The International Digital Competency Workshop was held on June 21, 2022, in Kahramanmaraş Teknokent, within the scope of the "Education 4.0 for Youth" project conducted by Kahramanmaraş Teknokent. KSÜ Vice-Rectors, Prof. Dr. Zekeriya PAK and Prof. Dr. İbrahim Taner OKUMUŞ, Dean of KSU Faculty of Education Prof. Mustafa YAZICI, Dean of KSÜ Faculty of Engineering and Architecture Prof. Dr. Mehmet ÜNSAL, Dean of KSU Faculty of Forestry, Prof. Dr. Hasan SERİN, Director of İstiklal University Türkoğlu Vocational School, Dr. Instructor Mehmet GÖK, Kahramanmaraş Provincial Director of Industry and Technology, Mr. Kadir ÜNSAL, academics from different units of KSU, representatives of Education 4.0 for Youth project partners, teachers, university and high school students attended.
In the workshop, which started with a moment of silence and the singing of the National Anthem, the Kahramanmaraş promotional video was accompanied by the flute of KSÜ Faculty of Fine Arts Faculty Member Dr. Lecturer Ezgi TEKGÜL and Maraş Folk Songs.
After KSÜ Vice-Chancellor Prof. PAK's opening speech on the importance of digitalization, KSÜ Vice-Rector Prof. OKUMUŞ gave a conference as an invited speaker on the digital competence levels of the European Union and Turkey.
After evaluating the research on the digital competency levels of teachers and students, who are the target audience of the project, Prof. OKUMUŞ stated that teachers' digital competencies should be strengthened and students cannot use their digital competencies for problem-solving and productivity.
In the digital competence panel held within the scope of the workshop; Assistant General Managers Assoc. Dr Arif Selim EREN the moderation of, experts from the sector took part. Burak GÜNAL, from Askon Consultancy firm operating in Kahramanmaraş Teknokent, gave information to the participants about the TÜBİTAK TÜSSIDE programs carried out on digital competence in his presentation. Defining digital transformation as “the use of technological solutions to eliminate a problem or a deficiency and the change of workflow, workflow and culture”, GÜNAL made suggestions on how businesses can realize digital transformation.
Harun BİLGİNER from Arıkan Textile, one of the partners of Kahramanmaraş Teknokent Executive Inc., approached the issue of digital competence from the point of view of the private sector and Kahramanmaraş Industry and mentioned the importance of technology and digitalization for the industry. Stating that digitalization is no longer an alternative but a necessity for the solution of problems in production and needs, Bilginer also made sectoral recommendations. Ahmet AKKÖK from Arneca Technology company operating in Kahramanmaraş Teknokent, who took the last floor in the panel, made a presentation on B2B software and digital competencies of businesses. Emphasizing the importance of special software for businesses, AKKÖK stated that businesses should benefit from software in order to survive. The panel ended with questions answered and the speakers' recommendations to students and industry professionals.
In the second session held in the afternoon, project’s partner country presentations were made. Participants from Latvia, Romania, Slovenia, and Greece answered the questions of the participants about their countries and their post-COVID-19 digital competence status in their presentations.
The workshop continued with high school student Batuhan BOYNUEĞRİ's assessment of digital competence and the needs of the education system from the student's perspective. Finally, Nuri Pakdil Science and Art Center English Teacher Cevdet ÜSTÜN introduced the Teacher Information Network platform created by the Ministry of National Education for teachers for online education and examples of its contents.