On the first day of the Inotex 2024 exhibition, a panel titled “The role of innovation infrastructure in setting up knowledge-based businesses and co-creation centers” was held.
According to Iran digital economy annotation, the 13th edition of the Inotex exhibition started on the 7th of May 2024 in Pardis Technology Park. On the first day of this four-day exhibition, which is organized by the Vice-Chancellor of Science, a panel was held on the role of innovation infrastructure in the startup ecosystem of the country, and “Mohammad Hossein Sajjadi Nayeri”, CEO of Technotejarat Company, “Farzin Fardis”, CEO of Sarava Company, and “Majid Dehbidipour”, the innovation consultant of the Sharif University of Technology, “Zahra Mohammad Hashemi”, the vice president of the Innovation Ecosystem Development Office, and “Soheil Abbasi”, the innovation vice president of Hamava Innovation Factory, were present as panel moderators.
At the beginning of this panel, Zahra Mohammad Hashemi stated that the development of innovation has a 10-year experience as a scientific assistant. He stated: “During these years, a maturity was formed in the vice-chancellor that innovation centers are formed next to industrial centers. Then innovation factories were discussed and with the support of the Scientific Vice-Chancellor of Innovation Centers, they were formed. “Last year, we came across 10-12 different titles of the innovation and creative center, and our main concern was the industrialization of innovative products.” According to Hashemi, the cycle of formation from idea to product was completed last year.
Soheil Abbasi, the moderator of this panel, referring to the number of innovation and startup centers in the country and the famous simile “every Iranian is an accelerator”, said: “In the previous government, perhaps the approach of justice was access for all people, and we encountered a number of entrepreneurship centers throughout the country. But in my opinion, in the current government, the approach of focusing these centers is on the agenda.”
The infrastructure itself is not important
Referring to the role of innovation infrastructure in the country and comparing it with the environment outside Iran, Farzin Fardis, CEO of Sarava, said: “Last year, I went to Berlin, Germany to participate in an innovation conference. I expected all the details of the ceremony to be very advanced and expected to witness the presence of robots. But the simplicity of the event was interesting to me. The ceremony was held in a simple area outside the city. I was comparing it with Azadi Innovation Factory, how much effort was put into it and how interesting it is.”
Reviewing what innovative companies are doing in advanced countries, Ferdis said: “My second observation from Berlin was that car companies had set up technology showrooms in the city; For example, Volkswagen and Porsche companies. Other big companies in the heart of the city opened their doors to ordinary people to get to know their technologies. For example, in Canada, ordinary people can pass through some universities and have access to different parts of it. The result is that we make the infrastructure available to many people. By doing this, we help many people to open their feet to that innovation center and environment. In my opinion, the infrastructure in itself is not important, how many thousands of people go to that center and hope is the real story.”
Fardis continued, I really like the new approach of the scientific vice-chancellor to work on networking. He said: “I’m very grateful to the former and current friends of the deputy. In a country that can take advantage of rent and non-productive space, if someone is at the foot of developing technology, he should be congratulated.”
The growth of innovation depends on the increase of coffee shops!
Majid Dehbidipour began his speech with the following sentence: “Necessity is the mother of innovation.” He clarified: “We should not build infrastructure unless there is a need.” Form follows function, and content and infrastructure must be in harmony. The names of our innovation centers are too many and confusing. Was there a real need for all of them to exist?” He mentioned the conference he attended several years ago in Australia and said: “One of the guests, who was very old, came up and said, “I don’t know what to say that will hurt your audience. But when you go back to your countries, go and increase the number of tea rooms and coffee shops. The space of innovation is not only born from centers and laboratories; Expand the networking space!
Mohammad Hossein Sajjadi Nayeri, the CEO of Technotejarat, while stating that we currently have 9,000 knowledge-based companies in the country, said: “The 12-year path of the scientific assistant shows that there was a time when there was an imagination that only an entrepreneur who returned to Iran from abroad could attract capital here; But now, how much Park Pardis has expanded by relying on domestic power. Now, I think we are in the season of making these institutions work. “At the moment, we only have about a hundred and a half accelerators.”
In another part of this panel, Majid Dehbidipour, the innovation advisor to the president of Sharif University of Technology, stated: “Sharif University of Technology did not come to establish a technology park from the beginning. First, he started an entrepreneurship center and the university kids became a team, and then the same people said they want to participate. Then they started the growth center, and then the university created a fund, and finally the technology park was formed.” Pointing out that in Sharif University, infrastructure was created from the side of need, he clarified: “In this situation of lack of money in the country, it is better to focus on the quality content of innovation centers. In my opinion, it is important to manage these infrastructures in the hands of relevant people.”
Farzin Fardis, the CEO of Sarava Company and a member of the Board of Directors of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, said in the continuation of this panel: “Dr. Soroush Ghazinouri from the Scientific Policy Research Center of the country, in collaboration with Mrs. Rajabzadeh, carried out a project called “Ecosystem Vitality”. I was interested in the relationship between people in that report. This issue is low in the ecosystem, but it should be much more. At the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, we are thinking about how to bring the Z generation into the space where the weight and presence of middle-aged people is more. For this purpose, we have created a floor of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce building on Motahari Street so that young people can come and get to know the chamber and the people of the chamber can also get to know the atmosphere and way of thinking of innovative people.
Referring to the dynamism and uplifting atmosphere of innovation and startup centers, Fardis continued: “I remember that in April 1400, I went to Azadi Innovation Factory with Mr. Masoud Khansari, the former head of the Tehran Chamber. We were supposed to be there for an hour, but we stayed at the factory for four hours. At that time, I was not a member of Hamava’s board of directors. That day, Mr. Khansari said that twenty days of rest on Kish Island would not relieve my fatigue as much as these few hours of visiting the factory. The young people who are there are valuable. We must open the feet of such people to these centers.”
The CEO of Technotejarat pointed out that there are a lot of dramatic claims in the country and said: “I think the issue is an important issue. If we set an index, we can measure the quality of the outputs after the passage of time and succeed. “If we move forward based on the index, we can respond to the needs.”
Fardis also clarified in this regard: “Our problem is not ignorance. We all know that dramatic innovation wastes the country’s resources. Multi-rate currency and rent is bad. But we do not act. We have to go to the action stage and complete the indicators.”
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