V E R S I O N :
M A N U A L : 5 . 0 – D E C E M B E R , 2 0 1 3
P R O C E D U R E : 1 . 0 – D E C E M B E R , 2 0 1 3
ANNEX I
INSTRUMENT FOR PRE-ACCESSION ASSISTANCE
HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT COMPONENT
OPERATION IDENTIFICATION SHEET
1. Title and number of the Operation:
Growing and Prospering the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Ankara to Increase Young
Employment
2. Operating Structure:
Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MoLSS)-EU Coordination Department
3. Organisation Responsible for the Implementation of the Operation:
Ankara Development Agency, www.ankaraka.org.tr
4. Compatibility and coherence with the Operational Programme
4.1 Title and number of the Programme: Human Resources Development Operational
Programme - CCI No. 2007TR05IPO001
4.2 Title of the priority axis
PRIORITY AXIS 1: To attract and retain more people in employment, particularly by
increasing labour force participation of women, and decrease unemployment rates, especially
for young people.
4.3 Title of the measure
Measure 1.2: To increase employment of young people.
5. Description of the Operation
5.1 Contribution to the achievement of the Operational Programme:
1
This operation is designed to contribute to achievement of the first priority axis - to attract
and retain more people in employment, particularly by increasing labour force participation of
women, and decrease unemployment rates, especially for young people- of the HRD OP,
where the focus will be on the measure 1.2; to increase the employment of the young people.
As diagnosed in the HRD OP, one of the major challenges of the Turkish economy is youth
unemployment. Facing such a challenge, however, will require a wide range of policies from
training to awareness-raising. As, mentioned in the HRD OP one reason for high youth
unemployment rates is the lack of job opportunities.
This operation’s rational basically stems from the idea of answering the needs and problems
defined in the HRD OP through focusing on the areas where Ankara is the strongest. As
explained in the following parts, the youth unemployment rate in Ankara is higher than the
national average whereas the number of educated young people, which indicates high skilled
labour, in Ankara is a major asset of the city. The problem here is that the local economy
cannot create sufficient job opportunities for this young group. What this operation will do is
to use the entrepreneurship as a means to overcome the problem of youth unemployment. In
order to reach that goal, this operation will train the young people on how they can realize
their business ideas and contribute to and participate in the economy. In that respect, the
operation is designed in line with the first strategic priority of the HRD OP, which generally
aims to attract and retain more people in employment and decrease the unemployment rates
specifically for young people.
This operation will contribute to achieve the following indicators defined in the HRD OP;
 Number of young people who participated in entrepreneurship courses: 6000 (this
operation plans to realize 700 of these 6000 participants)
 Number of young people having benefited from guidance and counselling services,
including career guidance services: 13000 (this operation plans to realize
approximately 6000 of these 13000 young people)
By and large, as one aspect of this operation is to develop the entrepreneurship ecosystem of
Ankara, results of the operation will also serve in reaching the overall objective of the
HRDOP, which is to support the transition to a knowledge-based economy capable of
sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. Ankara
with a more thriving ecosystem will generate fresh ideas of business, especially from young
people, and in the end reach to a more sustainable and productive local economic growth. On
the other hand, the literature and past experiences of human history illustrates that business
environment/ecosystem is an indispensable part of a knowledge based economy.
2
Entrepreneurship eco-system refers to the whole
bunch of groups, stakeholders, regulatory bodies
and external institutions that may affect your
complete business cycle and the overall
environment that either inhibit you towards
entrepreneurial state of mind or discourage and
limits you in the very own conditions. In the
Forbes Magazine it is defined as follows: The
entrepreneurship ecosystem consists of hundreds of
specific elements that, for convenience, we group
into six general domains: a conducive culture,
enabling policies and leadership, availability of
appropriate finance, quality human capital,
venture-friendly markets for products, and a range
of institutional and infrastructural supports.
Besides, this operation is adopting a holistic
approach that will go beyond any direct
financial support that is available for the
entrepreneurs in Turkey. The ecosystem
methodology demands a well-integrated
mutual-relation structure among different
actors that are critical in the business setting
up and flourishing. The stakeholder
arrangement in this operation is also aiming to create a composition that represents different
interest groups from public sector, NGOs and private. There is going to be both from national
institutions as well as the local supportive actors as a stakeholder in the operation. Main
stakeholders of the operation are, KOSGEB, İŞKUR, Middle East Technical University,
Bilkent University, Ankara University, Gazi University, Hacettepe University, TOBB
Economy and Technology University, Çankaya University, Atılım University, Başkent
University, Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Turgut Özal University, TED University, THK
University, İvedik Organized Industrial Zone, ASO 1st Organized Industrial Zone, and
OSTİM Industrial Zone. All of the stakeholders have close institutional relationships with
Ankara Development Agency and they will provide gateways to operation’s target groups.
KOSGEB is an attraction point for entrepreneurs, İŞKUR is a responsible organization for
job-seeking young people, universities are where the students are, and finally, Organized
Industrial Zones are clusters for enterprises. Stakeholders of the operation will facilitate the
accession to these groups that contain the parts of the target groups of the operation. Within
this structure, succession of the operation will bring more sustainable outcomes to Ankara’s
local economy and entrepreneurial ecosystem. To put in a different way, this operation adopts
such an approach that is beyond supplying direct financial support to entrepreneurs, but
instead flourishing mechanisms that will assist much effectively them in the long run.
The target group of the operation is young people since it aims to contribute to growing and
prospering of an entrepreneurship ecosystem and to achieve higher multiplier rates. While
entrepreneurship is one of the most dynamic part and resistance for economic crisis, young
people are the future of a society. Combination of these two key elements is expected to make
significant effect on economic growth, social development and higher quality of life. The
target area, Ankara, is a place where spill-over effect of the operation will be easily spread to
whole country.
5.2 Overall Objective: To increase employment of young people.
5.3 Operation Purpose: To increase young employment rates by growing and prospering the
entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ankara.
3
5.4 Location(s): Ankara
5.5 Duration: 24 Months
5.6 Target group(s):
 Young unemployed people who recently graduated from university
 Young people who are still at school
 Young entrepreneurs, students and unemployed with innovative and techno-enterprise
ideas1

5.7 Description of the Operation and background:
The population of Ankara was 405,000 in 1927. However, it has grown constantly since then
and by the end of 2013 population figure reached to 5.05 million. Ankara is now the second
most crowded city in Turkey, hosting approximately %6.58 of the total population. Level of
urbanization in Ankara is very much above the average in Turkey and Ankara has the second
highest level of urbanization after İstanbul.
Ankara has a very young population. According to TURKSTAT data %56 of the total
population is under 35 years old. Ankara’s population pyramid (Figure 1) indicates that the
majority of the population is concentrated between ages 20 and 40.Proportioned to its total
population, Ankara has the highest number of university or higher degree holders. Around
%15 of the total population have bachelors or post-graduate degrees. The education status of
age groups in Ankara is available in Table 1.
As of 2013, there are around 240,000 students and 18,000 academics in the universities in
Ankara. Ankara also has the highest share in contribution to scientific publications in the
country. 61,458 academic papers have been published, which corresponds to %34.3 of
Turkey. According to TURKSTAT, share of PhD holders in the total population in Ankara is
%0.8 which is just below the world average.
Figure 1: Population pyramid of Ankara, 2012
1
Techno-entrepreneurship is broadly defined as the entrepreneurial and entrepreneurial activities of both
existing and nascent companies operating in technology-intensive environments. Thérin, F., 2014. Handbook Of
Research On Techno-Entrepreneurship.
