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Ruth, Steve - Turkey.Z
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Ruth, Steve - Turkey
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1994-03-20
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N-2-3-012.45
Turkey
by Steve Ruth*
<RUTH@gmuvax.gmu.edu>
During several recent trips to Ankara for the World
Bank, I have come across an exciting example of what could
become an important breaking story in the world of Internet.
At the Middle East Technical University (METU), Turkey's
premier engineering institution, a major data communications
revolution is taking place which affects both engineers and
non-engineers. (Half of METU's graduates are non-engineers).
This modern university of over 20,000 students, with a full
range of programs from bachelors to doctorate, has embarked
upon a trajectory aimed at facilitating the connection of all
students and faculty throughout the country to the Internet--
nearly 600,000 students and 60,00 faculty. With 3,000
persons already connected and short term goals of over 70,000
persons linked to the Internet, they are well on their way.
What impressed me most was the high level of student use of
Gopher and FTP to gain access to the newest literature in
many scientific disciplines. In meetings with deans,
chairpersons and administrators, I found a solid and
sustained interest in taking full advantage of the full range
of Internet services--WAIS, GOPHER, ARCHIE, E-mail, etc. as a
routine part of university policy.
Unlike many institutions I visit in developed and
developing countries, METU has made the hard choices required
to establish the necessary infrastructure for training,
broadening the user base, and establishing a strong footing
for extending Internet capability throughout the country.
I visited two fully LANed dormitories of the ten that will
soon have 35 terminals each for round the clock connection to
worldwide network services in addition to the normal range of
LAN services for computation, word processing, spread sheet,
data base, etc. Most US universities to not have this
quality and depth of network services. Professor Dr. Turker
Gurkan, the vice president of METU, views these investments
in network strengthening as a normal part of an evolution to
place METU in a position to assist Turkey's other
universities to become fully functioning participants in the
growth of Internet as a normal informatics tool available to
all studies in Turkish institutions of higher learning.
Among the countries that are traditionally classified
as Islamic states Turkey appears to be the leader in
approaching the Internet as a national policy agenda. Turkey
is interested in facilitating network entry for many of the
Turkic states--countries like Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, etc.
In short they are poised to make a major leap to become
connected quickly in Turkey and to help many of their
neighbors achieve faster rates of entry than would normally
be possible. Key players in Turkey are Professor Dr. Omer
Anlagan <ANLAGAN@VM.CC.METU.EDU.TR>, Attila Ozgit <OZGIT
@VM.CC.METU.EDU.TR> and Kursat Cagiltay <KURSAT
@VM.CC.METU.EDU.TR>.
*Professor of Decision Sciences/MIS
Director, International Center for Applied Studies in MIS
George Mason University
Fairfax VA, USA