In line with the objectives of the 2024-2028 Strategic Plan, it is imperative that universities, in addition to their educational and instructional roles, also fulfill one of their most crucial duties: contributing to society. As a result, responding to societal needs has been identified as one of the five fundamental goals. In this context, contributing to the quality software services that society requires aims to ensure that the comprehensive software needed by Turkey can be developed domestically in the most reliable manner. This includes training software developers who will work towards developing software for increasingly critical areas such as metros, airports, nuclear reactor management, and defense with techniques approaching zero defects. Equipping software engineers with contemporary theoretical and practical knowledge is crucial for guiding the technology needed by the economy. This task has been undertaken by the software engineering departments of universities. Additionally, identifying the necessary data models and data structures for solving problems based on computer software in different disciplines is among the core objectives of software engineering. Our department continues to serve as a bridge between stakeholders producing societal added value and the academic and scientific community. In line with the strategic plan prepared by the university, it aims to contribute to the training of the workforce by adhering to the societal contribution policy. This objective is pursued through collaborations, internships, and workplace training with public and private institutions and non-governmental organizations.

Due to its application-oriented nature, the Software Engineering Department at the Faculty of Technology in Of integrates project-based student development resulting in product-oriented works into the societal contribution process. On the academic level, final year students are directed towards TÜBİTAK 2209-A and TÜBİTAK 2209-B projects for their graduation projects. The accepted and ongoing projects of our students are available at this link.

Activities organized for the purpose of disseminating knowledge to society, which is an important part of societal contribution, are carried out by our department's faculty members, our students, and the Software Club coordinated by our students. Information on the activities attended by our faculty members in 2024 is provided in Table 1.

Table 1. Activities Organized in 2024 for the Purpose of Disseminating Knowledge to Society

The Software Engineering Department, aware of its societal responsibilities, adheres to the rules determined by our university's 2024-2028 Strategic Plan to effectively fulfill its mission of responding to societal needs and being a solution-oriented department. The strategic plan performance indicators are monitored through the KTU Strategic Plan data entry system within our university. Additionally, the activities listed on our department's website are also considered in the monitoring. The number of visitors to our website over the years is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Number of Visitors to the Software Engineering Website by Year