4
Source: TURKSTAT, 2012
Table1: Education Status of Age Groups in Ankara, %
Age Groups
Gender
Percentage of University or Higher Degree
Holders
'18-21'
Men
2.39 %
Women
2.87 %
Men
20.30 %
Women
25.01 %
Men
30.33 %
Women
30.69 %
'22-24'
'25-29'
Source: TURKSTAT, 2012
5
With 21 universities, Ankara is the second province with highest number of universities. Most
of those are among the Turkey’s best schools. Moreover, Ankara has a strong infrastructure
for Research and Development (R&D) as well as innovation and information technologies.
There are 34 active techno-parks in Turkey to produce and disseminate technology to other
sectors. 5 of these techno parks are located in Ankara which makes it the most powerful
province in this respect. There are 64 R&D centres approved by the Ministry of Science,
Industry and Technology. 14 of these approved centres are located in Ankara, which makes it
the second most powerful province in this respect. In addition to those, Ankara has wellestablished industrial zones, strong sector clusters, international agencies and civil society
organizations. As a result it has a huge economic, social, human, and intellectual capital.
Despite the well-developed physical infrastructure and human resources as described above,
youth unemployment rates in Ankara are still quite high relative to many developed
economies. That indeed means labour market is insufficient to create skill demanding jobs
for the qualified labour force of the city. This operation intends to fill this major gap between
the employment market and existing human resources. Based on the locally available
resources and values, in this case which is qualified labour force, networking opportunities,
possibilities of research and development, a big local market and many others, it is going to
build bundle of opportunities to create self-employment for the youth and recent graduates. In
other words, by fully exploiting the existing opportunities of Ankara, fostering
entrepreneurship will bridge a gap between the youth unemployment and the strengths of
Ankara.
High levels of youth unemployment rate are one of the major problems in Turkey.
TURKSTAT figures in 2012 show that youth unemployment rate in Turkey is %17.5 whereas
this number in Ankara is even higher that of %22.8. The unemployment rates of the young
population by gender and years in Ankara are available at Table 2. In developed countries like
Germany, Holland and Austria, this figure is %8.6, %7.6 and %8.3 respectively.
Table 2: Unemployment Rates of the Young Population in Ankara, %
Years
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Men (15-24)
27.8 %
22.8 %
20.1 %
20.9 %
19.6 %
27.6 %
21.3 %
Women (15-24)
46.6 %
39.9 %
37.8 %
42.8 %
36.1 %
31.0 %
36.1 %
6
2011
2012
Source: TURKSTAT, 2014
19.7 %
18.4 %
29.3 %
31.2 %
Entrepreneurship and self-employment; meaning who work for himself or herself instead of
working for an employer that pays a salary or a wage, is very crucial for creating jobs,
developing skills, and giving unemployed and disadvantaged people an opportunity to fully
participate in the society and the economy. In this direction, Europe 2020 strategy also
recognises entrepreneurship and self-employment as a key for achieving smart, sustainable,
and inclusive growth.2 According to the figures from TURKSTAT, percentage of the selfemployed people in Ankara is %17, which is 8 points below the Turkey’s average of %25,
meaning there is still need for entrepreneurship and self-employment related initiatives in
Ankara.
Entrepreneurship is one of the most prominent drivers of the growth and wealth in the modern
global economy. As stated in the OECD’s Measuring Entrepreneurship 3 (2009) study, it is
widely viewed as a key aspect of economic dynamism. Turkey, although having quite decent
figures in economic performances, still lacks much in fostering the dynamism in
entrepreneurship. Ankara; on the other hand, even falls behind the Turkish average despite its
qualified human capital.
Gürsoy4 (2011) underlines the reason of not having a strong entrepreneurship ecosystem as
the lack of coordination and common policy among public institutions, and even most
crucially insufficient public awareness and lack of entrepreneurship trainings. Ankara’s
economy lacks a mature entrepreneurship ecosystem.
As have been described, in many terms Ankara has necessary assets to establish a strong local
economy but some of these assets are not directed towards city’s economy yet. Human capital
might be considered in that group, as Labour Market Analysis study of İŞKUR states that
there is an out-going flow of human capital in Ankara and promoting entrepreneurship among
this group will be one way to diminish this tendency.
This operation is going to envisage entrepreneurship as a tool to improve the employability of
unemployed target groups. Promoting entrepreneurship is critical in covering the goals
mentioned in Guidelines for Cohesion Policy as well.
2
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=952&langId=en
3
http://www.oecd.org/industry/business-stats/41664409.pdf
4
Gürsoy, M. (2011).Problems in vocational education and training, solution suggestions, importance of education employment relations, and
entrepreneurship. Education Sub Committee Report presented to Development Council.
7
Based on the reasoning stated above, to grow and prosper the entrepreneurship ecosystem in
Ankara, there are critical interventions to be done. First of all, although know-how, technical
background of people and physical settlements are sufficient; business and entrepreneurial
oriented minds should be promoted. Then, comprehensive, intense and well organized
entrepreneurship training should be available to all who are interested. The need for qualified
entrepreneurship trainers who could educate the young entrepreneurs is also critical. Besides,
entrepreneurs need mentors to guide them through their establishment phase with his/her
knowledge, experience, and network. At last, the whole ecosystem in Ankara must be
assessed to define the gaps in the system. After all of these mentioned activities, it is highly
expected to have a direct effect on the building blocks of entrepreneurship ecosystem in
Ankara. This is one point where this operation will be the most effective. Under these
conditions, generating more entrepreneurs will be critical both in ensuring a prosperous
economy for Ankara region and decreasing young unemployment rates.
The national/sectoral and regional policy documents in Turkey also emphasize the importance
of growing and prospering the entrepreneurial ecosystem to increase economic development
which will result in increasing employment rates in Turkey and in Ankara. Such as promoting
entrepreneurship is a very critical topic in the recent national, regional, and sectoral policies.
To begin with, 10th Development Plan, the main national strategy document, under the
heading of “Innovative Production, Consistent High Growth” policies specific strategies for
“Entrepreneurship and SMEs” title are determined. In order to empower the entrepreneurship
culture, it is aimed to increase the entrepreneurship oriented training programs in every level
of education and to encourage introducing and rewarding of entrepreneurial role models. The
document also emphasizes the importance of enhancing the entrepreneurial ecosystem by
supporting institutional and cooperation capacity of organizations that work on improving the
ecosystem. Incubation, business development centres, and accelerators are also aimed to
increase both in number and quality. Thus the plan embraces entrepreneurship as a crucial
component for enhancing innovation in production, which results consistent development
together with increased employment rates. This operation similarly, aims to hamper the
pressures on the labour market through empowering the current conditions in the
entrepreneurship environment. Therefore, operation, in Ankara context, serves as a tool to
contribute to 10th Development Plan’s “Innovative Production, Consistent High Growth”
objectives.
Another national policy document regarding the development of entrepreneurship is the
“SME Strategy and Action Plan” prepared by Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology.
In this plan, Developing and Supporting Entrepreneurship is defined as one of the strategic
fields. Under this strategic area there are three main goals, two of which is directly related
with this operation’s goals indeed;
8
 Enhancing the entrepreneurship environment by diffusing the culture of
entrepreneurship to all groups of society ,
 Providing consultancy and training services, physical space and office support for the
new entrepreneurs to give them hand for their growth.
