Iran’s technology ecosystem is expanding in new fields such as agriculture, health and petrochemical industries.
Tech firms are helping upgrade these sectors while gradually transforming traditional economy into a knowledge-based one.
Agriculture in Iran has a huge unfulfilled potential for technological development. To incorporate modern technologies, the Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology, Iran National Innovation Fund and Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization have launched an online event, the vice presidential office’s website Isti.ir reported.
The two-day event, underway since Sunday, is aimed at bridging the technological gaps in domestic agriculture sectors with the help of knowledge-based companies and tech firms working in the field.
Agricultural and livestock breeding, mechanization, irrigation, fertilizers, seeds and pesticides are the topics discussed with the heads of tech firms in online sessions.
Experts will also discuss the weaknesses of knowledge-based companies and startups in the field, one of the most important of which is interacting with customers of agriculture sectors.
The online sessions also cover support services offered to emerging startups and tech firms, including workshops and consultancy.
Health Tech
Recently a startup accelerator signed a deal with INIF to prepare the ground for tech firms to move forward and enter the market.
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 said, 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 subjects explored by the accelerator.
A similar initiative was launched in late April by INIF with an investment of 140 billion rials ($608,000) 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.
Petrochemical Attainment
Focusing on the petrochemical sector, an Iranian tech firm at Pardis Technology Park in east Tehran has recently developed a high-tech catalyst used in catalyst reforming.
Catalytic reforming is a chemical process used to convert naphthas distilled from crude oil (typically having low octane ratings) into high-octane liquid products called reformates, which are premium blending stocks for high-octane gasoline.
According to Hamzeh Kazerouni, the head of the tech unit, catalysts currently used in refineries have been imported over a decade ago.
“Catalysts have outlived their usefulness and with the restrictive US sanctions, more catalysts cannot be purchased from foreign sources,” he said.
“Replacing the time-worn ones with new domestic versions can boost the productivity of refineries by around 8%, raising the annual revenue of refineries by $30 million on average.”
He believes that the domestic version is far cheaper and can meet the industry’s demand.
Officials believe that supporting domestic technological growth is key to curb the country’s dependency on foreign resources and oil revenues.
These efforts are applauded by the government of President Hassan Rouhani since he took office for his first term in 2013. He has placed the extension of resources and facilities for boosting the country’s technology ecosystem high on the agenda.
