Technology Development Zones
Technology Development Zones (TDZ) are sites where industry and service sector organizations produce/develop new products, technologies, or software, and where they engage in activities to transform technological knowledge into commercially valuable products or technologies. These zones provide the professional services necessary for R&D and innovation activities, integrating the academic, economic, and social structures that support innovation.
TDZs facilitate sustainable innovation in their regions by bringing together actors involved in the innovation process, ensuring their interaction through geographical proximity. In Turkey, Technology Development Zones established under Law No. 4691 offer various exemptions and supports to entrepreneurs within their structure and provide significant opportunities for collaborations among organizations within the TDZ and university faculty members.
Additionally, TDZs allow organizations to employ university faculty members and students as consultants, researchers, and so on. They operate Technology Transfer Offices to offer entrepreneurs the professional services needed for managing intellectual and industrial property rights, commercialization, marketing, and other innovation activities. They also support the establishment and survival of new enterprises in high technology fields by operating incubators and promoting the creation of innovation networks and clusters among technology-based firms through technology cooperation programs.
Through these features, Technology Development Zones play a vital role in creating an effective innovation ecosystem in their regions.