About a year ago, we were living an entirely different world. Most probably, we had many predictions and expectations about the near and distant future. However, the sudden occurrence of the pandemic, which rapidly became a global phenomenon, assumed extraordinary dimensions and caused sweeping impact.

Surely, epidemic diseases cause short-, mid- or long-term devastation on the one hand, while transforming societies on the other. Just as we are now experiencing. One of the most important lessons this disaster taught us has perhaps been prompting people to reflect on the kind of world they wish to live in. Even though we are not yet able to foresee the outcomes of Covid-19 in this respect, we are well aware that from now on, nothing will be the way it used to be. But, in my opinion, the effects of the transformation it brought about, especially on our daily lives and technology, give us some important clues about the future.

Maintaining our transformed habits is very important

2020 has been an extraordinary year. Necessities such as observing social distancing rules, using facemasks, washing our hands often and avoiding crowded indoor environments unless necessary, have caused considerable changes and restrictions in our ways and habits of living. However, such restrictions have also made a positive impact. We observed that the protective measures and practices adopted during the pandemic helped reduce the number of not only COVID-19 cases, but also other respiratory diseases. I believe that it is important for us to maintain this pandemic-induced cultural transformation in the future as well. Because, the studies being conducted reveal that the measures taken do help reduce the number of flu cases, but that vaccination is still important. Since the population immunity has been reduced due to the pandemic-induced restrictions and different practices, some comments are being made to point to the likelihood of a sharp increase in the number of flu cases after the pandemic. Thus, maintaining the newly acquired habits regarding acts of close physical contact such as hugging and shaking hands is important to protect ourselves, as well as our loved ones against the risks.

The Brave ‘Digital’ World After the Pandemic

One of the most significant pandemic-related changes has definitely been observed in the area of digitalization. Using digital technologies is now the only way to sustain life, as well as economic activities. We have seen how important it is to work, produce, and communicate remotely, in short, to move everything we can to the digital environment. Most importantly, we have seen that this was possible. We have also witnessed a reduction in the human-related impacts on climate change, as well as its reflections on the nature. Millions of people have been able to recover the time they used to spend in heavy traffic everyday. We have been able to complete tasks more efficiently, in a shorter time, and with less error.

Indeed, at this point, Turkey stands on the threshold of a critical opportunity to be ready to respond to the requirements of the new world. Accelerating investments in digitalization and new technologies is very important on Turkey’s path to becoming an advanced manufacturing economy.

It is very pleasing to see that significant investments and undertakings are taking place in this field in our country. For example, founded by the Turkish Metal Industrialists Union (MESS) to carry Turkey into the next industrial revolution, MEXT represents one of the most substantial investments made in this area. As the world’s largest digital transformation and competence development center, MEXT will surely be an important milestone in Turkey’s digitalization journey.

As Siemens Turkey, we are among the digitalization partners of MEXT, providing support with our innovative technologies. Assuming a powerful position in the new digital world will be enabled by the increase in the number of such centers as MEXT. Therefore, I believe that it is highly important that the leading organized industrial zones (OIZ) of our country should take action and establish similar centers to support digital technologies and innovation for the future of our country. We need to proceed with brave and rapid steps to carry our country to a powerful position in the new digital world and increase the number of investments like MEXT, as well as innovative enterprises. Only then, we can create more value for the society and human life, shaping the required infrastructure to build a future today.

When we look into all of the industrial revolutions that the world has witnessed, we have been tracking the change in energy playing a major role in that. The “rise” of various energy sources had significant impact on the lives of societies. All technological breakthroughs and the current progress in digitalization, which could be composed under the umbrella of the Industry 4.0 indicate that the coming years will also be full of action in terms of energy.

I think we should take two aspects into consideration for the sake of energy efficiency. One of these is climate change. Besides, our energy demand increases considerably due to the requirements of the global economy and rapidly increasing population. Compared to today, global need for electricity alone will increase by 80 percent by 2040. Let me also note that currently 1 billion people have no access to electricity and in time this population will also be included in the energy grid.