Under the scope of these goals, plan defines some strategies that address possible ways to
reach the goals and some of which are; to provide mentoring services to entrepreneurs,
organizing entrepreneurship competitions and integrating entrepreneurship to education
curriculum. From the point of view of SME plan, this operation fits in a gap that lies between
strategy and action. Proposed activities in the operation exactly composed of what is defined
in the strategy. In the end there happens to be a strong relation between the operation and the
SME strategy and action plan.
Last but not least, in the Regional Plan of Ankara which was prepared with (or by) the
guidance of Ankara Development Agency, developing entrepreneurship is again a highlighted
topic. Ankara Regional Plan is a strategy, coordination and guidance document formulating
the road map for development in Ankara. As a product of the consensus reached by all
stakeholders in the region, the Regional Plan represents the collective mind created by the
region for the future. In the Regional Plan, in order to achieve and sustain a competitive
labour market in Ankara with stable growth through employment strategic goal 1 is defined as
follows; diversifying areas of employment, ensuring active participation into labour force and
minimising unemployment. As observed in the plan, 3rd goal of this strategy is to strengthen
entrepreneurship capacity with objectives such as
 Entrepreneurship culture will be enhanced in dynamic and skilled labour force,
 Diversity and effectiveness of the efforts to disseminate entrepreneurship will be
improved.
As parallel to this operation, fostering entrepreneurship is evaluated in the regional plan as a
way to tackle with unemployment problem and creating more jobs. As already mentioned
above, this operation will play a critical role in delivering practice of the strategies.
The need is also defined by upper level policy papers produced by BTYK (Turkish
abbreviation for the Higher Council of Science, Technology and Innovation). In these papers,
entrepreneurship has been defined as one of the key factors that must be supported to
accelerate the economic development. The reason why it is seen as a key factor is because
there is a high unused potential about entrepreneurship. If the potential is revealed, the
ecosystem will be very dynamic, as all other important institutions believe. The proposed
operation is expected to complement numerous support programs that already exist for
entrepreneurs in Turkey. The foremost ones are “Techno-initiative Capital Support Program”
9
by the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology (MoSIT), “1512 Entrepreneurship
Gradual Support Program” by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey
(TUBITAK) and “Entrepreneurship Support Program” by Small and Medium Enterprises
Development Organization (KOSGEB). MoSIT supports only new graduates (people within 5
years of graduation) and focuses on technology based innovative product development. The
support is a one-time up-front payment of up to 100.000 Turkish Liras (50.000 USD
approximately) which is not backed up with counseling or any mentoring service accordingly
for better success rate and sustainability. Therefore it lacks monitoring and evaluation and
sustainability of the support. On the other side, TUBITAK focuses more on enterprises that
base their businesses on R&D activities and the program does not specifically aim young
entrepreneurs. The Entrepreneurship Support Program by KOSGEB prerequisites a 70-hourtraining-program which covers business plan development in the view of preparation of
funding application documents to KOSGEB. There is a one-time up-front payment of 30.000
Turkish Liras (15.000 USD approximately) and does not cover any mentoring following
service support. It is obvious that there are significant capital supports to entrepreneurs by the
government however they mostly lack follow-ups after financial support for better
sustainability and better commercial achievements. This operational proposal aims to fulfil
this gap on young entrepreneurs.
One of the most important operations funded by EU under IPA is “Promoting Youth
Employment”. The Operation Beneficiary was İŞKUR and the scope of the operation covers
important support for young entrepreneurs, known as YES model. YES program provides
coordination among all relevant stakeholders supporting young entrepreneurship. It is also a
strategy for changing potential young entrepreneurs to real entrepreneurs in Turkey and for
removing any barriers to start-ups. There have been many crucial improvements with YES
model. The online training module, step by step business establishment guidance and other
onsite activities created a major step forward. YES model also proposed a syllabus of
entrepreneurship training program. Growing and Prospering the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem
in Ankara to Increase Young Employment operation aims to focus on mid and high value
added development at the region. Therefore, the program targets young people with
innovative business ideas and also young people with science and technology based business
ideas. Nevertheless, although focus points are different, progress made in YES model will
constitute a baseline for this operation. As also mentioned below, this operation will start with
the review of the previous studies, such as YES model, in order to avoid duplications in
activities and identify the points that can be useful for the operation. For instance, instead of
starting from zero, the online training module will benefit from the YES model’s online
training module. Only point YES model lacks according to the field study in the first activity
will be further developed in the operation.
10
In short, both in national and local development plans and sectoral action plans,
entrepreneurship has always been a prioritised issue to ensure a more prosperous economy. In
that sense, as aiming to develop entrepreneurial ecosystem in Ankara, this operation will
serve well both to realize national goals and to meet the local needs of Ankara.
Another relative competitive advantage of Ankara is the scientific research infrastructure.
Having few of the most prestigious universities in Turkey, city has considerable amount of
scientific researches made each year. Nevertheless commercialization ratio of the scientific
inventions is relatively low compared to the advanced economies. In order to canalize the
scientific research agenda of the city into local economy, technology commercialization plays
a major role. Engineers are well equipped with the technical knowledge combined with the
experts of financial markets, which yields with the sophisticated economic outputs as well as
qualified employment opportunities. This is why one of the most prominent components of
this operation is technology commercialization program.
Finally, one of the most important outcomes of the operation will be the establishment of
Ankara Entrepreneurship Development Centre. This centre will act as an incubation centre for
the young entrepreneurs and techno-entrepreneurs. Therefore, centre should be furnished and
equipped with the necessary equipment and technology infrastructure. In order to serve well
for the entrepreneurs, there has to be a standard office place for each and basic electronic
services such as, internet connection, web server, or laptops and desktops.
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5.8. Results with measurable indicators:
Result 1: Entrepreneurial eco-system in Ankara has been improved.
Result 2: Ankara Entrepreneurship Development Centre has been established
5.9 Activities:
Result 1: Entrepreneurial eco-system in Ankara has been improved.
Activity 1.1 Review of current entrepreneurship eco-system and of studies on
entrepreneurship
In order to grow and prosper the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ankara, analysing and
investigating the structure, deficiencies, entry barriers and necessities of the current ecosystem plays an important role and it should take place at the beginning of the operation. The
analysis will be conducted by using techniques such as literature review, surveys, face to face
meetings, focus groups, and other suitable techniques and methods.
1.1.1. Focus group meetings, surveys, face to face meetings, field survey and questionnaires.
will be organized for strengthening the empirical base of the activity.
1.1.1.1.
Organizing and conducting the focus group meetings, surveys, face to face
meetings
1.1.1.2.
Organizing and conducting the field survey and questionnaires
1.1.1.2.1. Academicians and experts will discuss the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ankara
with students, start-up owners, finance providers, and other interest groups. With
this activity it is aimed to identify the major weaknesses in the ecosystem and also
what else should be planned at the post-implementation phase.
1.1.2. In addition to analysing and reviewing both the internal and external conditions of the
current ecosystem of entrepreneurship in Ankara, it is also aimed to make a review of
the previous operations and projects of the other institutions so that any possible
duplication will be avoided. Still on the other hand, the outputs of the previous
experiences will be studied in detail to take any further contribution of the outputs for
this operation. To illustrate, entrepreneurship development syllabus developed in the
YES model of the İŞKUR will be quite useful in this operation. Review of current
entrepreneurship eco-system will provide guidance both to the operation and to the
12
region by defining the structure of the current eco-system with its downsides and
requirements. The report to be prepared will target the points for improvement in
entrepreneurship.
1.1.3. After clarifying the weakness and the outputs of the questionnaire, syllabus of the
YES model will be studied if further requirements and development are needed.
