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Towards a Strategic Research Agenda for the Turkish Construction Sector: Turkish Technology Construction Technology Platform Conference Convenes in Ankara The Turkish Construction Technology Platform (TCTP), which was established on November 2006 with an aim to create a meeting platform for various partners of the Turkish construction sector, to develop short/medium/long term strategies for the sector and to encourage a more efficient use of both national and EU Framework Programme resources in the sector, organized a conference that opens itself to the construction industry partners on 1 June 2007 in Ankara. The conference was hosted by the core founding group of the platform: Turkish Ministry of Public Works and Settlement, Chamber of Architects of Turkey (CAT), Middle East Technical University (METU) and Building Information Centre (YEM) and realized at the meeting hall of the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK) with more than 150 participants. The conference programme included speakers from the core-group. The foreign speakers, besides, were from the European Commission, European Construction Technology Platform (ECTP) and Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE). There were also experts from TUBITAK presenting actual developments about the other platforms in Turkey and the EU Framework Programme opportunities. In the opening speeches, CAT President Bulend Tuna, Building Information Centre Executive Board Chairman Dogan Hasol, TUBITAK Vice President Omer Anlagan, METU Faculty of Architecture Dean Haluk Pamir and Ministry of Public Works and Settlement Undersecretary Sabri Erbakan expressed the strong support of their institutions on the platform initiative and ensured that they will continue to take part in the platform work. They also underlined that the core-group was not sufficient to develop this platform, but the construction industry should be the main pushing factor for the initiative. TCTP Coordinator Tugce Selin Tagmat briefed the participants about the activities and work done by the core-group until that day. After this TCTP introduction, two experts from TUBITAK made their presentations respectively on other platform experiences in Turkey and opportunities for the construction sector in the 7th Framework Programme of the EU.  
In a following session, European Commission DG Research Expert Christophe Lesniak gave a general picture of the framework programmes and the essentials of the platform idea, ACE Senior Adviser Adrian Joyce made comments about how architecture can contribute to the research projects and ECTP Support Group Chairman Jesus Rodriguez made an extensive presentation about current developments regarding the ECTP and parallel programmes that encourage research in the construction sector, with a future perspective. The afternoon session included a panel in which the core-group members presented various perspectives about the status and position of the TCTP in the Turkish construction sector. Building Information Centre Coordinator Baris Onay evaluated the platform initiative from the perspective of the industry; Arzu Gonenc Sorguc from the METU Department of Architecture commented on how universities as research institutions can contribute to practical research in the sector and Bulent Yalazı, Director in the Building Affairs Directorate General of the Ministry of Public Works and Settlement mentioned about an ongoing public initiative to establish a Building Research Institute. Finally, TCTP Coordinator Tugce Selin Tagmat has summed up the comments to draw a general scheme for a future vision of the platform. The firms, institutions and organizations were all invited to contribute to the platform work. 
The conclusions of the panel session were; - The firms, institutions and organizations willing to become members of the platform should have an official meeting in the earliest convenience; - There is a need that the platform conducts an inventory work in order to determine the existing stock of research-development projects and priorities in the sector; - Both with the results of the inventory work and upon the views and comments of sector partners, it is urgently needed to create a strategic research agenda for the sector. For further information about the TCTP: www.tctp.org TURKISH CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM (TCTP) CONFERENCE Organized by Ministry of Public Works and Settlement, Chamber of Architects of Turkey, Middle East Technical University, Building Information Centre Date: 1 June 2007, Friday Venue: Feza Gursey Meeting Hall, Scientific Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) - Ankara
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