A new type of education for a new type of economy

Last week, I wrote that in order for Turkish people not to fall victim to Ponzi schemes like Çiftlik Bank (Farm Bank), we need to better educate our people. I underlined that if we want our people to be more cunning against these types of cons we need better education in terms of financial and technological understanding and critical thinking.

Just a few days later, there was an event organized by the Technology and Human Colleges (TİNK) called TinkTalks and it was all about DQ (digital intelligence) and a new understanding in education.

At the summit, Cengiz Ultav, who is the chairman of the board of Technology Development Foundation of Turkey (TTGV) and a Member of the Board of Vestel Ventures, underlined that the new generation have to live their lives by three pillars. These three pillars are digital, internet and sustainability. He said that these are the pillars that big data, design, logistics, production, services, energy efficiency and shared economy are built upon.

Erol Bilecik, the chairman of the board of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) said we are living in the age of Industry 4.0 and everything will change with it. We will be living in World 4.0. He said first, there was an IQ (intelligence quotient), then we understood that an EQ (emotional intelligence) was equally important and now we see a DQ (digital intelligence) is also a very important if you want to succeed in this new world.

Zeynep Dereli, the founder and the CEO of TİNK underlined that with a new understanding in education, they are aiming for pupils to think about technology as a natural part of life. She said that with a strong DQ, the students of today will become the leaders in the new economy.

The basic understanding of technology is a must if we will survive as a nation. However, it will not be enough. We had Çiftlik Bank, fooling thousands of people and taking 511 million Turkish Liras from them, but recently, the United States has had its very own Çiftlik Bank moment with Theranos.

Theranos, led by CEO and founder Elizabeth Holmes, raised more than $700 million on the promise of a revolutionary blood-testing technology that never materialized. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has just charged Holmes with “massive fraud.” Theranos’s blood-testing technology simply did not do what the company repeatedly told investors, clients and the media it could, the SEC alleged.

Both Çiftlik Bank and Theranos preyed on people’s universal weakness—the tendency to believe miracles. The Turkish were fooled by promises of easy money and Theranos investors were fooled with the promise of easy money and the prospect of changing the world, two very strong motivators.

The world is changing; a lot of good happens with a lot of bad. The only tool we can equip ourselves with is education.

That is why I really care about the above mentioned type of educational endeavors. There are a few more colleges like TİNK and I hope their numbers will increase.