According to gaps in the YES model syllabus, complementary improvements will be
made in the final version of the syllabus. Hence, YES model syllabus will constitute a
baseline for the syllabus to be developed in this operation.
Activity 1.2 Awareness raising on entrepreneurship
With this activity, it is aimed to raise awareness about how entrepreneurship promotes local
development in Ankara, how it contributes to achieving national goals, and how young
employment rates increases through entrepreneurship activities.
1.2.1. Compact, smart designed leaflets will be prepared in this activity in order to raise
awareness on entrepreneurship, specifically on young people in universities and of the
operation. In addition to leaflets any further tool such as short movies, seminars, billboard
advertisement, leaflets in the local newspapers etc. will be designed and used so that it is
planned to attract the attention of the national and local media to the operation and its
potential benefits.
1.2.2. During the operation, 1 awareness raising seminar will be organized in each
university that will host young entrepreneurship development program.
1.2.3. Entrepreneurship web portal will be the main digital hub of the operation. In addition
to broadcasting training materials, the portal will be designed as a tool for dissemination. The
portal will also serve as an application platform to all of the training and other activities. It is
planned as a web portal rather than a web site so that it is expected to be an interactive and
dynamic platform where entrepreneurs, organizations, mentors and administrators can
manage or utilize different services and tasks. The current web site of İŞKUR for
entrepreneurship (www.gencistihdami.net) is limited to news, announcements and guidelines
for business establishment, business plan preparation and marketing plan. The proposed portal
will serve as an online learning management platform where event organizations, document
sharing, user accounts in different access levels can be added in addition to above. It will
allow applicant entrepreneurs to submit their project proposals online and will allow mentors
evaluate these proposals as well.
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1.2.4. An opening and closing conference will be organized in order to increase the awareness
about the operation as well as disseminating the outcomes that will be reached through the
activities under the operation
Activity 1.3 Establishment of mentor pool
In order to meet the needs of the current and potential entrepreneurs, the entrepreneurship
ecosystem needs qualified mentoring services. Most of the start-up companies can be guided
by experienced people in business. As mentorship is a very crucial service for
entrepreneurship, quality of the mentors is also a key factor that directly leads start-ups to
success or failure.
1.3.1. In this respect, current experienced businesspeople could be tutored as mentors,
because being experienced is not enough for mentorship. Mentors must have the necessary
skills, abilities and background to mentor the start-ups. This operation will provide this
opportunity for the ecosystem and mentoring-the-mentors becomes an essential activity of the
operation. Although the operation will last only for 24 months, the mentors will guide
entrepreneurs for a much longer period.
For the determination and selection of the mentors that will participate in the program, a
“mentor pool” will be formed in project’s website. The pool will be announced and advertised
widely in order to increase the applications.5
Mentors normally are high profile people and engaging them to continuous long term
activities such as systematic trainings can be hard to schedule. However, mentors are not
expected to continually and uninterruptedly attend training or mentoring activities. They will
off and on visit the entrepreneurs on prescheduled dates and advice entrepreneurs and monitor
their progress. Stakeholders of this operation such as Organized Industrial Zones and
universities have already their own business environment or connections to mentor networks.
These connections will be utilized for a sustainable mentor accession. On the other hand,
mentors, most of the time are investors themselves and look for profitable investment
TÜBİTAK’s 1601-“Increasing Capacity in Field of Innovation and Entrepreneurship” Support Program aims
to create a mentorship ecosystem in TURKEY. Program’s first outputs are expected to be observed in 2014,
trained mentors of the program will mentor SME’s in many different business fields. Thus TÜBİTAK’s 1601
program will initiate a mentor pool first, which will also be important for the operation program too. Mentors
that served in TUBİTAK’s 1601 program will be preferred to be included in the operation’s “mentor pool”.
Some of these mentors can also take part as trainers for the mentorship education in the program. Mentor
selection from the pool will be made throughout a “mentor selection criteria set” which includes certain criteria
on private sector experience, financial knowledge, university graduation etc. As it is mentioned before, mentors
that participated successfully on TUBİTAK’s 1601 program can directly be accepted as mentors in the operation
program based on their area of expertise.
14
5
opportunities. The operation in this sense is expected to be a mentor attraction point which
will support mentor attention to the operation.
1.3.2 Formed group of mentors will be periodically provided guidance sessions through
informative meetings and seminars. In these meetings and seminars, group of
mentors/potential mentors will be gathered to exchange of experience and transfer of
knowledge.
1.3.3 A mentor database will be prepared to that will play as a tool for ensuring a sustainable
communication and cooperation among the mentors and other relevant institutions
Activity 1.4 Implementation of Young Entrepreneurship Development Program
In order to equip the young entrepreneur candidates with the necessary capabilities that will
foster a competitive and innovative entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ankara, extent their ability
to start their own businesses, and in overall increase the young employment, the operation
will realize the young entrepreneur development program. Target groups for this program are;
recent graduates from the universities, those who are still in the university but eager to set up
their own business, young people with innovative business ideas and with technology based
innovative mind-sets. Women participation will be kept at least %35 of all participants.
First of all according to the feedback of the first activity and outcomes of the previous
operations, most suitable syllabus will be prepared for the needs of the candidates.
1.4.1 Trainee selection: Prior to each session, a talent-scan/questionnaire will be conducted in
each university. With this study, it is aimed to understand the profile and case specific needs
of the target groups. Incorporating the review of current entrepreneurship eco-system and of
studies on entrepreneurship and the findings of the talent study, the young entrepreneur
development program will be fine-tuned. Also, when applicable, this study will be utilized to
select the group of young people who will benefit from the program the most.
1.4.2 With the intention of reaching greatest variety of young people profile and making this
program available to different parts of the community, the program will be organized in
various universities.
In this activity, the number of participant for each session will be 50 young people. Each
session of the young entrepreneur development program is planned to entail minimum 80 and
maximum 100 hours of training. The training will be given in universities, Ankara
Development Agency and Ankara Entrepreneurship Development Centre premises which be
established as a part of Operation. Each student participated in this program will be awarded
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with KOSGEB certificate of entrepreneurship.6 Within the scope of this program, a wellorganized and comprehensive entrepreneurship capability toolbox will be provided to the
participants. Among those, there are business plan preparation, conceptual design, technical
and economic feasibility, proof of concept, commercialization business plan preparation and
access to finance. The content of the toolbox/syllabus may vary in groups according to the
type and requirements of the business idea such as service oriented or product related.
1.4.3. Online training module will be designed in order to make the participants able to follow
their progress via web portal so as to ensure easier access to information in a transparent
manner.
Activity 1.5. Implementation of Young Entrepreneurs’ Technology Commercialization
Program
The aim of the program is to utilize the academic potential of Ankara which has many higher
education units and research institutes. The science and research developed in the academic
institutions need to be transformed into value by means of technology commercialization.
This transformation is expected to be initiated by entrepreneurship programs and by
encouraging young scientists, %35 of whom are expected to be chosen from women
candidates to commercialize their scientific findings.
In this context, following are targeted:
 Implementing virtual and hands-on training to build the capacity on reserving and
registering IPR (Intellectual Property Rights)
 Establishing, coordinating, and implementing virtual and hands-on training to build
technology commercialization skills and abilities Developing institutional capacity to
amplify and sustain technology commercialization efforts
 Creating activities for participants to apply knowledge gained to real world challenges
such as building a bridge between young scientists and business environment
 Identifying access opportunities for participants to both scientific and community
groups and to financial resources.
