Prof. Dr. Akçiğit: Innovation is a must for economic growth!
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Prof. Dr. Akçiğit: Innovation is a must for economic growth!
Conferences, panels and cultural events organized by Istanbul Ticaret University continue without slowing down. The guest of the first event of the new semester was Prof. Dr. Ufuk Akçigit from the University of Chicago of U.S., who is known for his works in the fields of Economic Growth, Competition, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Prof. Dr. Akçigit gave a conference on “Dynamics of Turkish Economy”.
The conference, moderated by the Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Elçin Aykaç Alp, was held in the university conference hall with limited participation and was broadcast on the internet. At his speech, Prof. Dr. Akçigit addressed the current situation of universities and the innovation and scientific studies. Stating that the basis of innovations is scientific studies conducted at the universities, Prof. Dr. Akçigit underlined that even nylon could not be produced without scientific studies. For this reason, Prof. Dr. Akçigit noted that universities should have high capacities if economic growth is to be achieved. Prof. Dr. Akçigit has said:
“Any good scientific output that comes out of universities will be utilized by big companies and converted into products. As the number of articles and patents increases, there will be growth. It is not possible to grow only through companies, universities need to contribute as well. In parallel with its recent growth rate, China is developing its universities and rapidly increasing the number of articles and patents.”
“GROWTH COMES WITH INNOVATION”
Prof. Dr. Akçigit noted that Turkey is behind other OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries in terms of the budget allocated to R&D studies from its gross national product (GNP). Accordingly, the OECD countries who allocate higher resources to R&D studies allocate 5% of their GNP, while Turkey allocates only 1%. Prof. Dr. Akçigit, who stated that the answer to the question “What does Turkey need to avoid the middle income trap” is obvious, emphasized that efforts should be made to work on ways to avoid the middle income trap rather than to look for the answer to the said question. Prof. Dr. Akçigit said, “This requires investment in R&D and innovation,” and added that the number of patents would be low if there were no R&D investments.
THERE IS A HIGH SUPPORT RATE FOR PRIVATE SECTOR R&D IN TURKEY
Prof. Dr. Ufuk Akçigit, who demonstrated with graphs that the R&D incentives awarded to the private sector in Turkey are much higher than the OECD average, stated that the reason why these incentives do not turn into products is that the system is blocked elsewhere. Prof. Dr. Ufuk Akçigit stated that a similar situation is also observed in universities and stated that although the state’s support to universities is above the OECD average, the number of publications per capita is very low compared to other countries. Prof. Dr. Akçigit made the following statements on the subject:
“Despite the public support and incentives companies’ R&D studies are not sufficient, as is the number of publications despite the large resources transferred to higher education. Thus, the problem is about using the resources efficiently. For example, one would ask: should these resources be used in universities for academicians’ salaries or to increase the quality of courses?”
“The EFFICIENCY OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES IS DECREASING IN TURKEY”
Prof. Dr. Ufuk Akçigit has demonstrated with graphs that the number of publications made by researchers has increased continuously from the 1990s to 2006, and did not increase any further since then. Noting that 2006 was a milestone in this regard, Prof. Dr. Akçigit has said the fact the number of publications do not increase since 2006 is despite that many universities, that is, more than 50 percent of the currently active universities, were established after this date.
Emphasizing that the question of whether resources should be spread or shared more with smaller groups has gained importance, Prof. Dr. Akçigit underlined that the effects of policy choices should be known.
Prof. Dr. Akçigit said that the productivity of academicians in Turkey increases until they attain the associate professorship title, and decreases thereafter. Prof. Dr. Akçigit said, “All of these facts indicate that there is a serious need for dialogue and communication on how resources should be used.”
The conference ended as Prof. Dr. Elçin Aykaç Alp presented a gift to Prof. Dr. Akçigit.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE CONFERENCE ON YOUTUBE
