Aiming to lead the way in the use of new technology and digitalization, TÜRKÇİMENTO held “DIGITALCEM,” the first virtual conference and fair of the sector, between 20 and 21 April 2021.
The representatives of cement plants were highly interested in the DIGITALCEM event supported by OYAK Cement, bringing together national-international participants and companies and Turkish cement sector officials on the platform and creating substantial reverberation through national and international media collaborations. 22 companies took part in the event attended by 190 plant representatives. The total number of participants was 361.
National and international speakers took part in the event held with the theme of “Sustainable Turkish Cement for the Future.”
Suat Çalbıyık, ÇEİS President; Ahmad Al-Rousan, Secretary General of Arab Cement Association; and Grace Chen, Secretary General of China Cement Association, made their speeches at the event session inaugurated by Dr. Tamer Saka, Chairman of TÜRKÇİMENTO Board of Directors.
Koen Coppenholle, CEO of the European Cement Association (CEMBUREAU); Claude Lorea, Cement Director of Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA); and Martin Schneider, Managing Director of European Cement Research Academy (ECRA), took place at the event with their presentations. In the continuing part of the first day, Robert Whetstone, Martin Engineering Vice President; Matthias Mersmann, Humboldt Wedag Gmbh Cto; Markus Burbach from Germany, Klüber Lubrication Global Cement Manager; Mustafa Nezih Namal from Turkey, its Heavy Industry Market Manager; and Necdet Kaya, MAPEI Construction Chemicals Sales Manager, made presentations.
On the second day of the event, in which we listened to Mehrali Ecer, General Manager of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, under the title of “Developments on Environmental Implementations,” researcher Barış Sanlı from Bilkent Energy Policies Research Center; Yücel Yetişkin, ÇEİS Training and OHS Unit Manager; Oğuzhan Öztürk, President of TÜSİAD New Generation Industry Working Group; and Özlem Kalkan, SabancıDx Sales and Product Management Vice General Manager, attended with their presentations. In the special session that was the final presentation of the event, the presentation of Halil Aksu, Digitopia Founder and CEO, titled “Digital Maturity is Your New Success Indicator” was followed with attention by the attendees.
IIn his speech he gave in the inauguration of DIGITALCEM, Dr. Tamer Saka, Chairman of TÜRKÇİMENTO Board of Directors, expressed that they aim to pioneer the sector through innovative thinking and said:
“As TÜRKÇİMENTO, we aim to ward off challenges by thinking more innovatively in the environment of transformation and uncertainty we are experiencing due to the pandemic. Through our DIGITALCEM event, we are undersigning a first in the field of digitalization, which is one of our strategic priorities, to pave the way for more interaction under our current circumstances. In line with this priority, we will keep following new technology and innovation.”
The headings of the sub-themes of this new series of programs organized under the main theme of “Sustainable Turkish Cement for the Future” took place as Sustainability Approaches in the Cement Sector, Circular Economy, Sustainable and Competitive Production within the Framework of Green Products, Green Transformation in Energy, Digital Cement, Green Cement, Developing Technologies, and Innovation.
The sector’s Carbon Roadmap to be announced at the end of the year
Highlighting the fact that sustainability is one of the most important responsibilities undertaken, Dr. Tamer Saka said, “As TÜRKÇİMENTO, we keep close track of the EU climate and environmental policies and the harmonization process of Turkey’s cement sector, through the target of being a pioneer in our sector’s work performed within the framework of sustainability. In this scope, we started the “Turkish Cement Sector Carbon Roadmap” project at the end of 2020. We will present Turkey with the sector’s roadmap by scrutinizing the data on greenhouse gas emissions of almost all cement plants in Turkey.”