ANKARA CHAMBER OF INDUSTRY MAPS TÜRKİYE’S INNOVATIVE CLASS
ACI PUTS TÜRKİYE’S INNOVATIVE CLASS UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
The Ankara Chamber of Industry (ACI) published the book titled “Türkiye’s Innovative Class,” which examines the innovative class, an increasingly decisive factor in countries’ competitiveness, with a focus on private-sector R&D employees. Based on field data, the work analyzes who this group consists of, what kinds of talents and capabilities — or forms of capital — they possess, in which work environments and cities they develop, as well as their innovation and entrepreneurship capacity, working life, lifestyle, migration and spatial preferences. The book also offers policy recommendations ranging from firms to city administrations and public policies in order to train, attract, retain and make productive this innovative human resource. Yapıştırılan markdown
The Ankara Chamber of Industry (ACI) published the book titled “Türkiye’s Innovative Class: The Cultural, Human and Social Capital of the Creative Class, Its Innovation and Entrepreneurship Capacity, and Its Tolerance and Spatial Preferences.” Prepared by ACI Secretary General Prof. Dr. Mehmet Cansız and Ankara University Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Nuri Yavan, the book provides a multidimensional analysis of the characteristics, innovation and entrepreneurship capacities, working lives, lifestyle and migration tendencies, and spatial preferences of private-sector R&D employees at the firm, workplace region and city levels.
The “Innovative Class in Türkiye” research, which forms the basis of the book, covered 14 provinces where approximately 95 percent of R&D employees are located. As part of the study, a survey was conducted with 1,352 R&D employees, and in-depth interviews were also carried out with 255 of them. The book states that the study is the most comprehensive research conducted on the innovative class in Türkiye. Current indicators were also included in international comparisons.
TÜRKİYE IS RISING IN INNOVATION, WHILE INSTITUTIONS AND TOLERANCE LAG BEHIND
According to World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) data cited in the book, Türkiye rose from 49th place among 129 countries in the Global Innovation Index in 2019 to 37th place among 133 countries in 2024. However, the book points out that Türkiye ranks 100th in the “institutions” sub-component, emphasizing the importance of improving the institutional environment in order to attract and retain innovative human resources in the country. Field findings also showed that R&D employees trust their colleagues, workplace managers and academics the most, while they trust political and bureaucratic institutions the least.
In the Global Creativity Index, which consists of technology, talent and tolerance indicators, Türkiye rose from 88th place among 139 countries in 2015 to 73rd place among 160 countries in the 2023 analysis. Türkiye’s technology indicator improved from 58th place in 2015 to 39th place in 2023, while its tolerance indicator remained at 123rd place in both measurements. In the book, tolerance is evaluated as one of the main constraints to attracting and retaining innovative human resources in the country.
Another indicator complementing Türkiye’s outlook in global indices is the share of the creative class in employment. While this class accounts for more than 40 percent of the total workforce in most developed countries, it remains at around 20 percent in Türkiye. Türkiye ranked 62nd among 93 countries in this ranking. This ratio shows that Türkiye is competing with an innovative human resource pool only half the size of its competitors at a time when competition is increasingly shaped by the creative class. The book emphasizes that this gap makes it essential for Türkiye to understand the qualities and expectations of this group.
THE INNOVATIVE CLASS IS READY; NOW IS THE TIME TO MOBILIZE ITS POTENTIAL
One of the highest-scoring findings of the research emerged in the field of tolerance. The tolerance level of R&D employees toward different lifestyles, as well as different thoughts, ideologies and beliefs, was measured at 4.4 out of 5. A total of 92 percent of participants stated that they were tolerant of different lifestyles, while 91 percent stated that they were tolerant of different thoughts and beliefs. The book notes that this high level did not show a significant difference according to the firm, region or city where employees worked. It was assessed that the innovative class has a respectful and understanding profile toward differences, while the need for development lies in the institutional and social environment surrounding this group.
Field findings showed that R&D employees have high entrepreneurial potential, but that this potential does not sufficiently turn into action. While 58.9 percent of participants stated that they wanted to establish their own business and become entrepreneurs in the future, the rate of those with entrepreneurial experience remained at 21 percent. The book emphasizes the need for improvement in bringing ideas to market and commercializing them, and underlines the need for training, consultancy and mentoring support in entrepreneurship, commercialization and networking. The tendency to move abroad also emerged as a serious risk area highlighted by the research. A total of 18.9 percent of the innovative class stated that they were actively seeking jobs abroad.
The research found that when evaluating a new job offer, R&D employees scored merit, professional development, the opportunity to develop innovative projects and non-interference with their lifestyle higher than salary and social benefits. The findings show that retaining innovative human resources in the country is directly linked not only to wage policies, but also to the working environment, corporate culture, professional development and quality of life.
