TEKNOFEST is more than a festival connecting Türkiye’s youth, the core of its innovative human capital, to technology. It is a societal project aimed at instilling a national and collective spirit within Türkiye’s technology vision. Abdullah Kabaoğlu from the Cluster Foundation’s Security and Strategy Desk wrote for AA Analysis about the motivations behind Western technological production and the societal vision that distinguishes TEKNOFEST from these conventional models.
The world’s largest technology and aerospace event, TEKNOFEST, is taking place this week in Istanbul. Thousands of student teams compete across categories, including rockets, autonomous vehicles, unmanned underwater systems, artificial intelligence, and robotics, giving participants the opportunity to apply theoretical skills to practical problems. While the festival is commonly perceived as a way to strengthen young people’s interest in technology, it has a broader mission: it expresses the effort to reinterpret technology and innovation in Türkiye through a communal, society-focused lens, influencing the fabric of Turkish society.
Technological Productivity Drives Societal Transformation
Technological productivity is now considered one of the key markers of modernity. As modernity spreads globally, this productivity is often seen as a normal, standard process. Yet, over the 250-year period from the Industrial Revolution to today, the level of technological productivity reached represents a distinct shift from previous human history. The intense technological productivity associated with modernity emerged in specific historical and geographical contexts, achieving a global character as an exceptional experience.
Examining the historical conditions that made this possible, technological innovation is far more than an administrative efficiency issue; it is a sociological phenomenon. Societies that reached high technological productivity experienced cultural evolution, with structural transformations in governance, education, financial institutions, and legal frameworks, alongside changing perceptions of instrumental rationality and individuality. Therefore, technological innovation and productivity fundamentally require broad societal transformation.
The most crucial element in this societal transformation is the individual. The creative actor in technology positions productivity and innovation within the framework of personal meaning, which directly affects their motivation. Individuals leave their comfort zones to navigate the uncertain waters of technological innovation only if they assign significant value to it within their own meaning systems. One striking historical example is Max Weber’s famous thesis in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, which explained the rise of capitalist dynamism in the West. According to Weber, ascetic Protestant sects, such as Puritanism, developed an ethic viewing worldly work as a sacred “calling” to glorify God, emphasizing systematic, disciplined labor and reinvesting gains instead of indulging in luxury or temporary pleasures. This mindset supplied the motivational prerequisite for modern capitalist production, the pursuit of rational and continuous profit.
Sociological Motivation Behind Technological Productivity
Today, the motivational paradigm driving technological productivity often emphasizes extreme individualism. In much of the Western world, innovation’s primary goal is seen as maximizing material wealth. Individuals direct their innovative efforts according to free-market logic, determining which technologies to develop and which problems to address based on profit-driven priorities.
However, this is only one way to assign meaning to innovation. Individuals may find motivation for innovation in religious, moral, or ideological frameworks where personal material gain is not the priority. Weber noted that theological motivations often drive productivity. Similarly, Fred Turner argues that the counterculture of the 1960s in Silicon Valley, skeptical of centralized bureaucracy, repurposed computers from Cold War control tools into instruments of personal freedom and communal life. These liberating ideals powered Silicon Valley’s early innovation until the rise of venture capital dominance in the 1990s.
TEKNOFEST: Collective Future Over Individual Gain
TEKNOFEST counters this global trend by instilling an alternative meaning system for technology, emphasizing societal benefit and collective gain over individual profit. At its core is the ideal of positioning technology as a strategic tool to ensure the full independence of the Republic of Türkiye. This perspective transforms technology from a personal enrichment story into a collective mission of sovereignty and national development. The value of a developed UAV, software, or chip is measured not in individual monetary gain but by its contribution to society and strategic capabilities in defense, healthcare, energy, agriculture, and other critical areas.
The festival emphasizes the “National Technology Initiative,” encouraging young innovators to align their creativity and productivity with the vision of a fully independent Türkiye.
Why TEKNOFEST’s Approach to Innovation Matters
This societal reframing of technology is essential for Türkiye for several reasons. Firstly, Türkiye started climbing the ladder of technological progress later than its global peers. Competing in the market under these conditions is challenging; the advantages enjoyed by rivals make achieving profitability and scaling innovation difficult. Material gain-driven innovation alone is unlikely to succeed in Türkiye. Without mobilization around national independence and societal benefit, investors will avoid technological ventures, and the skilled workforce may be drawn abroad by higher salaries. Hence, a societal orientation that centers on technology as a collective good is crucial to catch up with global technological development.
Moreover, purely profit-driven innovation can produce serious social harms. When a technology ecosystem is directed solely by individuals seeking personal gain, technology becomes an end in itself rather than a tool for social value. This trend can lead to the misuse of technology in ways that conflict with societal ethics, as evidenced by global tech companies providing technological support for unethical practices for financial profit.
This risk is even greater in oligopolistic defense industries, where a few large companies can influence governments’ decisions in pursuit of profit, often at odds with public welfare. In the U.S., the military-industrial complex exemplifies how profit-driven alliances can shape national security policy. A society-focused technological ethos counters such harmful tendencies, ensuring innovation serves public benefit rather than private gain.
TEKNOFEST is more than a festival connecting Türkiye’s youth to technology. It is a project instilling a national and collective spirit in the country’s technological vision. Against a global culture of individualistic, profit-focused innovation, TEKNOFEST promotes the “National Technology Initiative,” emphasizing collective benefit and the ideal of full independence. This approach encourages dedication to societal priorities and protects technology from becoming a destructive tool disconnected from social needs. TEKNOFEST thus stands as the most organized initiative reflecting Türkiye’s society-centered approach to technology, rooted in Turkish folk culture.