About

I’m a social entrepreneur working at the intersection of technology and public policy. My work focuses on developing technologies that make governance more transparent, participatory, and data-driven.

Here, I write about the things that shape how I think, from the technologies we build to the restaurants I go to, the music I listen to, and the cigars I smoke.

Initiatives

CDR — Founder & President (2019-now)
CDR is an independent non-profit technology and research-focused think tank based in Istanbul, Türkiye, working at the intersection of public policy and new technologies. It strengthens democracy by combining data, technology, and civic innovation. CDR develops policy data platforms, civic engagement tools, monitoring reports, workshops, and digital campaigns that make public institutions more transparent and participatory.

Policyful — Founder & CEO (2025-now)
Policyful is CDR’s spin-out technology start-up that builds an AI-powered public policy and compliance intelligence platform for emerging economies. It aggregates scattered public policy data from regulatory institutions into a single unified system and integrates expert knowledge directly into AI models.

Developed with a country-adaptable no-code rule-setting module, Policyful enables local policy experts to define, adjust, and contextualize regulatory logic without technical skills. Using machine learning, natural language processing, and policy engineering, it converts thousands of pages of legislation and regulatory documents into machine-readable data and actionable insights. By empowering institutions to monitor policy changes in real time, it helps them make informed and data-driven decisions.

Experience

National Endowment for Democracy — Hurford Fellow (2023)
Spent four months in Washington, DC, conducting a perception analysis on how MPs in Türkiye approach youth-related issues by examining parliamentary records. Also participated in and spoke at roundtables on Türkiye’s 2023 elections.

Oxford Centre for Technology and Development — Researcher (2021-2023)
OCTD, a University of Oxford spin-out specializing in research, consulting, and project management, conducted international projects to which I contributed, including a Meta-funded study on digital citizenship in Türkiye, an EU-funded analysis of high-skilled labour migration to Türkiye, and a MARKA-funded feasibility study on establishing a Smart Agriculture R&D Centre.

Education

Boğaziçi University — Bachelor of Arts, International Trade

Awards

JCI Türkiye — Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award (2021)
German Embassy — Sustainable Future Project Competition, 3rd Place (2020)

Contact:

kadir@demokra.si & kadir@yagizcet.in