President Hassan Rouhani launched several technology development projects worth 4.52 trillion rials ($17.65 million) on Thursday to create 7,150 jobs.
During a Thursday event, President Rouhani inaugurated the projects in Khorasan Razavi, Fars, Kermanshah and Alborz provinces via videoconference, the Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology reported on its website Isti.ir.
The first center coming on stream is an innovation factory in the shrine city of Mashhad, the provincial center of Khorasan Razavi. The factory will gather startups, knowledge-based companies and accelerators in a small-scale ecosystem and devise smart solutions for industries and businesses.
Located near Ferdowsi University, the innovation center with two industrial units is spread over 3.7 hectares.
“An abandoned soft drinks factory has been repurposed and retrofitted. The factory offers shared workspace, laboratory, innovation rooms for children, training hall, amphitheater, content development class, network development service center and a café,” Vice President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari said at the event.
“The former soft drinks factory is one of the oldest industrial buildings in the city. Turning a literally idle space into a center for nourishing the innovative ideas of youths is an unparalleled event in the history of Mashhad,” he added.
The factory is tasked with commercialize the business ideas of startups and generate income for the teams and added value for the city.
Officials believe that its proximity to the university would give startups an opportunity to interact with the academia and use their knowledge and experience.
Another innovation factory was launched in Shiraz, Fars Province. Spread over 17,000 square meters, it will focus on information and communication technologies, cultural, agricultural, medical and tourism industries, as well as maritime economy and energy.
The project is based on a deal signed by six entities last year in June 2020. The vice presidential office, Fars Governorate, Information and Communications Technologies Ministry, ICT Science and Technology Park, Attar Holding Company and Iranian Telecommunications Manufacturing Company agreed to establish an innovation factory at ITMC in the city.
According to the local officials, the factory can accommodate 500 tech teams and accelerators.
Veterinary Medicine
As achieving self-sufficiency in the medical sector is on the government agenda, Alborz, which is becoming a pharmaceutical hub of Iran, has taken a lead in the field.
During the inaugural session, Rouhani unveiled production plans for two veterinary vaccines, namely livestock foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and bird flu, developed by pharmacists in the province.
FMD or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids.
The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, followed by blisters inside the mouth and on the feet that may rupture and cause lameness.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) or bird flu is a viral infection that can infect not only birds but also humans and other animals. Most forms of the virus are restricted to birds. H5N1 is the most common form of bird flu.
According to Sattari, Iran annually imports animal medicines worth €200 million, hence indigenization in the sector can hugely slash the capital flight.
“With the help of the growing knowledge-based ecosystem, Iran has made 15 veterinary vaccines with an investment of $85 million each year,” he added.
Project in Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari
A multi-purpose gamma radiation center also came on stream during the inaugural event.
Built in the province’s special economic zone, the project is financed by the private knowledge-based company Shar Parto Iranian (GammmaSPI) and the vice presidential office, creating jobs for 3,560 people.
According to the company, the gamma radiation center can help improve hygiene and safety in medicine and industries like food and polymer.
Considering the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the center can be of great help for disinfecting facemasks, surgical gowns and medical equipment, the company experts say.
Gamma irradiation is a physical/chemical means of sterilization, because it kills bacteria by breaking down bacterial DNA, inhibiting bacterial division. Energy of gamma rays passes through the equipment and disrupts the pathogens that cause contamination.
All the projects are in line with the government’s policies on supporting knowledge-based companies and startups to reduce the domestic economy’s dependency on oil revenues.
Nationwide Efforts
Over the past few years, numerous tech parks and innovation factories have been established throughout the country to offer shared workspace and other facilities to tech units.
There are seven tech parks in Tehran Province, most of which are backed by major Iranian universities, including Tarbiat Modares University, University of Tehran, Sharif University of Technology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University and Islamic Azad University.
These tech parks carry the name of universities backing them.
Innovation factories in Tehran, such as Azadi and Highway, have also attracted numerous tech teams and startups.
Azadi Innovation Factory was launched in August 2018 at an abandoned chemicals factory near Azadi Square, west of Tehran. The center is backed by the Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology and is managed by Sharif University of Technology.
Highway, the capital's second innovation factory, is under construction. The factory is being established in an old building near Nobonyad Square on the northeastern flank of Tehran.
Tehran is not alone in its push for establishing innovation factories and tech parks. Numerous centers have also been launched across Iran.
The vice presidential office is developing innovation factories in Iranian metropolises like Zanjan, Isfahan, Tabriz, Karaj and Yazd to expand startup and knowledge-based ecosystems.
At the innovation factories, startups and knowledge-based companies find legal, technical and financial help to develop their activities.
With the extension of infrastructural and financial support, those who are active in the tech ecosystem are propelling Iran’s domestic production sector to end the economy’s oil dependency and help overcome sanctions.