 Building a cohort of scientists for the purposes of mentorship and collaboration
In order to cover all of the activities listed above, the program should have the following
activities to be executed respectively.
6
Ankara Development Agency, as the Operation Beneficiary, has a protocol with KOSGEB to organize training
programs and for official certification.
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The trainings within the Technology Commercialization Program will be given both
theoretically and applied. The participants will receive the required theoretical background
and then they will apply the gained knowledge to their projects. For example, they would
interact with real customers or they would send their business proposals to real customers or
related business people. Also they may start a marketing campaign of their own. Therefore,
the training is an applied training rather than a theoretical slide presentation or fictional
example investigation. All parts will include relevant case studies and also hands-on
applications to their own business ideas.
The trainings are expected to cover the topics indicated below:
 Technology description (definition, market potential and size, focus, competition,
barriers, features and benefits, market entry, mitigation and dissemination strategies)
 Technology assessment (market readiness, market research techniques)
 Value proposition for the technology (Explanation of value added to customers)
 Marketing
 IPR, patent and licensing, negotiations
 Technology valuation
 Developing a commercialization plan (business plan, revenue model, etc.)
 Preparing a brief outline of the invention
 Pitching
 Access to financial resources
Each training program is expected to be finalized in around 12 classes. As a result of the
whole activity 10 out of 40 inventions are expected to be commercialized. A program syllabus
will be prepared scheduling the mentioned topics.
1.5.1 Definition and listing of potential participants
An announcement along with a call for applications will be prepared and sent out to contact
list of institutions and individuals. An online application form will also be placed on the web.
Accordingly, applications will be evaluated and eligible ones will be invited to the program.
Scientists, researchers, start-up companies and R&D authorities from SMEs are the potential
participants. Technology transfer specialists and related non-profit or governmental support
staff will also be invited. A total of 40 scientific ideas with participation of 160 people will be
selected from all applications.
1.5.2 Execution of training activities
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The trainings within the Technology Commercialization Program will be given both
theoretically and applied. The participants will be expected to provide homework assignment
submissions and do some real life hands on applications on their business development.
Having equipped with the necessary capabilities and knowledge on how to commercialize the
scientific products, teams will be encouraged to set up their firms in strong contacts with the
necessary financial resources that is either state funding mechanisms or private investors. In
the end, economic value and employment will be created.
Activity 1.6. Implementation of Mentoring and Consultancy Services
Including the 3 winning teams of the competition and the 10 commercialized projects of the
technology commercialization program, the young entrepreneurs who participated in this
operation and who have a solid business idea or a start-up company at the beginning stage
will be supported by the mentoring and consultancy services provided by the technical
assistance team. This mentoring and consultancy service may include but are not limited to
sales and marketing strategies, branding, market penetration, customer loyalty creation,
financial management, accessing the financial sources, opening up to international markets,
connecting to international networks and case dependent needs.
With this activity, the road to success for the whole process starting from idea creation to
product commercialization will be supported and covered by the operation. By doing so,
results of the operation will extend beyond the project time and the city will earn a critical
tool to enhance the ecosystem.
1.6.1 Mentoring the Young Entrepreneurship Development Program participants
A training program itself may not be sufficient enough to develop entrepreneurial skills to the
participants. Therefore, once the entrepreneurs start to work for realizing their projects or start
their companies up, mentors will be there to transfer experience and solid knowledge for
many aspects of entrepreneurships such as market penetration, business development,
marketing, budgeting, pricing, advertising, etc. There will be at least two entrepreneurs
assigned to each mentor.
1.6.2 Mentoring the Young Entrepreneurs’ Technology Commercialization Program
participants
A training program itself may not be sufficient enough to commercialize a technology. Once
the entrepreneurs start to work for commercializing their technology based innovations or
start their companies up, mentors will be there to transfer experience and solid knowledge for
many aspects of commercialization such as intellectual property rights, licensing, agreements,
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deal making, negotiations, market penetration, business development, marketing, budgeting,
pricing, advertising, etc.
Activity 1.7 Implementation of Training of Trainers Program
With the aim of creating an effective and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem, a better
delivery of qualified trainings will be of great importance in attaining the goals of the
operation. However, the quality and the context of this training play an important role to make
sure that those trainers will be employed in the ecosystems to provide the greatest value.
These trainers could tutor the entrepreneurs during the operation and for a much longer period
after the operation. Thus, although the operation will have a limited time span, the number of
young people who participated in entrepreneurship courses is expected to exceed 700 in the
future. The trainers obtained as the achievements of this program will provide training and
consultancy to those young people and to the new ones thereafter upon the completion of the
operation.
1.7.1 Preparation of program syllabus
Accounting for the needs of the entrepreneurship eco-system, a suitable program syllabus will
be prepared in the view of sustainable training activities in the future. The capabilities and
skills to be acquired here are to be internationally certified. These are accredited certifications
such as Certified Business Analyst Professional, Competent Business Analyst, Project
Management Professional, Program Management Professional, Internal Auditor, International
Investment Analyst, Risk Management Professional, Due Diligence Professional, Sales and
Marketing Professional.
1.7.2 Trainer candidate selection
Training program applications will be announced and gathered electronically from the
operation’s web site.
The staff of Ankara Development Agency is indeed already qualified in project management
and the fields of entrepreneurship. The staff also has considerable academic and practical
qualifications which will serve the sustainability and the future of the operation related to
trainings and counselling. Of the operational capability of Ankara Development Agency;
currently 28 experts are working in the operational units where 6 of 28 are either unit manager
or coordinator. Each expert working in the agency has a full command of English and in
addition some second/third languages are spoken as well. For the moment, 21 of the staff
have masters or PhD degree with considerable time spent in abroad. In terms of professional
experience all staff has experience of project management, tendering processes and fund
management ranging from 5 years to 15. Specific trainings for the Ankara Development
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Agency staff within the context of this operation are expected to be beneficial for efficiency
of the operation activities and for ensuring the sustainability of the structures to be established
under the operation, such as the Ankara Entrepreneurship Development Centre.
1.7.3 Organization and execution of training activities
1.7.3.1. The organizational activities for the trainings will be conducted.
1.7.3.2. The training program, which will last approximately 50 hours, will be conducted.
Training program will be executed three times within the time span of the operation, with a
total of 80 participants. At the end of the operation, it is aimed that 40 trainers from nonAgency applications and 40 experts of the Ankara Development Agency will be certified with
internationally recognized certifications.
These certifications are internationally recognized and prestigious. These certification
processes normally go through an unbiased international examination for all candidates like
PMP or TOEFL exams. Under this activity, applicants will be trained according to the
curriculum of the exams and will apply for the exams, where the successful candidates will be
rewarded with the certification.
The certifications will stand as solid results of the success of the operation. International
certification is almost the only way to prove the effectiveness of the training received. The
certified trainers will therefore make contribution to the development and improvement of
Ankara entrepreneurship eco-system. As a result, the region will gain the ability to embed
certified trainers locally, and at the same time maintain their international validity.
International validity serves as a bridge between Ankara and the rest of the world in the view
of internationalization of the start-up companies. Internationalization is an indispensable asset
for the start-ups in order to sustain their competitiveness in the market and employment
creation capacity.
Above all and most crucially, sustainability of the generative entrepreneurship eco-system
will demand uninterrupted inbreeding of trainers. As only the certified trainers can be the
reference point to recruit new future trainers, above mentioned certifications are compulsory
for the success of the operation. They will not only be the indication of high quality trainings
but also a requirement for the self-sustainability of the operation.
