As part of the Antalya Technopark Artificial Intelligence and Game Technologies Acceleration Program Project, the Artificial Intelligence and Game Technologies Demoday Event was held. Thirty-five young entrepreneurs who participated in year-long training in this field presented their work.

Attendees at the opening of the Artificial Intelligence and Game Technologies Demo Day Program, held at the Akdeniz University Faculty of Communication Conference Hall, included Akdeniz University (AU) Rector Prof. Dr. Özlenen Özkan, Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. Şükrü Özen and Prof. Dr. Cengiz Toker, Antalya Technopark General Manager Dr. İbrahim Yavuz, Western Mediterranean Development Agency Secretary General Volkan Güler, KOSGEB Antalya Provincial Director İbrahim Uğur Erkış, academics, and students.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP REQUIRES COURAGE, DETERMINATION, PATIENCE, AND INTENSE EFFORT

Akdeniz University Rector Prof. Dr. Özlenen Özkan stated that this special day represents a meeting point at the intersection of entrepreneurship, technology, and creativity, saying, "Thanks to this event, potential entrepreneurs, startups, and companies have gained access to up-to-date information, quality training and mentorship services, joined business networks, and learned about public supports. In the project that started in April 2023 and lasted for a year, awareness and information activities in the field of artificial intelligence and game technologies, as well as studies with expert trainers and mentors, were carried out within the scope of the acceleration program. Today, we will watch the presentations prepared by more than 15 entrepreneurs accepted into the project and the achievements they have gained in the acceleration program. I congratulate each of them in advance because entrepreneurship truly requires courage, determination, patience, and intense effort."

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HAS BECOME INDISPENSABLE

Rector Prof. Dr. Özkan emphasized that the use of artificial intelligence has become indispensable in almost every sector from healthcare to defense, saying, "Again, the gaming industry is one of the shining stars of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. As stated in the 'Digital 2023: Turkey' report, of the world's population of over 8 billion, 5.44 billion are phone users and 5.16 billion are internet users. This shows that 64% of the world's population is online."

WE HAVE FULL CONFIDENCE IN YOUNG MINDS

Rector Özkan continued, "Young people know very well that Minecraft, a game I became aware of thanks to my daughters, has achieved the title of the best-selling game of all time with 300 million sales. We do not have the luxury of lagging behind in these rapidly developing technologies. As you all know, in 2020, a local gaming company was sold for $1.8 billion. This sale, one of the largest company sales in Turkish economic history, was an important milestone demonstrating Turkey's entrepreneurial potential and growth opportunities in the gaming sector. Over the past 4 years, 6 more Turkish companies in the technology field have achieved this title. However, more entrepreneurs and innovative projects are needed to fully realize this potential."

THE GOAL OF MAKING ANTALYA A CITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATICS

Dr. İbrahim Yavuz, General Manager of Antalya Technopark, stated that they have implemented many activities as Antalya Technopark, saying, "We have 13 clustering studies. One of them is the artificial intelligence and game technologies cluster. In this context, we are at the demoday event of the artificial intelligence and game technologies acceleration program that we conducted with our development agency today. 12 entrepreneurs will present to us today. When we look at the global scale, we consider these trainings important for investment planning, the entrepreneur making presentations, forming their business model, and making their commercial plans. We have goals to make Antalya a city of technology and informatics. Akdeniz University and Antalya Technopark will be locomotives of this."

A MARKET WORTH AROUND 185 BILLION DOLLARS

Volkan Güler, Secretary General of the Western Mediterranean Development Agency, stated, "When we look at 2023, the global market for games and artificial intelligence is around 185 billion dollars. Mobile games make up 49% of this market. We are talking about a field where Turkish entrepreneurs are not bad. PC games make up 22%, which constitutes a total volume of 40 billion dollars. The remaining 29% is covered by console games."