Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University Faculty of Communication New Media and Communication Department Lecturer Prof. Dr. Sefer Kalaman wrote for AA Analysis what it means for Turkey to cooperate with 11 countries in artificial intelligence-supported robotic projects. *** One of the most critical elements that determine the geopolitical and economic balance of power of our age is undoubtedly the superiority in artificial intelligence and advanced robotic technologies.
At this point, it is noteworthy that Turkey is turning to joint projects in the field of “Artificial Intelligence Supported Robotics for Real World Applications” with Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, within the framework of the “CONCERT Japan” platform, which aims to strengthen the scientific cooperation between Europe and Japan under the leadership of TÜBİTAK.
The initiative in question is not only an academic development, but also a multi-dimensional strategic move in the global technology ecosystem. These multilateral technology partnerships serve as leverage to increase countries’ scientific capacity and global competitiveness. Artificial intelligence-supported robotic projects require the collaboration of many fields such as big data, high-performance computing, material science and autonomous systems.
Therefore, it is not sustainable for a single country to cover the cost and research and development (R&D) burden of these projects alone. For Turkey, this partnership means rapidly transferring the autonomous systems and operational software experience it has gained, especially in the defense industry, to the civilian field, industrial production and human-centered robotic applications, with domestic and national resources.
From a global competition perspective, while risks and costs are shared, Turkish universities and technology companies will rise to higher positions in the global value chain by developing world-class projects thanks to international funds and collaborations. Why is international cooperation in artificial intelligence and autonomous systems important? Increasing international research collaborations in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics have become a necessity rather than a choice in today’s world.
The main reason for this is that artificial intelligence and autonomous systems are completely data dependent structures. The success of an artificial intelligence model or a robot that will work in unstructured dynamic environments under real-world conditions; It depends on training with large data sets that are diverse, broad-based and fed by different cultures. Local data produced by a single country is not enough to develop autonomous systems that will achieve commercial success on a global scale.
In addition, determining international regulations such as human-robot interaction, data security and ethical artificial intelligence standards by cross-border consortiums brings the advantage of being a standard setter in the technology markets of the future. Since the countries that set the rules of technology also control the global market, these collaborations turn into a direct struggle for sovereignty and economic power.
Turkey’s strategic rise in the global technology supply chain, European countries and Japan’s tendency to develop joint projects with Turkey on this strategic level shows that Turkey’s developing R&D infrastructure and qualified, dynamic young engineering resources have been registered as a center of attraction in the international arena. Turkey is not only a geographical or logistical bridge between East and West, but also a flexible innovation base with extremely high technological adaptability.
While European countries are sometimes slow to apply artificial intelligence to the field due to their aging demographics and rigid bureaucratic hurdles, Japan wants to increase its software diversity and expand into new markets despite its immense strength in precision hardware and robotics. When Turkey’s agile software talent, which has proven itself especially in defense autonomy, is combined with Europe’s industrial discipline and Japan’s hardware genius, a perfect partnership emerges.
This trend is the clearest evidence that Turkey is now seen as a reliable, critical and flexible stakeholder in the global technology supply chain. Search for alternatives to the USA and China The timing of these partnerships is also critical in that it coincides with the period when the digital polarization between the USA and China, called the “Technological Cold War”, became harshest. While Washington and Beijing are forcing the world to be divided into two different technological ecosystems with chip crises, data bans and artificial intelligence embargoes, Europe and Japan’s emphasis on multilateral partnerships, including Turkey, is a strategy to build an alternative path against the hegemony of these two superpowers.
The European Union and Japan do not want to surrender to either China’s authoritarian data regime or the US’s Silicon Valley model, which is entirely based on the monopoly of giant technology companies. Multilateral platforms developed in this direction aim to create a new global artificial intelligence ecosystem that is human-centered, ethical, reliable and sustainable. The fact that Turkey is among the founding actors of this structure enables it to position itself as a balanced, independent and strategically maneuverable actor in global technology diplomacy, without being dependent on a single pole.
When the reflection of the global equation on Turkey’s local goals is examined, the question of how this cooperation will make concrete contributions to the country’s civil industrial transformation and digital Türkiye vision comes to mind. The concept of real-world applications at the focus of the projects will enable theoretical artificial intelligence codes stuck in the laboratory to land as autonomous robots in factories, smart cities, agricultural areas and the healthcare sector.
Integrating the German Industry 4.0 experience and Japan’s Society 5.0 philosophy into the Turkish manufacturing industry will trigger the digital transformation of the domestic industry, increase efficiency in production and elevate Turkey to a position of exporting technology with high added value. On the other hand, the question of what kind of dynamism the obligation to have at least one Japanese and two European country partners in the consortium structure will add to the projects also explains the managerial success of the process.
This mandatory structure obliges projects to be designed on a global scale and in international standards from the very beginning. While Japan’s hardware precision and sensor technology and Europe’s software architecture and data security principles melt in a single pot, Turkish researchers and companies play a bridge role in this multinational integration, increasing their global project management power and laying the groundwork for future international patent partnerships.
As a result, Türkiye is both making a technological leap with this multilateral science bridge and strengthening its place in the new world order. Source: AA
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