IFM and ITU Sign Cooperation Agreement

Istanbul Financial Center (IFC) and Istanbul Technical University (ITU) have entered into cooperation on information technologies in the financial sector. The protocol was signed on 29 December 2023 Friday by IFC General Manager Ahmet İhsan Erdem and ITU Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Koyuncu. Istanbul Financial Center, one of Turkey's vision projects, has partnered with Istanbul Technical University for information technologies and in-depth analytical work. The protocol signing ceremony held at the IFC was attended by Istanbul Financial Center General Manager Ahmet İhsan Erdem and Istanbul Technical University Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Koyuncu. Under the signed protocol, it is envisaged that ITU's academic knowledge accumulation and research capability will be combined with Istanbul Financial Center's sectoral experience to conduct in-depth market analyses on information technologies in the financial field. The analyses will be prepared by ITU academics and will cover developments, current status and future trends in information technologies in the financial sector. The analyses will be made available to the public free of charge by Istanbul Financial Center every 3-4 months. The protocol will also provide ITU students with the opportunity to intern at Istanbul Financial Center. Istanbul Financial Center will make efforts to provide internship and graduate engineer opportunities for a number of ITU students to be determined by it. Through this, the aim is to support the training of specialists in the field of information technologies in our country; to better understand the needs of the sector and develop solution-oriented approaches.

"Our primary objective is to create a multidimensional financial services ecosystem"

Speaking at the protocol signing ceremony, Istanbul Financial Center General Manager Ahmet İhsan Erdem provided information about the center's objectives and activities.

Erdem stated the following:

"As Istanbul Financial Center, our primary objective is to create a multidimensional financial services, international trade and energy ecosystem. In order to achieve this primary objective, I would like to point out our three main goals. First, we are focusing our efforts on contributing to sustainable growth of Turkey's economy. We attach great importance to deepening our financial markets and products, which is another one of our objectives. We also view offering new business and investment opportunities to all IFC participants as an important goal. To reach these goals, we will come together with our stakeholders to further expand the existing pie and ensure that Turkey takes a larger share of it."

"As the IFC, we aim to encourage reverse brain drain"

Emphasizing the importance of cooperation with Istanbul Technical University, IFC General Manager Ahmet İhsan Erdem stated: "IFC has become an international trade center. In order to further increase our skilled human resources, which is one of our country's most important assets, various advantages have been defined at the IFC for the employment of personnel with international experience. The main objective of this incentive item is both to encourage reverse brain drain and to attract qualified international workforce to our country. We are aware of the critical role that information technologies play in the financial sector. For this reason, we are very pleased to cooperate with Istanbul Technical University, one of our country's leading academic institutions in this field. This protocol will enable us to increase our sector's and our country's competitiveness in the field of information technologies and produce innovative and value-added solutions. We also attach importance to offering internship and graduate engineer opportunities to ITU students, thereby bringing qualified human resources to our sector. We wish this protocol well and thank the ITU management and academics" he said.