According to the Istanbul Development Agency's (İSTKA) 2018 Financial Support Programs project evaluation results, 89 projects with a total budget of TL 124.9 million ($24.5 million) will be realized.
According to a statement released by the İSTKA, a total of TL 124.9 million worth of collaborations will be established in 89 projects with public institutions, nongovernmental organizations and institutions, including universities.
All of the money will be used for projects aimed at the social, economic and cultural development of Turkey's key growth-driving city, Istanbul.
Some 35 projects will be supported in the "Children and Youth Financial Support Program," 17 projects in the "Entrepreneurship Financial Support Program" and 37 projects in the "Innovative and Creative Financial Support Program."
"Every day we wake up to a new change. Now all sectors are fed by technology. In an increasingly competitive environment, we need to invest more in innovation, technology, improvement and entrepreneurship," İSTKA Secretary-General Özgül Özkan Yavuz said. "With our Financial Support Programs, we aim to increase the added value through the digital transformation of the existing industrial production structure and university co-operations. The companies and software set up by the entrepreneurial youth on the computer are now shaping the world economy. For sustainable development, we also work to create conditions for today's children and youth to become the entrepreneurs and industrialists of tomorrow."
A total of 37 projects will be developed in the "Innovative and Creative Istanbul Financial Support Program," which has a total budget of TL 66.38 million.
As part of these projects, infrastructure for innovation, research and application centers, laboratories and technology transfer offices in whereby university-industry co-operations will be developed and established.
Under this program, the global competitive power of Istanbul will be enhanced by carrying out studies on the digital transformation of industrial production structure and increasing the weight of creative industries in Istanbul's economy.
The Entrepreneurship Financial Support Program will see a total of TL 21.01 million be used for 17 projects, and technology, innovation and creativity-oriented entrepreneurship will be supported.
Projects to support technological entrepreneurs in international markets and entrepreneurship acceleration programs, especially in the fields of health, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and the like, will be realized.
Innovative entrepreneurs and industrialists will also be able to establish collaborations with the projects to bring new entrepreneurship centers to Istanbul.
The total budget of 35 projects to be realized under the Children and Youth Financial Support Program will be TL 37.58 million.
In this program, STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) workshops, science and technology centers, robotics, coding, music and art workshops will be established, with an emphasis on developing creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship in children and young people.
The projects will also focus on developing preventive measures for children and youth who are struggling with addiction or at high risk of developing one. Equal opportunities will be provided for asylum seekers and disabled children and youth.
The İSTKA, which between 2010-2017 announced Financial Support Programs seven times for the "Innovation Leader Istanbul," has completed a total of 678 projects for 35 different programs.
With six guided projects, an allocation of TL 447 million was used by the agency for a total of 684 projects.