WHAT IS TECHNOPARK?

Despite their small structure differences between them, technocities are expressed as science park, technocities, research park etc. Technocities offering structure and services in a qualified environment in university, industry, research centres, entrepreneurs and to increase partnerships between markets, aiming to increase information and technology transfer, high added valued, advanced technology product based on R&D and available substructure to produce services. According to International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)’s definition technocity; is in a relationship based on official or action with one or more than one university or high education corporation and research centres, designed to encourage the industrial firms which have in its constitution based on information and advanced technologies to set up and to improve, have a management function to support technology transfer and business administration to hire firms in it. Technocity is an attempt based on encouragement and ownership. Technology Development Areas (Law No.4691) accordance with this law, technocity; firms using high/advanced technology or intended new technologies, technology or software producing/improvement using possibilities of a specific university or high technology institution or R&D centre or R&D’s institutions, showing action to transform a technological discovery to a trade product, method or service and this way they are contributing the region’s progress, same university, in a high technology institution or R&D centre or institution field or near of it. It is a site where academical, economic or social structure concretes or a Technology Development Area which has these characteristics.

Producing Technology has 4 fundamental factors;

1. Person has the spirit of research
2. Enough information saving
3. Enough financial roots
4. Doing R&D works with a program

In technology development, around the world, variety of method-togetherness has being tried according to these factors. Most beneficial of them are the togetherness occurred with a dialog between University-Research foundation and Industry.

According to 4 fundamental factors producing technology technoparks mutual aims;

As creating new entrepreneurs from manpower raised in science and technology fields, providing economic transformation via technology-oriented firms being constructed by entrepreneurs raise in university and R&D foundations.

Technopark aiming to get together science and technology firstly started in countries advanced in science-technology such as USA, England, France, Germany, and Japan etc.

There are about 800 technoparks around the world today.Without a doubt ‘‘Silicon Valley’’ is the oldest and the best-known technopark. It is in the west of the U.S.A. in California, it is a technopark, in 8500 firms every one of them has 100 thousand employees, paying 1.7 million dollars tax every year which municipalities started action in an area with 150 hectares in 1950 as a consequence of industrial development.

Silicon valley is the birthplace of a lot of development to become a part of our daily life. First discoveries found here such as radio broadcast, transistor, vacuum, tube, microprocessor, PC, hard drive, floppy disk drive, laptop, mouse etc. In silicon valley, a lot of famous universities in the USA showing action here and 88.000 students in this universities centered in technopark computer area. Silicon valley not only offering a well-heeled university education chance but also realizing master and Ph.D. student’s contributions. Besides Silicon Valley, there are hundreds of technoparks in the USA.

‘‘Cambridge Science Park’’ is the largest and the best-known technopark above 80 technoparks in England where we had a chance to walk around it when we were working there. Besides this, there are some science parks: Oxford, Heriot-Watt, and Mersoside.

In France, there are 25 technoparks. The best-known of them is Sophia Antipolis built in 1969 servicing in the computer, electronic and automation, medicine, pharmacy, chemistry biotechnology and education fields. In this technopark stated in 10 thousand hectares area a thousand advanced technology firms employing 50 thousand people.

Japan constructing its Technology Development Centres with the name technopolis. In Japan, 26 more technopolis declared additional to old ones in 2000.

Far East’s rapidly developing economy China with its cheap industry products increasing its competition power in the world market and every year they are taking a high amount of foreign stock from other countries. The first technopark constructed in 1985 in China and there are 60 technoparks today.

The first technopark in Israel constructed in 1946 with private sector interference. Additional to 4 technoparks which able to compete with the world, Negev Region Science and Technology Park constructing in Ben Gurion University which advanced pretty in medicine and environment technologies.

Technocity subject come from State Planning Organization in Turkey at first in 1989. Some experts invited by the SPO (DPT in Turkish) from United Nations Fund for Science and Technology for Development (UNFSTD) to analyze and search the facilities and opportunities in Turkey. At the end of these studies, TEKMERs (Technology Centers) having been started to establish with the collaborations of the KOSGEB and universities in the 1990s. These studies were started İstanbul, İzmir, Ankara, Eskişehir anD Gebze in Turkey with the consideration of the suitable university facilities and current situations. Technocities have been founded with the Law No. 4691 in 2001. There are 61 technology development zones have been declared by Council of Ministers. Today, there are 63 technoparks in Turkey; but only 49 of them is in action, the others are in the process of development stages. The companies and firms within Teknocities can take some advantages of tax incentives. The most important of them re can be listed as the companies are exempted from the Corporation income tax and the staffs working in these companies are also exempted from the personal income tax. What’s more, the companies benefit from the SSI (Social Security Institution) Premium discount as 50%. Apart from all these advantages, vat exemptions is applied for the software products.