The basis for ensuring economic growth for both today and tomorrow is generating sustainable electricity. We can achieve this through the combination of renewable energy and flexible power plants. We can also make energy storage and demand satisfaction mechanisms more dynamic so as to get the best results. Thus, we can generate “reliable and cost-effective sustainable energy”. In addition, we need to include smart platforms and solutions to the process. This will make sure that all infrastructures, be it analogue or digital, can operate in integration and in line with their purposes.

We are customizing these initiatives for Turkey and work tirelessly to offer them to the business world and the society. Globally, we will become a carbon-neutral company by 2030, but here in Turkey, we are already a step ahead. We will achieve this goal by 2023.As Siemens, we generate 10 percent of the renewable energy in Turkey via Siemens turbines. We ensured 260 million TRY savings with approximately 1,100 energy efficiency projects in the last 4 years.

Now is the time to implement the abovementioned principles. This is the way to extend our internal change to the society.

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…

Today, we frequently discuss the role of new digital technologies in transforming almost all industries and current ways of doing business by creating new areas of practice. Among these, one of the most interesting to me is healthcare, because it’s focus is directly related to improving the quality of human life. Many game-changing new innovations are expected in this area and we have already started to see the first examples of these. Let’s take a look at the benefits that Siemens Digital Twin technology, which we attach great importance to, offers to healthcare.

First of all, let me briefly explain what Digital Twin means. The example of digital twin technology is a paradigm or model of new trends where sophisticated SW and competences in data analytics with AI can improve the quality of our life. Siemens Digital Twin technology ensures building a virtual version of a factory before physical construction and offers a simulation of all production phase. Thus, research, testing and production processes of companies and institutions become a lot faster, more efficient and economical. All the digitalization projects in which we employed Digital Twin technology have so far provided great efficiency and savings in the business processes of our stakeholders. Examples of these are available in Turkey in various sectors. 

In addition to accelerating and facilitating processes, Digital Twin also enables boutique production and customization. Obviously, the concept of “customization” becomes more and more important. Customized solutions are not only about preferences or tastes; they can be of vital importance in areas such as healthcare. Our expertise in digitalization and our Digital Twin technology reinforce our practices in this area and create a base for future applications in healthcare. And future possibilities in healthcare truly thrill us.

Perhaps very soon, we will be able to generate digital twins of “customized” organs such as the heart and lungs, or of tissues and even individual cells. Such simulations will help healthcare professionals to understand how different individuals react to different treatments. Operations will first be performed on digital twins and anything that might go wrong will be identified in advance. Here the gathering and analysis of data with new AI applications plays a crucial role in all aspects of our life. 

We all know that early diagnosis and early monitoring of any precursors that precede healthcare issues is of essence. Digital twin will provide significant benefits in this area as well. Through sensors, we can continuously send data to our digital twin on the condition of our organs and thus ensure early diagnosis of a potential health problem. For instance, metastases that may occur in the post-treatment process of cancer patients can be very rapidly identified with this method. And ultimately, totally customized medical care can be offered through affordable and almost real-time models to help diagnosis and treatment.

An example to the possible transformational impact of digital technologies on the healthcare industry is Siemens Healthineers Digital Heart Twin. Siemens Healthineers developed an artificial intelligence platform to generate a 3D physical structure of the heart by using its electrical and physical data. Aiming to support surgeons in treatment plans, the digital heart twin can serve as a vehicle to use artificial intelligence in diagnosis and treatment. 3D-printed digitally-intelligent heart twin enables simulations so as to help doctors run some tests before surgery. That means a cardiologist, before entering the OR, can simulate and monitor on his computer screen how the patient with congestive heart failure reacts to the treatment; by means of placing the electrodes of a pacemaker on the 3D digital heart twin that simulates the patient’s heart cells as well as its electrical and physical qualities.

Although the Digital Twin technology is in a development stage in the healthcare industry, it has a great potential to offer significant new developments and treatments in a very short time. And, of course, widespread adoption of this technology in the industry means many opportunities for both the patients and the healthcare professionals in terms of improving the quality of life.