Three tech projects have come on stream in South Khorasan Province as part of the government's initiatives to promote the local tech ecosystem.
During a visit to the province on Tuesday, Vice President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari inaugurated the projects developed by local startups and tech teams to create innovative products, and met with provincial authorities, Isti.ir reported.
The first project is the preliminary phase of a stem cell and regenerative medicine innovative center. The center’s mission is to bring together Iranian scientific luminaries and experts in the field, apart from providing high-tech laboratory equipment for research.
The Vice Presidential Office and Iranian medical universities collaborate to support the facility, in addition to other domestic medical institutions.
The second project is an innovation center that uses artificial intelligence to improve financial market analysis and data management.
Mentors provide training in data and language analysis, as well as discourse processing to eager startups and tech teams at the innovation center.
Sattari also launched Nitech creative house, which is focused on digital content development. The house provides facilities for startups and knowledge-based firms involved in content development, such as video, sound and animation studios, as well as shared working space.
Innovation Houses
After the inaugurations, Sattari told provincial tech officials that transforming unused urban areas into entrepreneurial centers and tech houses is an efficient strategy that should also be implemented in other Iranian cities.
“Tech houses, which are smaller versions of innovation factories, are the driving force behind local entrepreneurship across the country. Such houses are designed to support entrepreneurs whose businesses are not classified as knowledge-based,” he said.
“Efforts are underway to launch such houses in all provinces in collaboration with private investors to promote the startup ecosystem nationwide.”
Sattari said many startups are innovation-based but their business does not require high technology and their final product is also simple compared to specialized knowledge-based companies.
These innovative teams and startups don’t receive adequate state support, hence the initiative aims to financially back such startups, he added.
Out of over 6,000 tech units active in the country, 1,096 are innovative teams working in the fields of e-commerce, audiovisual, tourism, entertainment, design, architecture and herbal medicine.
Innovative houses are mandated to provide mentorship, investment and consultation to entrepreneurs for boosting their activities.
The vice president announced that the scheme is progressing with two more innovation houses under construction in Zahedan and Chabahar in Sistan-Baluchestan Province.
Sattari said the scheme will be implemented in Bushehr, Isfahan, Tabriz, Tehran, Zanjan and Qazvin, in which tech infrastructures are well established, before it is extended to cover the whole country in the long run.
Ongoing Trend
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 advance 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.
