health and law, he said, "Our students should use this technology, but they should have the formation to distinguish between right and wrong." said. In his closing evaluation after the speeches, President of the Council of Higher Education Erol Özvar stated that the meeting was extremely productive and that they will carefully examine and evaluate the suggestions presented. Özvar thanked all representatives for their participation and said, "I hope the meeting will be beneficial for our higher education system, our business world and our country." Higher Education Executive Board Members Prof. attended the meeting. Dr. Naci Gündoğan and Prof. Dr. Erol Arcaklıoğlu also attended. (BSHA – Science and Health News Agency)
