A new model applied by the Manisa Industrial Park Innovation Center shows businesses how to reap benefits from digitalization

Manisa, 16 May 2022 – As part of its broader mission to promote business innovation and competitiveness, the Manisa Industrial Park (MIP) Innovation Center has rolled out a new “Digital Transformation Assessment Model (DDX)” to measure companies’ digital transformation capacity and help them create a roadmap for this transformation. The DDX tool has so far been used to assess the digital readiness of 16 companies within Manisa Organized Industrial Zone (OIZ) in areas ranging from product development to supply chain management to customer service. The Innovation Center will now use the results in shaping support programmes aimed at helping companies build new skills, choose new technologies and invest wisely in a digital future. The DDX findings were presented on 20 April 2022 in an online event attended by more than 150 participants.

“This study will not only strengthen the efficiency and competitiveness of the companies in Manisa, but also serve as an important model for the design of our efforts to establish more Innovation Centers and Model Factories,” said Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology. “Turkey is poised to benefit from the wave of digital transformation.”

“There’s no lack of challenges these days for Turkish industry, whether it’s pandemic disruptions, the need to decarbonize to preserve European markets, or the war in Ukraine,” said UNDP Resident Representative Louisa Vinton. “In this context, UNDP’s priority is to help Turkish companies build resilience and move as swiftly as possible to harness the benefits of digital technologies, transforming a competitive threat into an advantage.”

The DDX assessment tool was developed by the Boğaziçi University Industry 4.0 Platform and TUBITAK’s Turkish Management Sciences Institute (TUSSIDE). It is part of a larger project aimed at improving technology use in OIZs that is implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Technology and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Funding of TRY8 million (US$540,000) for the Innovation Center initiative is provided in equal shares by the Government Investment Program and the Manisa OIZ.

UNDP and the Ministry also collaborate on the development of a network of “model factories” situated so far in eight major Turkish cities that provide companies with hands-on training and advice on lean production and digital technologies. The Ministry plans to establish seven new model factories over the next two years.

Contact: Nur Akıncı, Communications Associate, UNDP Turkey, Inclusive and Sustainable Growth Portfolio, nur.akinci@undp.org

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in 177 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. tr.undp.org.