ISTANBUL (AA) - As the Global Webit Congress starts in Istanbul on Wednesday, Russian-based search engine Yandex’s CEO Mehmet Ali Yalcindag said people are powerful in the digital era, which they rule.
The Webit Congress kicked off with opening speeches as Webit Chairman Plamen Russev welcomed participants and talked about Webit and its activities. "Webit is all about how we can help you in growing your business here," he said.
He also said that Webit's headquarters will move to Istanbul, describing the city as "the middle point between Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia."
Following Russev's speech, Turkey's Information and Communications Technologies Authority (BTK) Chairman Tayfun Acarer stressed cyber security amid ongoing leaks about the US's phone tapping. "Security issues pose a great danger to the development of ITs.” He added that privacy is “crucial” for internet users.
He drew attention to 4G’s connectivity penetration into daily life, saying 4G connectivity will spread but "common infrastructure" must be developed due to its high cost.
After Acarer, Yandex CEO Mehmet Ali Yalcindag addressed participants and asked questions about internet users' activities. He stressed that the trend of "passive viewers" over the last years had recently changed.
"We the people are active creators of the digital eco system. The people are powerful. They have all the power to motivate all of us. It is them that rule the digital world," he said.
Orkun Oguz, Executive Vice President of Direct Banking at Akbank, stated that digital or mobile were now the core business of retail banking rather than merely a support or alternative.
Oguz said they as banks had a challenging task to change the perceptions of new and future generations and to show that banking could be "cool and fun."
"We need both innovation and digital marketing to convince future generations," Oguz noted.
Vice Chairman of Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB Europe) Stephanie Hospital stated that Webit was an opportunity for Turkey since it "wants to be on speed and raise the digital economy."
The international Global Webit Congress on digital technology and telecommunication, backed by Anadolu Agency (AA) as a gold media partner, launched on November 6 at the Halic Congress Center in Istanbul.
A record number of visiting countries and attendees will participate in the 5th edition of the congress, where eleven conferences, trade expos, workshops, award ceremonies and parties will take place.
Business executives from 103 countries will be among more than eight thousand participants. The congress will host 250 presentations in two days from the sector's leading voices.
Anadolu Agency Deputy Director-General Cagatay Culcuoglu will deliver a speech in the "How to drive engagement through content" panel as part of the first-day conference titled "Digital Marketing and Innovation."
On the list (http://webitcongress.com/en/profile/featured_attendees) of featured attendees and speakers are top executives from Yandex, IBM, Google, Spotify, Facebook, Lenovo, Nokia, OMD, Havas, Mediabrands, Qualcomm, Pentagram, Joulie, aol, Unilever, Accer, Effective Measure, Lakestar, Almaz Capital, BBC, Al Jazeera and many more.
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