Integrated Information System (BBS) is a digital infrastructure developed by Atatürk Culture, Language and History Supreme Institution (AYK) and its Atatürk Research Center (ATAM), Turkish Language Association (TDK), Turkish Historical Society (TTK) and Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) in order to ensure that scientific research and administrative activities in the field of Turkish language, history and culture are carried out quickly, efficiently and effectively in an electronic environment. BBS aims to provide public services in an easily accessible, understandable, accurate and up-to-date manner without making any distinctions based on language, religion, race, gender, education status and disability status, and aims to optimize institutional processes by integrating libraries, archives, information banks and databases. The system, which was shaped by the idea that emerged in 2009-2010, was included in the Investment Program in 2011 and the hardware infrastructure was completed and software development processes were initiated in the same year.

History and Establishment

The idea of BBS emerged during the restructuring process of AYK and its affiliated institutions in 2009-2010, with the need to carry out scientific and administrative activities more effectively in an electronic environment. Designed with the aim of accelerating research and institutional services on Turkish language, history and culture, and unifying libraries, archives and databases, BBS was included in the 2011 Investment Program. In the same year, the technological infrastructure of the system was established; hardware facilities were completed and software development work began. BBS was developed by the Informatics Experts Team affiliated to the AYK Scientific Studies Coordination Department and was put into practice with its various modules as of 2014. The system is actively used in scientific and administrative processes as of 2017.

Purpose and Scope

The main purpose of BBS is to enable AYK and its affiliated institutions to conduct their scientific research and administrative activities electronically in a fast, transparent and reliable manner. The system is designed to support studies on Turkish language, history and culture, to digitalize institutional processes and to make public services easily accessible. The scope of BBS includes scientific and administrative software projects:

Scientific Software Projects: Publication Tracking System (YAYSİS), Activity and Support System (EDSİS), Scientific Project System (PROSİS), Scholarship System (BURSİS) and Researcher Information System (ABSİS).
Administrative Software Projects: Board of Directors System (YÖNSİS), Publication Distribution and Sales System, Human Resources Information System (İNSİS), Litigation Tracking System, Portal and Management Information System (YBS).

BBS was developed to collect institutional information in an integrated database, automate processes, save labor and time, increase data reliability and strengthen coordination between institutions. The system was designed in accordance with the “2015-2018 Information Society Strategy and Action Plan” using open source software.

Management and Organization

BBS development and management is carried out by the IT Experts Team affiliated to the AYK Scientific Studies Coordination Department. The team consists of four computer engineers:

Nalan Özgedik (Software Team Leader): Develops the Researcher Information System, Board of Directors System, Publication Distribution and Sales System, Human Resources Information System and Litigation Tracking System.
Süleyman Kuran (Network and Cyber Security Expert): Manages general web pages, server systems, physical infrastructure, firewall, e-mail system and AYK Portal.
Ayşegül Kardaş (Software Expert): Develops the Event and Support System, Scientific Project System and Scholarship System.
Gamzenur Çalışkan (Software Expert): Develops the Publication Tracking System.

Software needs are determined through coordination meetings with relevant institution personnel and Scientific Studies Coordination Department (BÇKD) work desks (project, support, publication, scholarship desks). The identified needs are evaluated by the AYK Presidency and the development process is planned by including them in the Strategic Plan and Performance Programs. Software is subjected to testing stages to ensure compliance with institution legislation and activities.

Technological and Physical Infrastructure

BBS operates on 11 servers (2 redundant database servers, 5 virtualization servers, 4 EBYS servers) positioned in the AYK system room. The system, which has a total physical memory capacity of 336 GB, can be increased if necessary. The infrastructure consists of hardware installed in 2011 and improved in the following years:

Data Storage and Backup: Data is protected with 2 redundant data storage units and 1 tape backup unit. Backups are taken daily, weekly and monthly with open source software; backup integrity is tested regularly.
Network and Access: Access is provided via ULAKNET connection at 60 Mbit/sec. The corporate network consists of 1 backbone switch, 11 side switches and 29 wireless access points. The e-mail system provides service with 500 active boxes and offers instant messaging feature.
Cyber Security: General network pages, servers and network systems are protected with up-to-date firewalls. Continuous monitoring is carried out against software vulnerabilities; Sensitive precautions are taken against cyber attacks.
System Room: The room, built on a raised floor, has 2 redundant sensitive air conditioners, FM-200 gas fire extinguishing system, 2 60 KVA uninterruptible power supplies and a generator. Entrances and exits are protected with magnetic cards, fingerprints and passwords; temperature, humidity, flooding and smoke are monitored 24 hours a day.
EDUROAM: AYK joined the EDUROAM federation in 2014 and provided academic wireless network access.
Emergency Center: An Emergency Center is being designed outside the building for service continuity against natural disasters.

The software was developed with open source technologies in accordance with the "Use of Open Source Software in the Public Sector" principle of the Ministry of Development.

Components and Software Projects

BBS is structured under two main headings: scientific and administrative software projects. Each component is explained in detail below.

