Abstract:

Turkey experienced the benefits of economic growth as well as the impacts of economic recessions over the last three decades. The experience gained during this period have lead Turkey to raise the science and technology platform to a higher level, as well as to be engaged in a significant science, technology and innovation (STI) impetus. The highest ranking STI policy-making body in Turkey is the Supreme Council for Science and Technology (SCST) chaired by the Prime Minister with the decision-making power for national STI policy. SCST was established and granted the role of identifying, monitoring and coordinating policies in S&T areas in accordance with national goals for economic and social development and security. Accountable directly to the Prime Minister, SCST upholds important functions, such as to assist the government in determining long-term S&T policies . SCST was established in 1983 and realized its first operational meeting in 1989, thus opening a new era for the STI policy system, and started to convene with increasing intensity towards and after the turn of the new millennium. Since the mid-nineties, SCST had also been engaged in a shift towards innovation oriented S&T policies. Starting with the 10th meeting in 2005, this momentum was transitioned into the dynamic of meeting two times annually with the 22nd meeting being realized in December 2010. This approach is further strengthened with the vision to contribute to new knowledge and to develop innovative technologies to improve the quality of life by transforming the innovations into products, processes and services for the benefit of the country and humanity. As part of this STI impetus, State Planning Department of Turkish Government was held responsible in mobilizing resources for research and development infra-structure. In this context, Istanbul Technical University (ITU) was identified and assigned to develop the rotorcraft technologies for manned and unmanned helicopters in 2001. As the universities’ main goals in society are; education, research and industrial applications; ITU Rotorcraft Centre of Excellence evolved to achieve these goals by developing a graduate degree program, conducting research on rotorcraft technologies and establishing strong links with local and global industrial partners. In this paper, the development of Science-Technology-Innovation policy system in Turkey will briefly be summarized, followed by the information on the establishment and the development of “ITU Rotorcraft Centre of Excellence”, where equivalent centres in other countries will be evaluated. More detailed information on the physical and human resources of the centre will be given together with some sample projects conducted and products developed in the ITU Rotorcraft Centre of Excellence. A critical assessment will be made to identify to what extend ITU Rotorcraft Centre of Excellence has achieved its objectives. Finally, some recommendations will be given on common issues like; management, finance, personnel acquisition, performance evaluation and collaboration with partners to achieve sustainability of similar research and development centres in other countries.