THE MOST DECISIVE SCALES ARE THE FIRM ITSELF AND THE CITY OF RESIDENCE
The spatial analysis of the research showed that the most decisive scale in terms of the talent, tolerance, innovation and entrepreneurship capacity of the innovative class is the firm where they work. The book states that the workplace has a stronger impact in these areas than the city of residence and the region where the firm is located; however, the city comes to the forefront in terms of social and cultural life and migration. The firm’s working order, freedom of ideas, merit-based management culture and respect for lifestyle stand out as factors that directly affect innovative capacity.
On the other hand, it was also revealed that the qualities of the city where the innovative class lives and the quality of space are at least as important as the workplace or firm. The findings indicate that the creative class is highly sensitive to differences between cities and regions, and that whether the place where the innovative class lives is a metropolis, hinterland or new industrial focus in Anatolia is of critical importance for them. In this context, the report draws attention to the fact that the characteristics of urban space and the opportunities and possibilities it offers affect the talents, tolerance level, gender perspective, entrepreneurial thinking and migration tendency of the innovative class. More than half of the participants stated that they wanted to work and live in a city-region other than the one where they currently live, particularly because the quality of life in their city was insufficient. Therefore, the poor quality of the place or space where they live was emphasized as the leading factor in the innovative class’s tendency to migrate.
A total of 25 percent of R&D employees stated that they did not have suitable conditions to protect and improve their innovativeness, while 30 percent stated that they partially had such conditions. The book notes that most of the inadequacies stem from the limited innovation awareness and capacity of firms, ineffective working environments, and insufficient equipment and teams.
The book also states that the innovative class is highly sensitive to the geographical location of the firms they work for, namely the workplace region. It is assessed that this class particularly prefers to work in workplace regions — technoparks, city centers, organized industrial zones and urban peripheries — that are suitable for their lifestyle, offer comfortable spatial environments and facilities, and provide social opportunities suitable for cooperation and interaction. Noting that 83 percent of private-sector R&D employees in Türkiye work in planned industrial and technology regions, namely organized industrial zones and technoparks, the book states that technoparks are ahead of organized industrial zones in the areas of talent, tolerance, entrepreneurship and gender. It is emphasized that the opportunities and conditions offered by technoparks should also be created in organized industrial zones.
A MULTI-SCALE POLICY SET FOR THE INNOVATIVE CLASS
In the “Conclusion and Policy Recommendations” section of the book, it is emphasized that Türkiye’s innovation capacity should be developed through a multi-scale ecosystem approach that simultaneously covers people, firms, regions and cities. The book states that the potential to produce innovation is shaped not only by individual skills, but also by the firm’s management culture, the region’s interaction network and the quality of life offered by the city. A 10-point policy set is presented, covering firms at the micro level; organized industrial zones, technoparks and interface organizations at the city level; and public policies, city administrations and national talent strategies at the macro level.
The recommendations include improving the physical, social and environmental conditions of technoparks and organized industrial zones outside metropolitan areas; strengthening interaction and clustering among R&D employees in the information technology, automotive, machinery and electronics sectors; and ensuring that technoparks, Technology Transfer Offices and organized industrial zones function more effectively as innovation interfaces.
The policy set also recommends supporting long-term R&D activities, continuous learning and merit-based management culture in firms; improving quality of life in cities; and strengthening entrepreneurship and commercialization infrastructure. Brain drain, meanwhile, should be addressed with an approach of “talent circulation and mobility management,” which would preserve productive ties with qualified human resources abroad and enable international know-how to be transferred to Türkiye.
ACI CHAIRMAN ARDIÇ: QUALIFIED HUMAN CAPITAL IS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT
In the foreword of the book, Ankara Chamber of Industry Chairman Seyit Ardıç drew attention to the role of qualified human resources in global competition and stated:
“The nature of competition in today’s economic order is undergoing a profound transformation. The strength of countries, cities and institutions is now measured not only by the physical capital they possess, but also by the human resources that give meaning to this capital, transform it and carry it into the future. Qualified people who produce knowledge, make innovation possible and transform this process into value with entrepreneurial courage are the indispensable driving force and essential element of development.”
Chairman Ardıç noted the following regarding ACI’s purpose in publishing the work:
“As the Ankara Chamber of Industry, our main purpose in publishing this work is to ensure that discussions shaping industrial policies are not limited only to current assessments and practices, but are brought into institutional memory through scientific, data-based and lasting studies. We believe it is of great importance for industry to acquire a structure that not only produces, but also thinks, analyzes and develops policy proposals for the future.”
According to the research, Ankara hosts approximately one-quarter of Türkiye’s R&D personnel. A total of 21 percent of R&D employees also graduated from universities in Ankara. Pointing out that Ankara is one of the centers with the most concentrated innovative class accumulation in Türkiye, Chairman Ardıç continued:
“Our capital Ankara is one of the centers with the most concentrated innovative class accumulation in our country, thanks to its strong infrastructure extending from the defense industry to advanced technologies, from university-industry cooperation to R&D and design centers. As the Ankara Chamber of Industry, we shape our industrial policies with an approach that places qualified human resources at the center and positions the innovative class at the heart of production and transformation. Because we know that no transformation that does not put people at the center can be permanent.”