The event, observing health protocols, is held both virtually and in person on May 18-21.

INOTEX has become a platform for the supply of innovation and technology, exchange of technical knowledge, as well as partnerships between companies and domestic or international investors.

During the past nine editions, the event hosted over 1,850 Iranian and foreign companies and startups and more than 60,000 people have visited the exhibition.

It is expected that more than 20,000 people will attend the event which is aimed to attract investment for startups and introduce investment opportunities to them.

Over 300 companies, startup accelerators, technology parks, and investors will set up booths at the exhibition representing their latest achievements, with more than 30 hours’ side events to be held during the four-day event.

Different sections of INOTEX meet the different demands of a startup ecosystem. At the INOTEX Stage, the speakers held sessions on challenges and opportunities of the innovation ecosystem.

A section named Sarmayeh Café provided an opportunity for the entrepreneurs and startup owners in order to attract investors by holding meetings.

At the INOTEX Peach, another section of the event, startup owners competed with each other in the presence of judges and investors.

Established in 2012, INOTEX is a platform for innovation and technology, which seeks to introduce the latest technologies to large and medium-sized industries in addition to connecting customers of technology products to their manufacturers, and also introduces investors to the opportunity to invest in technological projects or start-ups.

Leading governmental organizations of Iran are the partners behind INOTEX, including Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, Presidential Center for Innovation and Technology Cooperation, and Innovation Fund.

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The fund will support knowledge-based companies interested in the oil-related sector. “The ministry wants startups to propose new ideas and innovative plans to help cut production costs and improve productivity in the key sector.”

The ministry’s R&D department is tasked with expanding technological facilities for the rapidly expanding startup companies.

Zangan opened the first Oil Technology Park in Shahr-e-Rey in south Tehran last year that is providing researchers aid and equipment to implement their plans.

Iran’s oil industry is facing major challenges especially since 2018 and after the US unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, and reimposed economic sanctions, including on the oil, tech, banking and transport sectors.

The draconian sanctions have taken the form of an economic blockade and made it impossible for international companies to cooperate with Iran. As a result, local firms and startups have been emerging to help address the numerous challenges.

Startups have already produced and indigenized key catalysts and essential equipment and parts for the petrochemical and drilling sectors, Zanganeh noted.

According to Mohammad Sadeq Khayyatian, an official with Iran’s National Innovation Fund, due to overdependence on oil export revenue, the government did not pay enough attention to the revenue-generating potential of knowledge-based firm run and manned mainly by the youth.

Khayyatian said that has now changed and Iran is increasingly counting on the technology ecosystem for creating wealth and the government is also increasing its financial support to knowledge-based companies.

“The government is planning to offer hightech firms tax and customs exemption, ease the cumbersome process of issuing commercial licenses, cut social security insurance costs, reduce the obligatory military service duration and help empower innovative business.”

Of the 5,700 knowledge-based companies in Iran, 1,418 are involved in information and communications technologies, 1,267 in machinery and equipment and 1,111 in electronic products.

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Startups active in different fields not only create jobs and money but also provide solutions for several problems in the society, he added.

In addition to insurance, tax, and licenses, the entrepreneurs should deal with problems to hire professional human resources, he said.

Some changes and innovations are needed in the infrastructure of the business ecosystem in order to use the potentialities of the young generation in order to create job and money, he said.

The use of technology in different fields will lead to improvement like smart cities in which the citizens benefit from hi-tech in their daily life, he said.

He named smart agriculture, smart healthcare, and hygiene as the fields which lead to digital transformation.

Different organizations should cooperate with each other with the goal of increasing efficiency, he said.

In February 2019, the vice president for science and technology Sourena Sattari announced that Iran plans to supply commodities, which are impeded by Iran’s sanctions, with the productions of Iranian startups and knowledge-based companies.

The existence of 6,000 startups and 4,000 knowledge-based companies provide great potential to meet national demands.

The knowledge economy should be improved and this is possible through providing entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem, Sattari explained.

In late January, Sattari announced that the knowledge-based companies meet about 97 percent of the domestic market’s need to medicine which saves $550 million for the country.

He said that Iran boasts over 4,000 startups with about 600 trillion rials (about $14.3 billion) income.

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According to an agreement signed between the agriculture research and development technology fund and ISA, some facilities are provided for the startups, Shabnam Yazdani, an official with ISA announced.

The Information and Communication Technology Ministry also offers loans to startups.

The government paves the way for development of space technology, however the private sector mostly provides infrastructure and general systems, she said.
Recently, the private sector has been engaged in activities such as remote sensing and telecommunication satellites, she added.

Firstly, ISA should introduce space technology and application of satellite data to people and then recognize their needs, which can be met by space-based technology, she explained.

“In this way, we can provide a business opportunity for entrepreneurs and startups to meet the society’s need.”

For example, space-based data and technology has a great role in agriculture. Monitoring the area under cultivation, in general, as well as cropping pattern modification and modern farm management methods and services can be provided by space-based technology, she said.

Moreover, date provided by satellites as well as metrological data and data provided by drones and soil maps and databases are important parts of a chain, which can help farmers to be more productive, she explained.

Obtaining these data helps lay the infrastructure and is costly, however the government can support startups to provide the data, she added.
Universities and academic centers can empower human resources in the field of space technology, she concluded.

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