Minister

Mehmet Fatih KACIR was born in Istanbul in 1984. He completed his secondary and high school education at Istanbul High School for Boys. In 2003, he ranked 12th in the university entrance exams of Turkey. He graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Industrial Engineering with Honors in 2008. During his university education, he served as a student representative. He pioneered interdisciplinary research and project management trainings. He chose to become an entrepreneur after his university graduation.

In addition to entrepreneurship, he also took an active role in non-governmental organizations. Kacır, who served as the Chairman of T3 Foundation (Technology Team Foundation of Turkey) until 2018, was among the pioneers for the establishment of DENEYAP Technology Workshops, the Technology Stars of the Future Program for gifted students, the Science Center and Enterprise Center programs, TEKNOFEST, the world's largest Aviation, Space and Technology Festival. He became a member of TüBiTAK Science Board in 2018.

He was appointed Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology by Presidential Decree on July 31, 2018. Kacır, who was responsible for the National Technology Move and strategic transformation policies in the Ministry, coordinated the work of the General Directorate of National Technology, General Directorate of Strategic Research and Productivity, TÜBİTAK, Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, Turkish Academy of Sciences and Turkish Space Agency.

As Deputy Minister, he served as the Chairman of the TEKNOFEST Executive Board, Chairman of the Steering Committee of the DENEYAP Turkey project carried out in 81 provinces, Chairman of the Technology-Oriented Industrial Move Program Committee, which is an R&D and Investment Incentive Program for high-tech products and innovative technologies, Chairman of the Research Infrastructures Monitoring and Qualification Evaluation Committee, and Chairman of the National Technology Entrepreneurship Council. He pioneered the establishment of Turkey Open Source Platform and 42 Software Schools, a new generation education model. He worked on the creation and realization of Turkey's Automobile TOGG technology roadmap.

He led the work on the 2023 Industrial and Technology Strategy, the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, the National Space Program, the National Technology Entrepreneurship Strategy, Mobility Technologies with the Smart Life and Health Technologies Roadmap.

He is a board member of ASELSAN and Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Islamic Science History Research Foundation, and the Board of Trustees for Cansağlığı Foundation. He is married and has two children. He speaks fluent English and German.