T.C. Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Deputy Director General of Communications and President of ITS Türkiye
Esma Dilek, born in 1981 in Denizli, graduated from Yıldız Technical University with a degree in Computer Engineering in 2003. After working for about 1.5 years as a Software Engineer in the private sector, she started working as a Computer Engineer at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Traffic Department in 2006.
As part of a project initiated by IMM, she had the opportunity to pursue a master's degree in the United States. In 2010, she graduated from Boston University with a master's in Computer Science and continued her role at the IMM Traffic Department as a Software Development Specialist.
At the Traffic Control Center (TKM), she worked on various projects as an application developer for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) on desktop, internet, and mobile platforms. She served as the Deputy Director, overseeing the technical and administrative aspects of IMM's ITS components, systems, and software both in the field and at the headquarters.
She managed the VITAL and R4E (Roadmaps for Energy) projects, for which IMM was awarded grants under the European Union's 7th Framework and Horizon 2020 programs.
Since April 2020, Dilek has been serving as the Deputy General Manager of Communications at the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, while continuing her doctoral studies in the Information Security Engineering Department at Gazi University. She has published papers at numerous national and international conferences and articles in peer-reviewed journals on topics such as the impact of mega projects on Istanbul's transportation, cybersecurity in intelligent transportation systems, and computer vision applications. Her research areas include ITS, computer vision, deep learning, and cybersecurity.