1.7.4 Investor and customer meetings
Throughout the operation there will be two investor and customer meetings with
entrepreneurs will be organized. Participants will be selected among successful entrepreneurs
of training and commercialization programs.
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Activity 1.8. Organising Entrepreneurship Competition
After the completion of the young entrepreneur development program, in order to motivate
and reward the participant as giving them a chance to internationalize their perspectives and
meet foreign investors, an entrepreneurship competition will be realized with a prize of
participation to an international camp. By doing so, young entrepreneur development program
graduates will be provided with an opportunity to present their ideas to professionals and
setting up networks. During the event, entrepreneurs will also have the opportunity to make
future meeting appointments with potential investors for possible deals, contract agreements
and procurement or service commitments. In the case that such a deal signed or follow-up
meeting organized, it will provide a great contribution to the survival of the entrepreneur and
of his/her potential employees and to the sustainability of their companies. The competition
will be open to whole public as well, so that the dissemination of the operation will broaden
even more. At the end, an award ceremony event will be organized in order to announce the
results of the competition and let the entrepreneurs present their ideas to investors and
professionals.
The potential entrepreneurs will be selected on the basis of various criteria; among all,
potential for being commercialized and creating employment potentials for the young people.
The academicians, mentors and investors will be involved in the selection process as the
members of the selection board.
1.8.1 Event organization (organizing the competition)
Organizing the event covers the preparation of the announcements, declarations on the web
and other media, sending out the invitations to the candidate entrepreneurs, arrangements of
the venue and supplements. Candidate entrepreneurs will be trained for their pitching prior to
the event.
1.8.2 International entrepreneurship site visit
The top 3 competitor groups of the competition will be awarded to attend an international
apprenticeship camp. One Agency representative will accompany each group at the event. In
this camp, the participants will have the opportunity to experience a successful
entrepreneurial environment and learn from individual lessons as well as being a part of
international networks. This program will take place in an incubation or accelerator centre7.
As the benefit of this activity, start-ups will be more inclined to open up to international
markets that will create a momentum for the companies and for the whole ecosystem in the
long-run.
7
An example of which can be found on the link; http://harborec.com/business-accelerator-program/
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The camp is an intensive program in technology entrepreneurship in the sciences,
engineering, and other innovative fields. Participants of the camp will work with case
analyses, lectures, expert panels, and exercises in market assessments. They will learn to
imagine, create, and assess opportunities using multiple lenses; develop resources for an
organization by forming teams and seeking funding; and use accounting and finance as
language and assessment tools. Participants are expected to use practical tools, deepen their
conceptual ability to explore fundamental links between technology and business, and
broaden their factual knowledge about technology strategy and entrepreneurship.
1.8.3. Award Ceremony
An Award Ceremony will be organized in order to announce the results of the competition
and let the entrepreneurs present their ideas to investors and professionals. Ceremony will
also serve to the sustainability of the operation. In addition, it will attract the attention of the
potential investors.
Result 2: Ankara Entrepreneurship Development Centre has been established
In order to realize the activities in the operation and maintain the sustainability of them,
Entrepreneurship Development Centre will be established as an official Unit of Ankara
Development Agency. Expertise, business connections, trainings, mentorship and incubation
services will be provided for the young entrepreneurs through establishment of Ankara
Entrepreneurship Development Centre.
Activity 2.1 Physical settlement of Ankara Entrepreneurship Development Centre
A physical office environment will be provided by Ankara Development Agency. This
activity covers the allocation and preparation of the necessary office spaces. In accordance
with the information and guidance requirements of the potential entrepreneurs who will
benefit from this Centre, information technology equipment such as servers, network
infrastructure, advanced software products for design and software development will be
supplied. In addition, standard office equipment will also be required to furnish the offices.
Entrepreneurs will be provided by physical office spaces that will be located in Ankara
Development Agency facilities. For the first two rounds of enrolment, up to 10 entrepreneurs
will be accepted to the centre. The duration of this hosting service will be at most 1 year for
each entrepreneur. This centre will be an official unit of Ankara Development Agency. A
coordinating support services unit will be established at the centre. This unit will be
responsible for the management of the centre and its support services. There will be a
coordinator and support staff for clerical and office services. Technical Assistance Team will
22
be ready to mentor and help entrepreneurs with their real life situations and needs for
commercialization and business development. The team will also be a role model for the
future staff from Ankara Development Agency and will provide the future trainers with
consultancy. The team will also include members from certified trainers obtained as the
achievements of the training-of-trainers program. Therefore, the operation will support its
self-sustainability.
Activity 2.2 Capacity Building of the Ankara Development Agency/Ankara
Entrepreneurship Development Centre Staff
2.2.1 A study visit will be realized in order to improve the Ankara Development
Agency/Ankara Entrepreneurship Development Centre staff’s capacity and service quality in
the light of international best practices about entrepreneurship. The gathered information and
expertise via the study visit will be used in the process of institutional development of the
Ankara Entrepreneurship Development Centre as well as realization of other operation
activities. It is envisaged to organize the study visit with the participation of 10 persons.
Therefore 10 persons will have the chance to experience an international example of
entrepreneurship development centre. The positive outcomes of this visit will be most
influential for the future positioning of the development centre. The participants that would
see international examples will have the opportunity to transfer the methods of better delivery
of guidance services to young entrepreneur to Ankara Entrepreneurship Development Centre.
In addition, study visit will enable centre’s staff, which will be composed of Ankara
Development Agency’s personnel, to broaden the visions on entrepreneurship.
6. Implementation arrangements
6.1 Institutional framework:
The overall management of the Operation will be carried out by the following structures:
 Contracting Authority (CA)
 Operation Beneficiary (OB),
 Senior Representative of the Operation Beneficiary (SROB),
 Operation Coordination Unit (OCU).
This operation will be implemented under the Human Resources Development Operational
Programme (HRD OP) which is managed by Ministry of Labour and Social Security
(MoLSS) as the Operating Structure (OS) which also fulfils tendering and contracting tasks as
the HRD Contracting Authority. The OS will be represented by Deputy Undersecretary of
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MoLSS as the Head of Operating Structure while the CA will be represented by the Head of
EU Coordination Department.
Contracting Authority: The CA will be responsible for tendering, technical and financial
management of contracts under the operation. It ensures that all the documents, reports
submitted by contractors are duly checked /controlled/ read/ approved by the OB which
cooperates with the CA in managing the operation and any other aspects with relevance to the
implementation of the Operation.
Operation Beneficiary: Ankara Development Agency as the operation beneficiary will be
responsible for the implementation of this operation. To that end, Ankara Development
Agency will assign a high level manager who will act as SROB that will be the official
representative of the OB. OB will establish an OCU which is the responsible body for
supervision of implementation of the operation.
Senior Representative of the Operation Beneficiary: The operation will be implemented under
the authority of the SROB on the side of beneficiary. The SROB will act as the formal
representative of the Ankara Development Agency and will assume ultimate responsibility for
the successful implementation of the operation against the OS. He/she cooperates with the
teams responsible to implement contracts ensuring that the tasks are performed in accordance
with the pre-defined deadlines and the standards of quality required. He/she will provide
preliminary approval of the reports of the contracts, or any technical and financial documents
(such as approval of invoices with “read and approved” stamp) or deliverables and outputs,
before final approval by the Contracting Authority. He/she will appoint one risk manager and
one irregularity officer among OCU members, responsible for the operation on behalf of the
OB.
