From a Dream to the Hope of a Generation: T3 Foundation is 10 Years Old!

Established in 2016 with the mission to spread the ideal of the "National Technology Initiative" to all segments of society and to contribute to Turkiye’s transformation into a technology-developing society, the Turkish Technology Team Foundation (T3 Foundation) celebrated its 10th anniversary with a meaningful gathering held in Istanbul. The event, hosted in the historical atmosphere of the Beykoz Glass and Crystal Museum, brought together the founders, volunteers, scholars, DENEYAP alumni, TEKNOFEST competitors, and entrepreneurs of the T3 Foundation under the same roof.

The "T3 Foundation 10th Anniversary Meeting" united companions of the National Technology Initiative from different generations. The event was attended by Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Turkiye and Member of the T3 Foundation Board of Trustees; Selçuk Bayraktar, Chairman of the T3 Foundation Board of Trustees; Haluk Bayraktar, Member of the T3 Foundation Board of Trustees; Elvan Kuzucu Hıdır, Chairperson of the T3 Foundation Board of Directors, along with the Members of the T3 Foundation Board of Trustees, volunteers, scholars, graduates, competitors, and entrepreneurs.

Memories of a 10-Year Journey Reimagined

Prior to the program, Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Industry and Technology and Member of the T3 Foundation Board of Trustees, and Selçuk Bayraktar, Chairman of the T3 Foundation Board of Trustees, toured the event area and chatted with citizens. Following the traditional offering of ashura to the citizens by Kacır and Bayraktar, the T3 Foundation 10th Anniversary Meeting commenced with a music recital.

The Strongest Legacy of the T3 Foundation: Success Stories of the Youth

One of the most special segments of the program was titled "The T3 Journeys of the Youth". Young individuals who were raised, educated, or supported through various projects of the T3 Foundation shared their personal stories and the turning points of their lives with the audience.

The stories of these young people, who once studied at DENEYAP Makers Labs, competed at TEKNOFEST, received support from scholarship and entrepreneurship programs, achieved numerous national and international successes, or joined this journey as volunteers, and are now contributing to the future of Turkiye as engineers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and technology developers, once again demonstrated the vast human capital developed by the T3 Foundation over the past 10 years.

During the program, Minister of Industry and Technology and Member of the T3 Foundation Board of Trustees Fatih Kacır, and Chairman of the T3 Foundation Board of Trustees Selçuk Bayraktar addressed the participants. While evaluating the 10-year journey left behind by the T3 Foundation, the speeches highlighted the future of the National Technology Initiative and the decisive role of the youth in Turkiye's goal of full independence.

10 Years on the Path to a Fully Independent Turkiye, Turkiye’s Technology Team is 10 Years Old!

The T3 Foundation continues to expand the journey it began ten years ago with the goal of raising generations that will contribute to Turkiye's technological independence, now thriving on the shoulders of young people, scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and volunteers writing success stories all over the world. To date, more than 2.5 million teams and over 6.5 million competitors from more than 100 countries have applied to over 70 TEKNOFEST Technology Competitions, while nearly 12 million visitors have shared the excitement of TEKNOFEST. Within the scope of the DENEYAP Enterprise and TEKNOFEST Enterprise Programs, which help young people turn their technology-oriented ideas into startups, more than 14 million TL in financial support has been provided so far. A total investment of nearly 1 million dollars has been made in four startups operating in different technology fields under the T3 Venture Capital Investment Fund. Bringing together technology startups from around the globe with investors, the Take Off Startup Summit has hosted 1,435 startups and 810 investors from over 100 countries to date. A total of 2.5 million dollars in investment and award support has been provided to the startups.

A total of 132 DENEYAP Makers Labs have been opened across all 81 provinces of Turkiye, and 5 workshops have been established in 5 different countries, providing training to more than 40,000 students so far. The achievements of DENEYAP students further demonstrate the impact of the program; in 2025, 75 out of 719 students who ranked first in the LGS in Turkiye (representing 10%) were DENEYAP students. Within the scope of the Özdemir Bayraktar National Technology Scholarship Program, more than 23,000 students from all 81 provinces of Turkiye and 10 different countries have been supported, while over 72,000 volunteers have taken part in the growing ecosystem of the T3 Foundation. Aiming to bring science to all segments of society, Bilim Turkiye has reached 24 science centers in 10 provinces domestically and 6 science centers in 4 different countries. More than 5.5 million students have been introduced to science so far under the umbrella of Bilim Turkiye.

Within the scope of the National Teams of Technology Support Program, which supports teams representing Turkiye in national and international technology competitions, nearly 100 teams have been backed to date, and these teams successfully represented Turkiye by achieving significant rankings, including world championships, in prestigious competitions organized across different parts of the world. Developed with national engineering resources under the leadership of the T3 Foundation, DENEYAP Kart was implemented as a domestic and powerful technology solution in the fields of electronic programming, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence. T3 Academy, an online education platform providing free training in science, technology, and entrepreneurship to individuals of all ages; T3 AI, an open-source artificial intelligence project that carries Turkiye's vision of developing a Large Language Model, aiming to overcome language barriers and contribute to the free flow of information; and KÜRE Digital Encyclopedia, Turkiye's national digital information source platform aiming to become a new point of reference in accessing reliable information against disinformation, have been implemented. Keşif Kampüsü, implemented with a "Children's University" approach, has contributed to raising generations that discover, produce, and shape the future by introducing children to science and technology at an early age.