On the heels of Tehran, the provinces of Fars and Golestan are also witnessing investments in the establishment of technology centers, which will boost their startup ecosystems.
In Shiraz, the provincial center of Fars, a new innovation center has been established, the website of the Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology, Isti.ir reported.
The center, inaugurated on Tuesday, will be managed by Shiraz University and funded by a number of donors, the university and the government.
Attending the inaugural event, Sorena Sattari, the vice president for science and technology, said the center is expected to promote the startup ecosystem and help produce knowledge-based products in the region.
“The project illustrates that a new approach toward supporting fledgling businesses and tech units has been adopted in Shiraz University. With the assistance of the governorate, the move can contribute to the promotion of a knowledge-based economy with the help of technology ecosystem,” Sattari said.
On the sidelines of the event, Sattari visited a small-scale exhibition of high-tech products developed by local startups.
“Private companies and investors need to step forward and provide the growing ecosystem with financial and technical support. The government is required to strengthen the necessary infrastructure and provide space for developing a well-equipped and credible tech ecosystem,” he said.
A technology park in Golestan Province will be launched by the end of the current Iranian year (March 2021)
The vice president, however, emphasized that startups and tech firms should not grow dependent on outside help.
“Tech parks and factories should only act as a driving force for the fledgling businesses,” he said.
The city will house an innovation factory in the near future, based on a deal signed by six entities last year in June. The vice presidential office, Fars Governorate, Information and Communications Technologies Ministry, Iranian Telecommunications Manufacturing Company, ICT Science and Technology Park and Attar Holding Company agreed to establish an innovation factory at ITMC in Shiraz.
The move is in line with the government’s policies on supporting knowledge-based companies and startups to reduce the domestic economy's dependency on oil revenues.
The development of Iranian tech teams in different fields is a testament to the positive impact of these policies.
Projects in Golestan
According to Mehdi Ghaffari, the head of science and technology park in Golestan Province, the first phase of an innovation factory will be launched by the end of the current Iranian year (March 2021).
The project is the result of a multilateral agreement signed in September 2019 between the vice presidential office and the province's Governorate, Golestan Tech Park and Golestan Municipality.
According to officials, a 2,400-square-meter land in the central part of Gorgan has been designated for the project.
About 50 billion rials ($295,000) have been spent on the first phase of the project. According to Ghaffari, the completion of the factory project requires 150 billion rials ($887,000).
Aimed at expanding the startup and knowledge-based ecosystems nationwide, the factory will provide tech firms with shared working space, an opportunity to exchange ideas and solutions, legal and marketing consultation, as well as professional mentorship, he added.
Accelerators, startups, knowledge-based companies and investors can form a team and collaborate to promote entrepreneurship and produce technological products in different spheres.
Appreciating the growing activities of startups in the province, Ghaffari said, “Tech firms can both help apply smart solutions to different fields, like urban management and promote digital economy in the country.”
Providing detailed statistics, he emphasized that although the number of people employed by startups and tech firms in the province is relatively large, Golestan does not have a satisfactory status among other provinces in terms of the number of tech firms and startups.
“This means that the infrastructure and facilities should be further expanded to help the technology ecosystem grow,” Ghaffari said.
He also underlined that one of the factors in the way of the province’s tech sector is the lack of vacant space.
“In view of the capacity of startups and their growing trend, over 14,600 square meters of area should be available in Golestan as tech parks and innovation centers. Unfortunately, merely 1,600 square meters of vacant land is available for the ecosystem,” he said.
Without a workplace, no tech project can be defined. The tech sector in the province remains partially deprived of government resources allocated for strengthening the tech ecosystem.
However, work is on track to identify locations in the region suitable for establishing tech centers.
Last year, plans to establish an innovation center were set in motion in Gonbad-e Kavous County in the province.
Ghaffari said 30 billion rials ($177,000) have been allocated to the plan as an initial budget.
According to the official, once a suitable site is identified, tech center projects will be designed and established in other counties.
Nationwide Push
The push for establishing innovation factories and tech parks has been underway in numerous Iranian cities over the past several years.
Innovation factories continue to be launched in Iranian metropolises with the support of the vice presidential office to expand the startup and knowledge-based ecosystems.
Over the past few years, numerous tech parks have been established throughout the country.
According to reports, innovation factory projects in the provinces of Markazi and Khorasan Razavi are almost complete and will become operational in the coming months.
Innovation factory projects in the provinces of Yazd and East Azarbaijan are almost complete and will become operational in the near future.
The Roads and Urban Development Ministry, municipalities and governorates in the host cities are assisting the vice presidential office in implementing these projects.
At the innovation factories, startups and knowledge-based companies find legal, technical and financial support to expand their activities.
