Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Technology Transfer, 2025 (SSCI, Scopus)
Technological advancement and a strong innovation ecosystem are necessary for sustainable economic growth. Turkiye has made significant progress through systematic technology and innovation policies using grounded institutions, a series of legal frameworks and development plans. Despite this systematic approach, a gap exists in the understanding of how these policies translate into tangible innovation performance at the firm level. This paper addresses the gap by analyzing Turkiye’s technology and innovation standing using the World Bank Innovation and Technology data. The study benchmarks Turkiye’s performance against peer groups of upper-middle-income and Europe and Central Asia economies, to provide a descriptive framework for policymakers. The findings reveal a paradox: Turkiye underperforms its peers in core innovation metrics like product/service and process innovations and R&D investments, yet it exhibits a strong capacity for producing highly novel innovations. This imbalance suggests a narrow innovation profile focused on breakthrough products rather than incremental improvements. The analysis also identifies other key issues, including a decline in overall R&D spending despite a lag in digital integration (website presence) compared to external knowledge adoption (international quality licenses and foreign licensed technology). These findings highlight the need for policies that strengthen innovation inputs, promote a broader innovation culture, and improve digital infrastructure to fully realize Turkiye’s national technology ambitions.