The entrepreneurship competition within the scope of the "Develop Your City" project, which was held with the theme of "Smart and Sustainable Transportation" under the joint execution of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, Ford Otosan and World Resources Institute Turkey, has concluded. In Alsancak, which was chosen as the pilot region, the teams that develop smart solutions that will contribute to sustainable and nature-friendly transportation came together with the investors at the Demo Day event held in the “Entrepreneurship Center Izmir”.
The "Entrepreneurship Center İzmir", implemented by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality in cooperation with TÜSİAD in order to open up space for entrepreneurs, is giving its first graduates in the 2022 theme of "Smart and Sustainable Transportation". The “Develop Your City” entrepreneurship competition, which was held between April 1 and June 24, under the co-direction of Ford Otosan, K-Works and World Resources Institute (WRI) Turkey, has come to an end. The winners received their awards at the ceremony held in the “Entrepreneurship Center İzmir”. The ceremony was attended by the Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality. Tunç Soyer, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Mustafa Özuslu, Ford Turkey Business Unit Deputy General Manager Özgür Yücetürk, Ford Otosan Smart Mobility Business Development Leader Talha Sağıroğlu, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Secretary General Barış Karcı, ESHOT General Manager Erhan Bey and many entrepreneurs.
With the competition, it was aimed to strengthen İzmir's leadership in innovative transportation solutions with Ford Otosan's vision of Smart Mobility and to implement “Zero Emission Zones”.
“We are working hard for stress-free transportation”
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Mustafa Özuslu, who made a speech before the jury members announced the ranking teams, drew attention to the increasing population in big cities and stated that traditional practices are not enough to solve the problems in transportation. After emphasizing the need for innovative ideas, Mustafa Özuslu said, “As İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, we are working hard to ensure that everyone living in the city does not experience any stress about transportation from the moment they go out on the street to the time they return to their homes. New ideas that will be implemented in the Alsancak region, focusing on the low emission region, are very valuable for us and the industry.”
“We dream of a world where cities are transformed”
Özgür Yücetürk, Ford Turkey Deputy General Manager for Business Unit, stated that it is important to live the future today and said, “When we say live the future today, we are talking about a whole habitat. Our dream is not just limited to electrifying our commercial vehicles. We continue to be a pioneer in smart mobility in our passenger vehicles. While electrifying our vehicles, we also want to offer an integrated solution. We do not only dream of a world in which our own vehicles are transformed, but a world in which cities are transformed. For this reason, we are also investigating all transportation infrastructures, mobility habits and other relevant factors.”
“We wanted to start the project in Izmir”
Ford Otosan Smart Mobility Business Development Leader Talha Sağıroğlu gave information about the project and said, “When we started the project, we received very serious support from İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Transportation Department and Entrepreneurship Center İzmir. We wanted to start our project in İzmir because of İzmir's approach to innovative solutions, modern transportation solutions and environmentalist transportation. The fact that İzmir, as a city, and the Metropolitan Municipality, as an institution, embraced the project once again showed us how right we are in this regard.”
“We are happy to be a part of the project”
WRI Turkey Director Dr. Güneş Cansız joined the program with a video message. Noting that many creative projects have been developed, Cansız said, “Especially in city centers, the basis of reducing emissions and creating environmentally sensitive areas is based on the development of sustainable transportation models. We are happy to be a part of the project and ideas developed on how to provide sustainable transportation in a heavily used region like Alsancak with the Develop Your City competition.
President Soyer gave the award to the first team
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor at the ceremony Tunç Soyergave the award to the Kangaroo team that came first. The Mayna team, which won the second place, received the award from Özgür Yücetürk, Deputy General Manager of Ford Turkey Business Unit, and the Cyboard team, which won the third award, received the third award from Barış Özistek, Member of the Board of Directors of TÜSİAD Boğaziçi Ventures.
Team 3D, which came in fourth place, was awarded by Ford Otosan Innovation and New Initiatives Director- Driventure General Manager Canalp Gündoğdu. Küpiz, who came in fifth, won his award. EGİAD Melekleri Chairman of the Board of Directors Levent Kuşgöz presented the award to the XNUMXth-placed Continueapp team, WRI Senior Manager Dr. It was presented by Çiğdem Çörek Öztaş.
To be implemented as a pilot in the city
55 entrepreneurial teams applied to the "Develop Your City" project competition. As a result of the evaluations, 6 teams were entitled to participate in the program. Top 3 ideas on smart mobility will have the opportunity to make presentations at K-Works (Koç Holding Incubation Center) and Ford Otosan Investment Committee. In addition, the opportunity to benefit from the facilities provided by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Izmir Entrepreneurship Center and a prototype workshop will be offered. Ford Otosan will also support the piloting of the solution developed by the first selected team in the city.
It is aimed to develop innovative business ideas
Entrepreneurship Center İzmir carries out studies aimed at meeting regional and sectoral needs from an entrepreneurial point of view in thematic areas determined every year, taking into account the strategic priorities of the city. The Center, which started the first entrepreneurship program with the theme of "Agriculture" in 2021, determined the theme of 2022 as "Smart and Sustainable Transportation". With the program, it is aimed to implement innovative business ideas and increase the number of initiatives in the sub-sectors of Smart Transportation, Energy Efficiency in Transportation, Transportation and Environment, Urban Logistics, Micro/Shared Mobility, Travel/Passenger Behaviors.
The second program to be held with the theme of "Smart and Sustainable Transportation" will be announced in July. Within the scope of the project, it is aimed to strengthen the local ecosystem and to bring start-ups together with investors.
Entrepreneur candidates who want to be included in the future program of Entrepreneurship Center Izmir can apply from July by obtaining information on the “girisimcilikmerkezi.izmir.bel.tr” website.
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