Iran's second technology center will be inaugurated on May 18, said the head of Iran's Innovation and Prosperity Fund.
Behzad Soltani added that the second technology center, affiliated to Iran's Sharif University of Technology, will be inaugurated in the presence of First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri, IRNA reported.
The center will be home to 36 knowledge-based firms, 11 of which have already set up offices at the premises.
The first technology center was funded and inaugurated by IPF at Tarbiat Modarres University in the last Iranian year (ended March 19).
The official noted that permits have been issued so that IPF can fund and set up six more centers that will each be focused on a scientific area. The universities and specialized firms cooperating with the fund are Amir Kabir University of Technology, University of Medical Sciences, aviation and space firms, and startup accelerators.
"The center will be set up in collaboration with firms and universities, and IPF is closely following up on the progress of these projects," he said.
The IPF is also conducting research to set up similar centers in cities other than the capital.
According to Soltani, technologies centers will also be set up in the provinces of Mashhad and Semnan, but the precise locations have not been finalized.
"Knowledge-based firms from other provinces such as Tabriz and Yazd have also filed requests with the IPF so that technology centers can be set up there," he said, adding that the IPF is assessing the requests.
Soltani projected that with the inauguration of six centers and setting up new ones, the number of technology centers will reach 11 by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2017).
These centers are set up to support and promote knowledge-based firms and economy. To set up a center, at least 10 knowledge-based firms must join forces before they file a request with IPF. The fund will purchase a center and sell them to the firms based on a rent-to-own contracts.
