Alphan Manas

alphan.manas@kambocya.org.tr

Alphan Manas was born in 1962 in Izmir, Turkey. He graduated with a degree in Textile and Apparel Engineering from Aegean University in 1983. He received his Master's degree in Production Management from State University of New York (SUNY) in 1987.

He worked as a Production Manager at the New York factory of the Camera Bags and specialty handbag manufacturer Tenba. In 1987, he returned to Turkey as Country Manager of the Colonial Corporation, subsidiary of a Fortune 500 apparel giant, Vicks Corporation, and a supplier to American department store chains such as Sears, K-Mart, JC Penny, and Wal-Mart. In 1988, he co-founded Exim, followed by Planet and Teknoser, then all gathered under the flagship of a holding company, Teknoloji Holding, in 1998. He parted ways with his partner in February of 2006 and established Brightwell Holdings BV in the Netherlands and with offices in th U.S. and the U.K., taking along 7 companies from Teknoloji Holding. As co-founder and Co-Chairman, he had been in charge of “Business and Market Development” activities in Teknoloji Holding for 18 years. His most successful venture is IDDAA, the licensed sports betting project in Turkey. He acted as project leader from 2000 when this project was conceived, to November 2005, until Teknoloji Holding’s 20% stake in the company was sold to Intralot at over a total company share value of 400 Million USD.

Alphan Manas has founded and invested in many companies during his partnership at Teknoloji Holding and subsequently, at Brightwell Holdings, and also as a private investor, in energy and IT businesses, added value and successfully realized the sale of these companies to strategic partners.

Alphan Manas lead and participated in several important infrastructure projects in Turkey at the government level and assisted the related organizations in the drafting of bills, communiqués and decrees. Such projects included the Source Bar Coding of Pharmaceuticals, the Electronic Highway Toll Collection System, the 1997 Census Project, Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) system based on mechanical meters and last but not least: the roll out of “Sports Betting and Horse Racing” wagering via stationary agents, GSM, ITV, Internet and IVR platforms.

Alphan Manas is a self-taught futurist. He is a prolific inventor, industrial designer and lately spends a considerable part of his time conceiving of and devising inventions on various scales which entail the use of innovative technology.

His endeavors adhere to the betterment of society. His designs range from household items, safety and everyday products, to the redesign of existing products that have not been improved for decades. He evaluates trends, in generations from baby boomers to Gen-Z closely while continuously developing ideas to serve and convey tomorrow's technology with better life-style, living environment and products today.

He is a technology and innovation expert, working closely with institutions and University Technology Transfer Centers in Turkey and in the U.S., in realization of projects for developing countries. He is a board member at the “Institute of Ecolonomics” in the U.S., which is a non-profit organization that promotes economic sustainability of rural areas by local production of energy, food, housing and other products.

As a member of the World Future Society, he chaired the Turkish chapter and later founded Turkish Futurists Association, of which he is currently the honorary chairman. He became founder of The Millennium Project in Turkey. Millennium Project of the American Council for the United Nations University is a global participatory research think tank of futurists, scholars, business planners, and policy makers who work for international organizations, governments, corporations, NGOs, and universities. Alphan Manas is also a member of TUSIAD (Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's Association), Turkish Business and Sustainable Development Association (Founding Member), American-Turkish Council and the TUBITAK MAM (Scientific and Technical Research Council/Laboratory of Turkey, Marmara Research Center) Advisory Council (Energy, Chemicals and Environment).

After he has written several articles in a number of periodicals and newspapers, he wrote as a columnist for Forbes Turkey for 2 years, and is currently writing for BusinessWeek since December 2007. He is also an editor for FUTUREtakes magazine of World Future Society in the U.S. His blog, www.alphanmanas.com, includes his articles in various publications as well as his observations on local and global developments.

He is the Honorary Consul General of Cambodia in Istanbul since 2005. He has served as Board Member of Goztepe Sports Club from September 2007 to September 2008 and assumed the responsibility for the women’s volleyball team, which promoted to the second league.

Alphan Manas is a founding member and the board member of Istanbul Entrepreneurs Association, founded in June 2009. In the same month, he was elected to the board of the Young Entrepreneurs Council of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB).

In November 2009, Manas became the president of Mensa High IQ Society in Turkey. In December 2009, Manas received the Commander of the Royal Order of Sahametrie of Cambodia.