The "Turkey Smart Cities Readiness Assessment Report," prepared under the initiative of the Ankara-based Novusens Smart Cities Institute, was unveiled at the Smart City Expo World Congress held in Barcelona from November 15 to 17. Authored by Novusens co-founders Berrin Benli and Melih Gezer, the report was presented to the congress by Berrin Benli during the session titled "Measuring City Performance and Participatory Governance" on November 17. The report—prepared under the leadership of the Turkish Informatics Foundation, in collaboration with Istanbul Technical University’s Computer Engineering Department, executed by the Novusens Smart Cities Institute, and sponsored by MasterCard and Intel Turkey—had previously been released to the public in March 2016. The study detailed the facts and challenges identified in the fields of transportation, energy, and water, as well as the steps to be taken and projects to be implemented in the coming period. The next phase of the initiative will be the "Turkey Smart Cities Roadmap and Strategy."

In the context of smart cities, a city is defined as one that invests in information and communication technologies to utilize its limited resources more effectively and efficiently; achieves savings through these investments; enhances the quality of services and life using those savings; reduces its carbon footprint; respects the environment and natural resources; and accomplishes all of this through innovative and sustainable methods. The objective of such initiatives is to implement the necessary measures to position cities to attract more domestic and foreign capital investment, become more appealing in terms of culture and tourism, and deliver local government services in a more rational and efficient manner. Details of the report can be accessed via this link.