The Blockchain Turkey Platform, which was established under the leadership of the Informatics Foundation of Turkey (TBV) in order to popularize blockchain technology in Turkey, research its benefits and increase its use, and announced in June, has reached 32 members.

Blockchain draws attention as a technology whose usage areas are being researched in many sectors from finance to supply chain management, from health to energy. In addition to the secure and transparent structures it offers, the technology, which is instrumental in the emergence of new business models, is referred to as the "technology of the future". So much so that significant budgets are allocated to Blockchain in many different fields, especially in technology, finance and insurance, trials are being conducted, and new products and services are being implemented. In this sense, an important step has been taken in Turkey and the Blockchain Turkey Platform (BCTR) was established in June under the leadership of the Informatics Foundation of Turkey (TBV).

The platform, which was established to investigate the potential, benefits and usage areas of the technology, attracted the attention of Turkey's leading companies in the field in a short time and has reached 32 members since its establishment. With 32 members representing more than 10 sectors, Blockchain Turkey Platform is expected to create many new collaborations and consortiums between sectors with new perspectives.

The names in the Executive Board of the Blockchain Turkey Platform, each of which was elected from among the members of the leading and internationally influential institutions of our country, were announced at a press conference held on Friday, October 12, 2018.

The members of the Blockchain Turkey Platform Executive Board are as follows: Faruk Eczacıbaşı, President of the Informatics Foundation of Turkey; Dr. Soner Canko, General Manager of the Interbank Card Center (BKM); Dilnişin Bayel, General Manager of Accenture Turkey; Tolga Ulutaş, Deputy General Manager of Direct Banking at Akbank; Barış Özistek, Chairman of Boğaziçi Ventures; Özgür Güneri, CEO of BTCTurk; and Hayriye Karakuzu Karadeniz, CDO of Ford Otosan.

Speaking at the press conference organized to introduce the Blockchain Turkey Platform Steering Committee, BCTR Steering Committee member and Chairman of the Informatics Foundation of Turkey Faruk Eczacıbaşı said: "When the Informatics Foundation of Turkey was established in May 1995, it set a very simple definition for itself: 'To accelerate Turkey's transition to an information society.' The foundation's main mission was to ensure that information and communication technologies contribute to the country's productivity. Today, whether we call it the Fourth Industrial Revolution or the information society, the reality is that the world has entered an accelerating phase and is forcing us to adopt a new way of thinking. Blockchain is one of the products of this new way of thinking that will have the most revolutionary results; we are gathering around the same table to understand, digest and make it widespread."

Blockchain Turkey Platform Steering Committee member and Interbank Card Center (BKM) General Manager Dr. Soner Canko said, "Blockchain differs from the developments to date with the different mindset and new business models it requires rather than the technological opportunities it brings. It will not be possible to exist in the future without understanding and adopting this new mindset. I see BCTR, which was established based on this idea, as a great opportunity for our country as it enables players from different sectors to meet around the same table."

BCTR Executive Board Member and Accenture Turkey General Manager Dilnişin Bayel said, "Today, many companies still have question marks about how to use blockchain technology, but they agree on one thing; Blockchain unlocks a huge value trapped in businesses.  This new technology is enabling a fundamental shift in three key areas: reshaping processes, improving efficiency and quality, and increasing transparency between parties. It accelerates ecosystem-based thinking and the development of new models, which is today's key agenda. To give an example, blockchain technology can help investment banks save $12 billion annually by reducing infrastructure costs by around 30 percent."

Tolga Ulutaş, BCTR Executive Board Member and Akbank Executive Vice President in charge of Direct Banking, said: "Blockchain technology enables the creation of new services in the field of finance while offering many benefits in terms of time and cost. In addition to these, it also enables the development of trust between platform users. I would like to thank the Blockchain Turkey Platform and the Informatics Foundation of Turkey for bringing all parties together for the development of this technology in our country, which offers new opportunities not only for finance but also for all sectors."

BCTR Executive Board Member and Boğaziçi Ventures Chairman Barış Özistek said, "Blockchain has technologically solved the problem of trust. We have entered a period where many business models that are considered correct will change rapidly. Big changes are always full of opportunities. We have the opportunity for Turkey to take the lead in the blockchain world. I think that bringing together people with different knowledge and experience under the leadership of the Informatics Foundation of Turkey is an initiative that will make a difference."

BCTR Executive Board Member and BTCTurk CEO Özgür Güneri said, "The development momentum of technology is rapidly changing business models in the industry, services and finance sectors, and this change makes different approaches inevitable.  Blockchain is at the center of this change and transformation.  The proper management of this change and transformation by companies, sectors and even countries will be one of the important determinants of their economic performance. I believe that the establishment of BCTR will make a great contribution to updating business models with the contribution of Blockchain technology and making globalizing opportunities accessible to our companies, sectors and our country."

BCTR Executive Board Member and Ford Otosan CDO Hayriye Karakuzu Karadeniz said, "Blockchain will open the door to a different world with its end-to-end supply chain in the automotive industry, keeping the entire history of a vehicle on a common platform, automatic ownership change, tracking and new business models it will bring to subsidiary sectors such as insurance and fleet management. Information sharing and transfer with related stakeholders in areas such as vehicle production and ownership will also change significantly. We see opportunities for its use in many transactions in the vehicle lifecycle, and we believe that it should be closely monitored in order to ensure that it brings much more convenience and speed to the experiences of our customers and to ensure secure communication. We are in this structure to be an active and important player in the ecosystem. We aim to contribute to the formation of regulations that will allow us to use this structure in the best way in Turkey and in the global arena and keep Turkey at a competitive level in terms of this technology."

With the event, information about the working groups formed under the Blockchain Turkey Platform was also shared. In the working groups in which BCTR members will actively participate, opportunities in the Blockchain field will be identified, the effects of these opportunities on the industry will be analyzed, innovative strategies will be determined and appropriate actions will be taken.