The future is not bleak if you do something about it

Vodafone held its Digital Transformation Summit’16 on March 15. The first very noteworthy thing that was said came from the owner and CEO of Sütaş, Muhareem Yılmaz. He said, “Even though you just started to use Apple watches, our cows have been using the same technology for a decade now.” He said Sütaş was watching every quantifiable thing about cows to make sense of their health and the probable production from each cow. Naturally keeping a record of every health indicator gives them an edge by allowing them to be preemptive. 

It is not a coincidence that we are being persuaded to record our own indicators with smart watches and other wearables. It is much more cost efficient to prevent sickness rather than trying to cure it. 

The technological cows also fit into the discussion that Vodafone wanted to lead. The main issue Vodafone CEO Gökhan Öğüt underlined was interactivity. He said we, as users of telecommunications, will be much more participatory in the future, especially with the Internet. So, when it comes to health, we will also be an active participant with technology. 

Another person who got my attention was the WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell. He clearly stated that mobile is not another platform but a lifestyle. He said that in the future if we cannot go mobile, we will not go very far. This was a statement that surprised no one but what really surprised me was the fact that he believed in Turkey much more than many Turkish people believed in their own country. 

As people who are living in this wonderful country, sometimes we can be harsh when criticizing it. Sorrell said they will keep on investing in Turkey, as they believe Turkey is a heaven for creativity. He stated that Turkey is growing faster than the BRIC countries. He said that the young population and serving as a doorway to Iran were all great qualities for continued investing. 

I felt that I needed to hear such remarks. 

However, this doesn’t mean that I feel alright about what is happening right now in my country. On the contrary, believing in the future of this country makes me want to fight for rights even more fiercely. Turkey does have a bright future and I believe that being able to code is an important part of it. 

Therefore I wholeheartedly support CoderDojo CEO Mary Moloney’s Fongogo’s campaign to be a foundation in Turkey. She gave two speeches; one was at the Vodafone summit and the other one was at Atölye Istanbul.

In the summit she explained the importance of children designing the future and in the other she announced the idea of being a foundation. So, if the readers of this column want to take action for the future of this country but don’t know what to do, log on to Fongogo and give what you can to CoderDojo so that more children can learn to code and we as a country can be quicker and stronger.