Following up on a joint plan of action signed between the ministries of ICT and energy, the two state bodies held a joint conference to further discuss the details of the much-needed collaboration.
The officials from the administrative agencies convened on Monday morning at the Shahid Qandi Conference Hall of the ICT Ministry in Tehran to discuss the inevitability of a technological overhaul in the country.
During the conference, ICT Minister Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi said with conventional resources such as oil and mines gradually getting depleted across the continents, developed and developing countries are shifting to information and communication technologies to bolster their economies, the ICT Ministry’s website reported.
The ministries signed a partnership agreement in July with the aim of utilizing modern technologies for managing national water and electricity distribution networks, hoping to enhance the quality of services.
While Azari-Jahromi was, for the most part, reiterating his regular stance on the necessity of employing technology in every aspect of life, one new piece of information on the joint plan of action was revealed.
Azari-Jahromi disclosed to the public that in order to help the funding of companies working toward a digital revolution in the water and electricity sector, they will use the resources of the Post Bank of Iran which is managed by the ICT Ministry.
Digital Revolution
Water and energy resources’ management has become a top priority for every nation with developed countries directing all their intelligence might to exert further control in the sector.
Pointing to the onset of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the ICT minister said developed countries collect data on the consumption of water and energy through intelligence agencies, and process and analyze the information to further their economic objectives.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds.
Azari-Jahromi said development in digital economy can be expected within the next ten years. The digital economy is based on digital computing technologies.
When it comes to the water and energy sector, the young minister intends to curb government excessive interference in the field, noting, “The Energy Ministry needs to let go of the sector and only participate in setting standards and policies.”
“We need to release the ministry’s data to the private sector, and utilize the savings we make in doing so to support companies active in the water and energy sector.”
Practical Applications
During summer, widespread power outages and water shortages threatened to paralyze the country’s economy.
The problem adversely affected industrial units and frustrated the public who put up with hours of disconnected electricity and water every single day in the stifling summer heat.
Azari-Jahromi’s efforts to introduce technology to the energy and water sector can help prevent unbearable hardships caused by another scorching summer.
The ICT Ministry has forged an agreement with the Agriculture Ministry, which is hoped to curb water consumption in the sector by 35%.
Furthermore, during Azari-Jahromi’s visit to West Azerbaijan Province, he claimed that digital revolution can revive Urmia Lake.
Less than 20 years ago, Urmia Lake, located in West Azerbaijan Province, was Iran’s largest inland body of water. Today, the lake contains only a fraction of the amount of water it did then.
While Azari-Jahromi is optimistic about the prospects of a digital revolution to save the dwindling water and energy resources of the country, skeptics worry the efforts are too little, too late.
