Blockchain Research and its Significance in the National Technology Initiative

The National Technology Initiative of Türkiye, which it has been putting into action over the past several years, has enabled the country to make significant advancements in domestic production and Türkiye’s momentum in this sector is obvious among nations that are on the same level as Türkiye. The accomplishments in sectors of the national defense industry are particularly noteworthy. However, attempts to increase production on a national and domestic scale were not confined to only one domain; rather, they were dispersed throughout multiple sectors, including health, education, transportation and informatics. Blockchain technology which is now one of the most emerging topics in the context of new technologies has already demonstrated itself as one of Türkiye’s strategic national technological priorities. A large number of works have also been published in Türkiye addressing the significance of blockchain technology, which has found application in various areas of the country’s economy, most notably in the fields of banking, business and information technology. At this point, the importance of a study that will explain the position of the world and Türkiye in the context of blockchain with a comparative scholarly literature growth analysis to be made in Web of Science (WoS) databases has also increased. This chapter examines the R&D and scientific policies of countries from the viewpoint of blockchain research in the context of national and international literature. According to the result of the analyses carried out in the databases of scientific literature, the research and application areas of blockchain technology in Türkiye are comparable to those that exist in developed nations. Moreover, another result of analyses scanning the world’s scientific literature shows that Asian nations have more scientific works pertaining to blockchain technology. The number of applications and patents also filed by companies is the highest in Asia. On the other hand, the universities in Türkiye have recently begun to include coursework on blockchain technology in their programs. In addition, particularly the institutions in the country’s financial and banking system the public institutions and private companies of Türkiye have focused on the country’s national technology initiative and thus technology is continuing to develop on a daily basis. Despite the fact that interest in and utilization of this technology on a sectoral level in Türkiye catch up partially with its global level, it is important to focus more on blockchain technology in terms of resource allocation and prioritization.