The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has set up a new "science corridor" formally called The Center for Information and Communications Technology in Tehran and Alborz provinces, an official at the ministry announced.
Amir Hossein Davaii also outlined the goals of establishing the center and the ways in which startups and science-based companies will be supported by the government, Mehr News Agency reported on Monday.
He said establishment of this center is one of the six projects defined by the ministry in accordance with Resistance Economy.
The Resistance Economy is a set of policies outlined by the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to bolster economic self-reliance and curb dependence on oil revenues.
Noting that there is a direct relationship between information technology and economic growth, he said, "By attracting national and foreign investment, this center is designated to replace oil revenue with revenues from IT."
Davaii noted that these corridors and tech centers will be financially profitable, as they will attract creative workforce and create jobs, which will contribute greatly to socioeconomic development.
"The study phase of the corridor, as a multidimensional program accompanied by economic centers, has been completed and the project is being developed in Tehran and Alborz provinces," he said.
"This program will not remain limited to these two provinces and would expand throughout the country."
The official further said similar centers are also planned for five other provinces, namely Mashhad, East and West Azarbaijan, Yazd and Isfahan, but have not yet been launched.
Davaii said with a science-based approach and the assistance of consultants from Singapore, an ICT industrial town will be established in Payam Economic Zone and an ICT tech park dedicated to producing mobile applications will be set up in Karaj.
"There is also a sector dedicated to outer space communications and transportation studies," he said.
"Iran must draw on the experience of other countries that have successfully launched science corridors."
Davvaii predicted that the future of bandwidth and data-based services will be huge in Iran, as business trends show mobile phone operators are moving away from voice-based services.