Operation Coordination Unit: The Ankara Development Agency will establish an OCU which
will be adequately staffed composing of an Operation Coordinator and (at least) five Ankara
Development Agency experts. Existence of a professional and stable staff of OCU is
guaranteed by Ankara Development Agency as a crucial factor for the timely and proper
implementation of the Operation.
OCU is responsible for supervising the implementation of the operation which may include
different types of contracts that will be managed by the CA. It will perform the following
tasks (it is not an exhaustive list):
-
Following operation activities and working in close cooperation with the teams
responsible to implement contracts,
Coordinate and facilitate processes between SROB, the teams responsible to
implement contracts (consultant, contractor, TAT, etc. ) and the CA regarding any
kind of reports, requests, documents which need approval of SROB.
24
-
Ensuring the required coordination with other departments within the SSI or other
institutions related to the implementation of the operation.
6.2 Proposed Monitoring Structure and Methodology:
The overall monitoring of the Operation will be performed by the following structures and
tools under the daily supervision and secretariat of the OCU:
 Operation Steering Committee Meetings,
 Operation Monthly Management Meetings (and other if necessary),
Operation Steering Committee (OSC): OSC will be established to serve as a platform to share
results achieved, follow-up of progress of the Operation (including different types of
components/contracts) and exchange experiences, ideas etc. The SROB will initiate the
establishment of a core OSC which will be composed of representatives of OCU, the teams
responsible to implement contracts (consultant, contractor, Technical Assistance Team (TAT)
, etc.), the CA, stakeholders such as Middle East Technical University (METU), Bilkent
University, Ankara University, Gazi University, Hacettepe University, TOBB Economy and
Technology University, Çankaya University, Atılım University, Başkent University, Yıldırım
Beyazıt University, Turgut Özal University, TED University, THK University, KOSGEB and
Organized Industrial Zones. Contracting Authority and the European Union Delegation in
Turkey (EUD) are ex officio members of the Committee. The OSC will meet on a semiannual basis. First OSC will be organized 6 months after the first service contract signed
under the Operation. Organization of OSC meetings is under responsibility of Ankara
Development Agency which may use TAT when available. Agenda of the OSC and brief note
on the issues that will be discussed in the meeting will be provided to the members of the
OSC at latest 1 week before. Minutes of OSC meetings will be kept by Ankara Development
Agency (or TAT when available) and submitted to the participants in the meetings for their
approvals at latest 1 week after. Minutes, agenda and brief notes can only be sent to the
participants after the approval of the CA.
Operation Monthly Management Meetings: It will be convened in order to monitor the
activities of the operation, discuss and assess the progress of the operation and provide
solution to the problems arising during the implementation of the operation. These meetings
will be chaired by SROB. Contracting Authority, EUD, OCU and representatives of the
contracts composing the operation (such as TAT) will be participants of the monthly
management meetings. Minutes of OMMM will be kept by Ankara Development Agency (or
TAT when available) and submitted to the participants in the meetings for their approvals.
OCU may organize additional meetings with the teams responsible to implement contracts if
necessary.
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As regards monitoring of operation on the basis of reports;
In terms of entire operation; Ankara Development Agency will submit progress reports to the
CA on the overall progress of the operation. The format of the progress reports including
irregularity reports will be provided by the CA. Progress reports (PR) will cover the progress
in all components in relation with the operation, gap analysis in terms of indicators, the
strategic contribution of each component of the operation in terms of quality, efficiency,
relevance of intervention to the objectives of Operational Programme, issues of sustainability,
lessons learnt, risks and remedial actions incurred under the operation. PR will be submitted
once in a year. First progress report will be submitted exactly one year after the first contract
under the operation is signed.
Ankara Development Agency will prepare Final Component Reports (FCR) when a
component (service contract and supply) under the Operation is concluded. The format of
the FCR including irregularity reports will be provided by the CA. FCR will cover an
executive summary regarding the finalization of the related component, output effectiveness
diagramme, gap analysis regarding gaps in between the expected and realised results and
outputs of the component, strategic contribution of relevant component in relation with the
operation, issues of sustainability, lessons learnt, risks and remedial actions incurred under
the operation. For service component, Ankara Development Agency will submit final
component report within two months after the end of service contract. The final component
report for supply contract will be submitted within 2 weeks after the last final acceptance
certificate for relevant contract is officially approved by the CA.
In terms of contracts; Ankara Development Agency with its OCU will ensure that the
responsibilities regarding delivery, check, control and approval of documents as stated in 6.1
part of the OIS are duly performed. Types, frequency and content of the documents and
reports will be defined specifically in the relevant tender documents of the contracts.
Ankara Development Agency is aware of its responsibilities as the OB including reporting
requirements which will be defined in the Operational Agreement in detail. Ankara
Development Agency is also aware that in addition to the reports mentioned above, ad hoc
reports may be requested by the Contracting Authority on various aspects or issues related to
the implementation of the operation. The content and time of submission of such ad-hoc
reports will be agreed between Ankara Development Agency and the Contracting Authority
on a case-by-case basis.
6.3 Required procedures and contracts for the implementation of the operation and
their sequencing:
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Contracts
Call for Tendering
Signing Contract
Contract Completion
Service Contract
Supply Contract
7. Risks and assumptions:
Presumed risks for the operation;
 Interruptions in the implementation of IPA in Turkey may occur.
 A major change in the legislative framework of the Development Agencies in Turkey
is a risk. However, acquired rights cannot be reclaimed. Should there be any major
changes in the structure of Development Agencies in Turkey will probably put into
effect after completion of major commitments.
 Inadequate number of applications to the training programs is a risk. But, the Agency
is very strong with stakeholder relationship management and has a very strong local
network. Accessing to target groups with local support is easy and effective.
 Any unexpected economic or political crisis that might affect the operation process is
a risk. However, the activities in the operation does not directly relate to current
economic conditions.
 Not being able to reach and include people with the defined/satisfactory qualities is a
risk. As mentioned above the Agency has strong connections with business groups,
chambers and similar organizations.
 The entrepreneurs may completely or partially trade or sell their business ideas. But,
this is a very unlikely event especially for the entrepreneurs who are in the early stages
of their enterprise lifecycle. Nonetheless, mergers and acquisitions are ways of
accessing to finance and creating capital which will provide supplementary
investments and employment. Real life experiences in these situations indicate that
business ideas are being purchased together with the business team that is the
strongest group of people who are required for successful achievements. The
entrepreneur remains in the organization as a part of the enterprise. Moreover, he/she
employs new team members with the capital support received to meet the needs of the
business and also utilizes the administrative support of the experienced investor.
Therefore, any case that entrepreneur sells, trades or licenses his/her idea which is
very unlikely and unexpected at this stage, is rather an opportunity and is expected to
lead additional employment.
Assumptions for the operation are as follows;
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 Political and economic stability for effective functioning of the IPA in Turkey
 Sufficient interest and awareness on the importance of promoting entrepreneurship
 Willingness of the relevant actors and parties to participate in the activities and to
support the achievement of Operation objectives
8. Expected impact of the operation on the target group and multiplier/spill over
effects:
As it is a proven fact, entrepreneurship is one the most important factors of regional
development mainly because of its multiplier/spill over effects on economic development.
Direct effects of entrepreneurship supports, projects and programs on economic development
are stemming from their leading role in the establishment of new companies. This provides
job creation and job opportunities for whole society and labour force. In this way, a primary
multiplier effect will have been created that will result in development for all determinants of
economic development of the region such as; increase of GDP, decrease in unemployment,
increase in high value added production, increase in export, increase in social cohesion etc.
