Turkey: 80 pct to have computer access by 2023

By Sahin Oktay

KOCAELI, Turkey

Turkey’s government aims to ensure 80 percent of the population has access to a computer by 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday.

Speaking at an informatics expo in Turkey's northwestern province of Kocaeli, Isik said more than 61 percent of the Turkish population currently had access to the internet, compared to 2003 when this figure was about 18 percent.

"We are living in an era when people are going to be asked 'Do you know how to code?' instead of 'Can you speak English?'," Isik said. "Those who do not know how to code a program will be outdated."

Isik said currently 57 percent of the population could use a computer, adding this number is expected to rise to 80 percent by year 2023.

"Today, six of the most valuable 10 companies are informatics companies," Isik said. "Cyber security is now a national security issue for countries," he added.

Isik also said commonly used operating systems around the world were "the ones that are attacked the most".

"Because Turkey developed PARDUS OS, we are currently doing better on defending ourselves against cyber-attacks."

PARDUS OS, a Linux-based system, works with open-source principles to provide users with software architecture flexibility.

The system was developed in 2003 by TUBITAK, with five main and two corporate versions released since then, and it has been used mainly by public institutions.

The name of the operating system comes from the Anatolian leopard's Latin name, panthera pardus tulliana.