A New Culture of Communication: İletişim Başkanlığı at TEKNOFEST
Among the many pavilions at TEKNOFEST Güneydoğu in Şanlıurfa, a distinctive place is occupied by the stand of the Directorate of Communications of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye (İletişim Başkanlığı).
At first glance, it differs noticeably from the areas where drones, aviation equipment or engineering developments are in the spotlight. Here, technology is used primarily as a tool for interaction with visitors. From the entrance, the stand is constantly surrounded by schoolchildren and young people. Groups of children move from one interactive area to another, explore digital materials, use touchscreens and take part in the activities available to them.
Young visitors make up a significant proportion of the audience at this year’s TEKNOFEST in general. The festival in Şanlıurfa brings together technology competitions, educational workshops, exhibition spaces and interactive programmes designed, among others, for schoolchildren and students.
At the stand of Türkiye’s Directorate of Communications (İletişim Başkanlığı), however, this idea takes on a different form.
Rather than simply showcasing a particular technological development, visitors are invited to interact with information itself.
The space features digital screens and interactive panels, while one of the most noticeable areas is a small studio equipped with professional lighting, a camera and a green screen. Here, visitors can see how modern media content is created and how technology can transform a person’s visual surroundings within just a few minutes.
It is especially interesting to observe the reactions of schoolchildren. For many of them, public communication here stops being something abstract — information that a person simply sees on a television or smartphone screen. Instead, it becomes a process in which they can take part themselves: selecting material on an interactive panel, standing in front of a camera and seeing how media technologies work from the inside. This approach fits well into the broader work of Türkiye’s Directorate of Communications related to developing mechanisms of interaction between the state and society.
At TEKNOFEST, this theme receives a clear continuation.
The stand itself is designed so that visitors do not remain passive observers. People approach the screens, study the materials on display, speak with staff, and once again children are among the most active participants.
The photographs clearly show how much interest the space attracted: at certain moments, there is literally almost no free space left inside the pavilion.
And this is perhaps one of the most interesting outcomes of such a format. TEKNOFEST is usually associated primarily with aviation, unmanned systems, engineering and advanced technologies. Yet technology today is changing not only industry and transport. It is also changing the way public institutions communicate with society, how information is distributed and how younger generations interact with the media environment.
In this sense, the presence of Türkiye’s Directorate of Communications at a technology festival appears entirely natural.
In Şanlıurfa, this connection can be observed directly on the festival grounds. Schoolchildren stand in front of interactive screens. Some explore digital materials, some wait for their turn, while others head towards the studio area.
Through all of this, another dimension of TEKNOFEST gradually emerges: the festival becomes a platform not only for demonstrating what technologies are being created, but also for discussing how communication itself is being built with their help today.
It is precisely this ability to bring together very different fields — from aviation and artificial intelligence to media and public communication — that makes TEKNOFEST far more than an ordinary technology exhibition.