Scientific Software Projects

Publication Tracking System (YAYSİS)

Purpose: To speed up publication processes electronically, reduce physical submissions and enable users to follow the process instantly.
Start: May 25, 2015.
Function: Online applications are pre-evaluated by Publication Tracking Officers; directed to referees upon the decision of the Publication Commission. Correction, rejection or approval processes are carried out through referee-author-institution interaction.
Features: Referee pool, work-referee matching, electronic archive, digital data production, standard writing principles.
Achievements: Decrease in mailings, acceleration of processes, transparency, ease of archiving.
Statistics (2015-2017): 2008 registered users (1483 referees), 981 applications (569 articles, 412 works). 52% of the applications belong to TTK, 29% to TDK, 10% to ATAM, and 9% to AKM.

Event and Support System (EDSİS)

Purpose: To manage the support processes of scientific events (symposiums, congresses, excavations/surface research) transparently and quickly, to prevent event conflicts.
Start: April 2016 (previously DESİS, EDSİS in 2017).
Modules: Application Module (support and in-house event applications), Management Module (evaluation and follow-up), Event Calendar (daily/weekly/monthly viewing), Internet Event Calendar (display of approved events).
Achievements: Application independent of time/space, coordination, prevention of date conflicts, digital data production.
Statistics (2016): 146 applications (73 event participation, 43 meeting organization, 22 excavations/surface). TTK 41%, ATAM 4%, TDK 3%, AKM 3%.

Scientific Project System (PROSIS)

Purpose: To manage project applications quickly, transparently and effectively, and to ensure coordination.
Start: March 2014.
Modules: Application Module (project and project support applications), Management Module (evaluation and follow-up).
Features: Project support (up to 58,555 TL, year-round) and project (March/September applications) distinction, automatic scoring, transparent evaluation.
Gains: Labor/time savings, transparency, coordination, numerical data production.
Statistics (2014-2017): 154 applications (TTK 66, TDK 70, AKM 9, ATAM 9).

Scholarship System (BURSIS)

Purpose: To manage undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral scholarship processes quickly, transparently and reliably.
Start: 2010 (transferred to AYK in 2012, e-Government integration in 2017).
Modules: e-Government Application Module (application reception), Management Module (follow-up and evaluation), Interview Module (jury scoring).
Features: Application via e-Government, document verification with web services, automatic contract approval, statistics production.
Achievements: Transparency, reliability, labor savings, increased institutional recognition.
Statistics (2010-2017): 259 scholarship holders (170 TTK, 72 TDK, 11 AKM, 6 ATAM), 155 theses uploaded.

Researcher Information System (ABSİS)

Purpose: To collect information on referees, jury and commission members in an integrated platform, to prevent data duplication.
Start: 2015.
Features: Updating communication, personnel, education, work, publication and project information, integration with other systems.
Achievements: Up-to-date data access, preventing data duplication, process optimization.

Administrative Software Projects

Board of Directors System (YÖNSİS)

Purpose: To conduct Board of Directors meetings independently of location, quickly and securely.
Features: Agenda creation, voting, decision recording, PDF output.
Achievements: Labor/time savings, archive access, paper savings.

Publication Distribution and Sales System

Purpose: To manage publication sales and gift distribution quickly, transparently and securely.
Start: November 2016 (TTK pilot), January 2017 (TDK).
Features: E-Store (credit card/money transfer), subscription module (TDK), stock tracking, automatic invoice/cargo file.
Achievements: Fast sales, stock up-to-dateness, labor savings, corporate unity.
Statistics (July 2017): TTK 47,984 members, 35,691 sales, 4,770 free distributions; TDK 3,626 subscribers, 461 free distributions.

Human Resources Information System (INSIS)

Purpose: To manage personnel processes (appointment, leave, salary) quickly and securely.
Features: Personnel, leave, salary calculation, reporting.
Achievements: Ease of execution, labor savings, coordination.

Case Tracking System

Purpose: To track case information in a central system.
Features: Case details, adding documents, searching.
Achievements: Ease of tracking, fast data access.

Portal

Purpose: To create a sharing platform within and between institutions, to protect institutional memory.
Features: Report, thesis, book sharing, access from anywhere.
Achievements: Coordination, information sharing, institutional memory.

Management Information System (MIS)

Purpose: To report from BBS subsystems (BURSIS, ABSIS, İNSIS).
Features: Filtering in Excel format (scholarship, personnel, researcher data).
Achievements: Fast reporting, labor savings.

Gains and Impact

BBS has digitalized the scientific and administrative processes of AYK and its affiliated institutions and has provided the following gains:

Speed and Efficiency: Application, evaluation and follow-up processes have accelerated in the electronic environment.
Transparency and Reliability: Automatic scoring, document verification with web services and standard processes have increased transparency.
Workforce and Time Savings: Personnel efficiency has increased with the reduction of manual processes.
Coordination: Inter-institutional coordination has been strengthened, activity and project conflicts have been prevented.
Data Management: Electronic archiving, digital data production and access to up-to-date information have become easier.
Institutional Recognition: Services such as e-Government integration and E-Store have increased the visibility of AYK.

Current Status and Future

As of 2017, BBS is actively used with all its modules. The Publication Distribution and Sales System, which is intensively used in the Turkish Historical Society and the Turkish Language Society, is waiting to be expanded to other institutions. With the completion of the Emergency Center, the system's resilience against disasters will increase. BBS aims to further optimize AYK's scientific and administrative processes by adapting to technological innovations.

Integrated Information System