The Başkent OIZ Innovation Center in Ankara will provide training, consultancy, and mentorship services to improve the innovation management capacities of companies in the manufacturing sector

Within the Technology Development in Organized Industrial Zones (OIZs) initiative carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Technology and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Başkent OIZ Innovation Center in Ankara, which was established at the beginning of this year, starts to raise awareness of companies and improve their capacities on innovation management. 

The aim of the center is to enhance companies’ ability to innovate by instilling innovation culture and encouraging creativity in a systematic way. Through innovation management, companies can decrease costs, increase productivity and efficiency by considering innovation opportunities in various processes from idea generation to marketing and even after-sales services, thus increasing their competitiveness on both national and international scales. 

Through the Innovation Programme carried out at the center, the innovation management capacities of 28 companies in the manufacturing industry at Başkent OIZ were measured by using the IMAGE (Innovation Management Assessment Gadget for Enterprises) assessment tool. Following this assessment, innovation roadmaps and specific project proposals were prepared for 20 of them. 

The implementation phase started with a meeting held on 16 August, 2023, which provided the selected 20 companies with information about the programme, as well as insights into innovative thinking and adapting to new trends.

In the following phase, training, consultancy, and mentoring services will be provided tailored to the project proposals prepared for the 20 companies. In September, the programme will be scaled up, and these services will be delivered simultaneously to companies in the Çerkezköy OIZ and Yalova Machinery Specialized OIZ Innovation Centers, which became operational during the same period as the Başkent OIZ Innovation Center.

The Innovation Programme, designed to measure, analyze, and develop the innovation management capacities of companies operating in OIZs, is implemented by Innovation Centers opened within the Technology Development in OIZs initiative. The first Innovation Center was established in Manisa OIZ, and the programme was first applied to 16 companies there. By the end of 2023, services that aim to enhance the innovation management capacities of companies will be completed in the other three innovation centers in Türkiye.