REPORT ON TECHNOPARKS FROM THE ANKARA CHAMBER OF INDUSTRY
ASO PRESIDENT SEYİT ARDIÇ:
“IT IS NOW TIME FOR A LEAP IN PRODUCTIZATION, COMMERCIALIZATION, AND EXPORTS IN TECHNOPARKS”
The Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO) has published its report titled “Analysis of Technology Development Zones from the Perspective of Global Technology Policies,” which aims to guide Türkiye’s technology-based development process. According to the report, Türkiye’s 113 technoparks have reached a significant scale; however, this growth has not yet been equally reflected in patents, commercialization, and technology exports. Technoparks accounted for only 7.6 percent of national patent registrations. Emphasizing the need to transform the quantitative growth achieved in technoparks into strong intellectual property outputs and productization, ASO President Seyit Ardıç stated: “It is now time for a leap in productization, commercialization, and exports in technoparks.” The ASO report also includes a 13-point reform package structured around four strategic axes.
The Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO) has released a comprehensive report that comparatively evaluates Türkiye’s technology development zone ecosystem alongside international examples. Titled “Analysis of Technology Development Zones from the Perspective of Global Technology Policies,” the report reveals that Türkiye’s technoparks have achieved significant scale over the past 25 years; however, this scale has not been equally reflected in patents, commercialization, and industrial-scale technology production.
GROWTH IN THE ECOSYSTEM EXISTS, BUT TECHNOLOGY EXPORTS AND DEEPENING REMAIN LIMITED
According to the report, there are 113 Technology Development Zones in Türkiye. While 94 of them are actively operating, infrastructure works continue in 19 zones.
Over the past 25 years, a total of 88,077 projects have been completed within technoparks, the number of active firms has reached 12,188, and total employment in these zones has risen to 125,124 people. During the same period, total sales volume reached approximately TRY 1.15 trillion, while cumulative exports increased to USD 16 billion. However, the report reveals that this strong scale has not generated the same depth in patents and productization, and that there is also a structural disconnect in integration with industry.
Of the 112,131 patent applications filed across Türkiye between 2002 and 2024, only 5,228 originated from technoparks. In terms of patent registrations, only 2,412 out of a total of 31,757 registrations came from technoparks. Thus, the share of technology development zones in national patent registrations remained at 7.6 percent.
The report emphasizes that although the existing university-centered technopark structure plays an important role in knowledge generation, the inability of this knowledge to sufficiently integrate with industry limits the transformation of R&D outputs into patents, commercialization, economic value, and production.
The report also notes that 56 percent of technopark firms operate in software and digital technologies, where patent generation is structurally limited, while the share of manufacturing- and hardware-oriented firms remains below 5 percent. It is emphasized that this entrepreneurial structure limits patent production. The current picture clearly demonstrates the need for structural strengthening throughout the chain extending from R&D to prototypes, from prototypes to products, and ultimately to mass production.
The ASO report further points out that the desired level of depth in internationalization has not yet been achieved within technology development zones. The number of foreign companies increased from 126 in 2014 to 525 as of October 2025. However, despite this increase, the share of foreign companies within the overall ecosystem remained around 4.3 percent. The report stresses that the real need in internationalization is not merely numerical growth, but stronger partnerships, deeper interaction, and more permanent global integration.
ARDIÇ: THE REAL NEED IN TECHNOPARKS IS A QUALITY-ORIENTED TRANSFORMATION
Evaluating the report, ASO President Seyit Ardıç stated that while quantitative growth in technoparks represents an important threshold, the real need in the new era is a quality-oriented transformation.
“The quantitative growth achieved in technoparks represents an important milestone. However, the real issue is transforming this scale into strong intellectual property outputs, productization, and industrial-scale technology production. At this point, it is also critically important to address the issue of research depth in universities through a shared perspective and cooperation with industry. Now is the time to achieve a leap in patents and commercialization within technoparks,” he stated.
Pointing out that technology development zones have created significant capacity for technology production and access to global markets, President Ardıç added:
“Transforming this capacity into a lasting competitive advantage depends on strengthening intellectual property, productization, and industrial integration.”
13-POINT REFORM PACKAGE FROM ASO: FOUR STRATEGIC AXES
The report emphasizes that the gap in patent and productization depth stems not only from insufficient resources, but also from a status-based incentive structure that does not adequately prioritize outputs, business models confined to rental management, and weak productization channels. Accordingly, a 13-point reform framework was presented to enable a second leap in technoparks. The reform proposals were grouped under four main strategic axes.
1 – Transformation of the incentive architecture
It was proposed that technopark incentives should become performance-oriented based not only on residency status within the zones, but also on patents, productization, exports, and technology outputs.
2 – Transition from site management to technology investment
The report emphasizes that management companies should evolve from structures focused solely on rental and space management into actors managing shared infrastructure, technology transfer, investment, and commercialization processes.
3 – OIZ–TDZ integration and financial depth
The report underlines the need to eliminate the disconnect between R&D and production, strengthen the chain extending from prototypes to pilot production, and deepen the financing structure of technoparks through venture capital instruments.
4 – Performance, human resources, and internationalization
It was proposed that technoparks should be monitored based on outputs and impact, that the academic system should be more strongly linked to the process of transforming patents into products, and that international partnership capacity should be increased in large-scale technoparks.
IMPLEMENTATION PLATFORM: ASO TECHNOLOGY BASE
The reform framework presented in the Ankara Chamber of Industry’s report was not left merely at the level of recommendations; it was emphasized that it would be implemented through the ASO Technology Base, whose establishment preparations are rapidly progressing.
The ASO Technology Base, which will be located on a 1 million square meter site within the Temelli Industrial Zone and whose feasibility studies have been completed, has been designed as an integrated innovation ecosystem bringing together R&D, production, entrepreneurship, and commercialization within the same campus.
Once it reaches full capacity, the ASO Technology Base is expected to contribute approximately USD 1.5 billion to Ankara’s exports, generate more than 18,000 qualified jobs, and host over 800 R&D companies and startups.
ARDIÇ: OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE FOR OUR COUNTRY’S COMPETITIVENESS
Evaluating the reform package included in the report, ASO President Seyit Ardıç stated:
“It is critically important for our country’s competitiveness that incentives evolve into a structure generating results and impact, that management companies transition from merely ‘managing rents’ to a model that ‘creates value,’ and that implementation capacity ensuring integration with production is strengthened.”
President Ardıç also emphasized that the report presents a concrete framework for how this transformation can be implemented, together with complementary strategies and a roadmap for implementation.
Stating that the ASO Technology Base will serve as the concrete implementation platform for this transformation, President Ardıç concluded:
“The key to the new era in technoparks is to bring R&D together with production and commercialization on the same line. The ASO Technology Base will provide the concrete implementation platform for this approach.”