Despite the rapid digitalization that has characterized the past few decades, analog technology has not only remained relevant but has also maintained its essential significance. From the warmth of vinyl records to the tactile feedback of mechanical watches, analog technologies offer a richness of experience that their digital counterparts attempt to emulate but cannot fully capture. This combination of physicality and functionality speaks to something fundamentally human—an appreciation for the tangible and the authentic. Notably, in the world of music, vinyl records stand out not just for their nostalgic value but also for how they are used by DJs to create innovative musical experiences by blending them with digital technologies. DJs mix the warmth and tactile experience of analog with the flexibility and innovation provided by digital technology, elevating music to a new dimension. This is just one example of how analog and digital technologies can coexist and create a powerful synergy.

My recent exploration of the analog world through Irene Vallejo’s “Papyrus” and Caroline Weaver’s “The Pencil Perfect” has rekindled an appreciation for the enduring legacy of analog devices and technology. These readings not only enriched my understanding but also illuminated the intricate interplay between the analog and digital realms.

“Papyrus” unravels the history of the written word and its profound impact on human civilization, reminding us of the tangible legacy of knowledge and culture. Vallejo’s exploration into the ancient world of scrolls and manuscripts underscores the physicality of communication, an aspect that digitalization tends to overshadow.

In parallel, “The Pencil Perfect” by Caroline Weaver delves into the humble pencil’s journey, a quintessential analog tool, highlighting its unassuming yet pivotal role in creativity and innovation. Weaver’s narrative brings to light how simple analog tools like the pencil continue to shape ideas and seamlessly bridge the gap between the tangible and the digital.

This newfound perspective was a revelation. In recent years, my immersion in digital learning and discourse inadvertently led me to overlook the analog foundation that underpins our digital advancements. The realization struck that the digital world is not a replacement but rather an extension of the analog. Each enhances and depends on the other for depth, context, and innovation.

This reflection serves as an invitation to explore the symbiotic relationship between analog and digital technologies more deeply. How do these realms coexist, complement, and mutually influence our experiences and understanding of the world?

As we continue to forge ahead in the digital age, let us not overlook the analog roots that connect us to a rich heritage of knowledge, creativity, and human interaction. The tactile pleasure of turning the pages of a book, the immediacy of jotting down a thought with pencil on paper, are experiences that digital technology seeks to emulate but cannot wholly replicate. In the years ahead, it’s crucial that we deepen our understanding of how manual and digital tasks differently impact neurological functions.

In our quest to embrace the future, we should not forget the lessons and legacies of the past. Analog technologies, with their tactile richness and human-centric design, remind us that progress isn’t solely about speed or efficiency but also about depth and texture in our daily experiences.

Let’s engage in a conversation about the significant role of analog technology in our increasingly digital world. By acknowledging and valuing our analog past, we pave the way for a more integrated, meaningful future where digital and analog technologies enrich our lives in concert.

This note is not only a reflection but also a call to action for deeper appreciation and exploration of the analog underpinnings in our digital lives. It aims to spark dialogue, inspire further exploration, and cultivate a deeper appreciation for the interplay between analog and digital, thereby enhancing our experiences and enriching our understanding of the world around us.

In the last 20 years, technology has become a major force that radically changes our lives, beyond its automation-based and task-focused structure. And digitalization shows that technology has the potential to create even larger impact on social life compared to our daily lives.

The “Digitalization for Prosperity” panel to which I also attended as a speaker during the Uludağ Economy Summit in March 2019 summarizes this transformation with a great title. The prosperity mentioned here is an extensive concept. It covers everything from our inner peace to improving corporate efficiency, achieving abundance in a country, and solutions to today’s problems.

As I said during my speech there, digitalization has woven a web around every moment and area of our lives with invisibly thin but robust bonds. To say it in the simplest form, our personal assistants on mobile phones or smart speakers are in fact nothing but applications running on the cloud. Systems such as these evaluate the data we generate almost as frequently as breathing, make predictions based upon these data, and provide the opportunity to transform business processes thoroughly. Next generation applications that we create by using these technologies may even transform an entire industry.

On the other hand, thinking that private companies have the greatest responsibility in digitalization may come to mean missing the holistic scale of the issue. Certainly, education will be one of the architects of a social transformation. Today, as we identify the requirements for the future, we have already taken steps such as coding and digital literacy trainings to raise digital individuals who can meet these foreseen requirements. From now on, we will draw the roadmap for curricula and training models to benefit from Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies.

Another important issue is healthcare. Applications that require individual monitoring can currently be performed via smartwatches and bracelets. Solutions such as remote contact with doctors especially in regions with limited access to healthcare services or storing the data on cloud have already started to be practiced. Now, an important transformation is on the way to predict illnesses that create a burden on healthcare and even social security systems and to rearrange the processes of the healthcare system.

Equal opportunities for the increasing population

Euromonitor states that sixty percent of the global population will be living in cities by 2030. As this transformation takes place, smaller settlements will become urbanized, cities will turn into megacities through immigration, and number of cities with population higher than 10 million will increase to 39.

That is where Smart City practices will come to the aid to local authorities and citizens. Sensors placed in every corner of the city and on vehicles will enable much higher standards for the daily life in all areas from traffic to air pollution, natural disaster measures, and town planning.

Thanks to complete digitalization, i.e. building an end-to-end digital structure, equal opportunities will become an attainable target, rather than an ideal. Thanks to this equality we will be able to make sure that not only gender inequality in working conditions will be bridged, but also opportunities will be allocated equally. However, next generation technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and the Internet of Things, as well as the Digital Transformation that benefits from the progress of these technologies will give us a present that is more important than all: sustainability. And this is what we need the most as we worry about the distribution and lack of natural resources and pursue a possibility of life on other planets…