Expected impacts and multiplier affects can be summarized as follows;
 Contribution to local economic activities in terms of number of new business
 Increased knowledge and awareness in the young people on benefits of
entrepreneurship
 Creation of a model (“the entrepreneurship ecosystems”) that can be up-scaled to other
provinces and regions for supporting entrepreneurship and employment
 Contribution to youth employment rates
 Promotion of the idea of better ecosystem of entrepreneurship which will result in
greater economic wealth
 Increased number of qualified trainers and mentors
 Utilization of review of current entrepreneurship eco-system and of studies on
entrepreneurship assessment report as well as all the printed and digital hand outs in
future studies
9. Sustainability:
As the nature of the entrepreneurship ecosystem, a positive intervention directly creates a
momentum in the whole mechanism. Outputs of the operation activities, such as more
entrepreneurs, more mentors, more trainers etc. are the lacking points of the ecosystem so that
they are always demanded by many institutions.
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Sustainability of the operation will be ensured first, through the trained mentors and trainers
in the operation and second through the institutional relations established during the operation
activities. To begin with, as stated in the clarification of activities “training the trainers”
activity is going to play the most important role in sustaining the outcomes of the operation.
During the operation time, trainers will be trained by the senior professionals who have
important practice based experience on developing young entrepreneurship. Those who have
finished the program successfully will be certified to give these trainings long after the
operation ends. In addition, website of the project will play a crucial role in the sustainability
of the outputs as there will be online free consultancy and mentoring services for those who
have interest in developing an entrepreneurship project, which will transform the website of
the operation into a living platform. Last but not least all materials including policy
recommendations will be at disposal of all relevant institutions.
Second, relations set up during the operation will continue between Ankara Development
Agency and all local and international institutions which will enable further activities
regarding development of young entrepreneurship and ecosystem in Ankara. As defined in
Ankara Regional Plan developing entrepreneurship is a tool of employment creation is one of
the main strategies of local development agenda in the long run. That is to say that operation
will construct a base to build many more upon it.
Third, all the stakeholders of the operation are the most important actors of the
entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ankara, so that they are one of the beneficiaries of the
operation that will maintain the operation activities with respect to their own corporate
capacities and resources. Since the operation is developed due to an actual need in the
entrepreneurship ecosystem, sustainability side of the operation will be secured by the all
actors of the ecosystem.
Last but not least, Ankara Entrepreneurship Development Centre will be the most important
structure to maintain financial and institutional sustainability of the project. As described in
the activities section, this centre will be established as a branch of Ankara Development
Agency that will provide guidance and physical space for the young entrepreneurs. All the
mentors and trainers that are nurtured in the operation will continue to function in the Ankara
Entrepreneurship Development Centre. In other saying a permanent, fully functional
incubation and development centre with necessary human resources trained will be operating
long after the operation deadline, which in the end will be the most important sustainability
element in of this operation. The Centre will continue to operate and financially supported by
Ankara Development Agency after the end of the operation. The trainers which would be
trained and the mentor pool will continue to serve in accordance with the approach and
objectives of the operation.
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10. Horizontal Issues:
As the main goal of the operation is to develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Ankara,
proposal will certainly pay regard to equal opportunities and fair representation of the all
people who intend to take part in the program including gender equality and equal share to
woman entrepreneurs. In addition in cases if necessary women participants will be further
encouraged to take part in the activities of operation and still in addition, to maintain the
women participation certain limitations and quota will be put into practice so that operation
will result in at least %35 women participation. Moreover, according to perspective of this
operation, representation of variety and free minds are indispensable ingredients to create a
rigid entrepreneurial ecosystem. Especially involvement of women in each part of the
program will be of great importance for the success of the operation. Therefore special
attention is going to be paid for women students or entrepreneur candidates to increase their
presence in the operation activities. Although not big enough to make a visible contribution,
in a broader manner operation will contribute to the women participation into labour market
which is one of the major problems of Turkey.
Throughout the operation activities, participation of the civil society is another major issue to
put emphasis on. Both for the dissemination activities and the rest, a hard effort will be put to
attract the active participation from the business people associations, investors associations
and local chambers like ATO, ASO and local entrepreneurship associations. Not only the
awareness on entrepreneurship will be triggered but also a well-established local stakeholder
opportunity will be acquired in the operation.
Finally, operation itself is going to be a tool to increase the employability of the young people
through increasing the entrepreneurship capacities of the young people. Thus operation will
seek a way to contribute to another tackle in the labour market that is young employability.
On the other hand throughout the operation period, specifically environment-friendly business
ideas will be encouraged, which is expected to contribute to sustainable development and
environmental protection.
11. Links with other IPA component/national programmes/policies:
Proposed operation has several direct links with the main national policies as well as with the
other IPA components and local programs implemented by development agency.
To begin with the relation with IPA components, this operation will contribute and
complement the Measure 1.3 (Improvement of R&D, Innovation and Technology and ICT
Environment and Infrastructure) under the Priority 1 (Improvement of the business
environment) of the RC OP. In that manner this measure will strengthen the links between
business and universities, while creating skill-demanding jobs. As stated above one of the
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major strengths of the Ankara is the highly skilled young labour force and this operation
proposal will be built upon the idea of activating this qualified labour force by changing their
mind-sets for entrepreneurship. Since the contemporary labour market is insufficient to create
qualified jobs for this group of labour force, this operation proposal will contribute to create
jobs by direct setting up new enterprises. This Operation will be in contact with the Women
in Business Operation implemented by EBRD under HRD OP provided that the timing and
structure of the two Operations overlap in a way to ensure cooperative action. There are
convergences among the activities of the two operations which need to be coordinated.
Cooperation with the EBRD would also be useful for facilitating access to finance by women
entrepreneurs. However, it is going be paid due attention that as increasing young
employment is the main priority of the Operation of Ankara Development Agency, further
steps taken to increase women’s employment may change the nature of it. Hence, without
leading to a deviation in the main focus of this Operation, women entrepreneurs will be
advised to use the mechanisms under Women in Business Operation such as the microfinance
channels.
Another complementary element with the RCOP is the Measure 2.1 (Providing Basic
Information, Consultancy and Investment Support for Enterprises) under the Priority 2
(Strengthening Enterprise Capacity & Foster Entrepreneurship). This measure aims to
increase the entrepreneurial skills and therefore create more jobs which is one of the main
goals of the HRDOP. As our proposal will train and develop the skills of the young people
and in the end this trained target groups would be able to be supported by the RCOP or
national programs such as KOSGEB or Development Agencies to start up their business and
on the development of the business plans.
At the national level, this proposal will contribute to the achievement of Aim 3.3 of the
Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology which is: to increase the
number of the ICT based new enterprises and SMEs. As mentioned many times above, this
operation will contribute to entrepreneurship ecosystem of Ankara by an entrepreneurship
development program that will consequently overlap with the aim of the Ministry.
Last but not least, Regional Plan of Ankara region emphasizes the necessity of developing
entrepreneurship in the Ankara context. Under the scope of the Strategic Goal 1 (diversifying
areas of employment, ensuring active participation in labour force and minimizing
unemployment), Goal 3 addresses on to strengthen entrepreneurship capacity of the Region.
In this perspective this operation will be a perfect mean to realize this goal.
In short, as illustrated this proposal of operation is plays a critical role in bridging the gap
between policy decisions and action area. In a multi scalar level operation have much to
contribute both at the EU level policies and national policies as well as local priorities and
goals.
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