The Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology, a major supporter of the growing startup ecosystem, has taken new steps for extending the reach of technology by forging ties with other sectors, including industries.
In a bid to inject modern technologies into conventional industrial sectors, the vice presidential office has signed an agreement with Iran Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization, affiliated with the Industries Ministry.
According to the vice presidential office’s website Isti.ir, the deal was signed on Wednesday by Peiman Salehi, deputy for innovation and technology commercialization at the office, and Mohsen Salehinia, the CEO of ISIPO.
The move is aimed at encouraging the establishment of innovative industrial units and upgrading the quality of products and services offered by small- and medium-sized enterprises.
From a broader perspective, preparing the ground for expansion of technology in the country will help improve the labor market.
The two sides of the agreement are committed to develop the technology infrastructures required for innovation centers and empower specialized technical centers that act as technology supporters.
Technology in Art Sector
Performing arts is another sector that aims to incorporate technologies in collaboration with the vice presidential office.
Late last week, Mohammad Hossein Sajjadi, the head of soft technologies development headquarters at the vice presidential office, and Qader Ashena, the head of the Department of Performing Arts at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, signed a deal to support startups and tech firms working on performing arts, especially theater performances, and boost the sector’s profitability.
Flourishing the art sector and upgrading the technological infrastructures of national art-based festivals are also envisaged by the deal.
Based on the deal, the Department of Performing Arts has agreed to provide tech units with statistical data to help manage the sector more efficiently.
In addition, tech teams will present periodical performance reports to help remove bureaucratic barriers during regular meetings.
The vice presidential office is also committed to identify and introduce tech teams and soft technologies to boost convergence between the two sides for materializing the deal’s goals.
The two sides will utilize their capacities for establishing the technological infrastructure in the art sector.
Similar Steps
Since the government announced its policies on supporting knowledge-based companies and fledgling startups in 2013 when President Hassan Rouhani began his first term, the technology ecosystem has flourished in many fields.
Officials believe that tech firms are helping upgrade almost all sectors while gradually transforming traditional economy into a knowledge-based one.
For instance, a startup accelerator recently signed a deal with the state-backed Iran National Innovation Fund to prepare the ground for tech firms to enter the medical and health markets.
According to Arian Aqili, the head of the accelerator, the fund will provide startups and knowledge-based companies with financial assistance for producing a prototype for medical items and carrying out preliminary examinations.
Instead, he added, the accelerator will receive a share of the tech firms’ profit after they commercialize their products.
Regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, probiotic and functional foods, nanotechnology targeted therapy for cancer, scar patches, medicine and health-protective items such as sanitizers are explored by the accelerator.
A similar initiative was launched in late April by INIF with an investment of 140 billion rials ($622,000) in nanotechnology firms to boost the domestic production of health-protective items used for stemming the transmission of coronavirus.
According to the fund’s website Inif.ir, Iran Nanotechnology Innovation Council helped INIF sign contracts with eligible knowledge-based companies.
Mohammad Ali Bahreini, the head of Nano-Fund Department at the council, said the contracts are geared toward the production of N95 and N99 facemasks needed by the medical staff to fight the Covid-19 outbreak.
The money was also to be spent on upgrading machinery, especially electrospinning machines, used in the production of masks.
Electrospinning is a fiber production method that uses electric force to draw charged threads of polymer solutions or polymer melts up to fiber diameters to the tune of some hundred nanometers.
The method has the potential to produce seamless non-woven items by integrating advanced manufacturing with fiber electrospinning. This would introduce multi-functionality (flame, chemical, environmental protection) by blending fibers into electrospin-laced layers in combination with polymer coatings.
