On opening the international congress of Islamic humanities, the vice president for science and technology affairs considered humanities a unique field for startups, where a large hidden capacity exists for innovative activities, creating value added, and forming jobs.

Ayatollah Seyed Ebrahim Raisi, the Chief Justice of Judicial system of Iran, and Sorena Sattari, the vice president for science and technology affairs, were the special guests of the international congress of Islamic humanities. The prominent professors, university heads and experts of humanities field gathered in IRIB conference hall. This morning, the fifth round of the congress was initiated in the presence of its guests.

During the ceremony, Sattari considered humanities a unique field of activity for startups, expressing: this field has a suitable area of activity. However, proper activities have been carried out in the area. The ecosystem of the field is rapidly forming, and several knowledge-based companies are producing products in the field. However, establishment of several accelerators has added to the pace of this development.

Sattari continued: the Vice-Presidency has also focused on the field to form its technology and innovation ecosystem similar to other fields.

Mentioning an example of the 2500-year ceremonies, Sattari marked: the best people, equipment and foreign facilities were used in those ceremonies. The goal was to showcase the great history of Iran to the world. The movie was created by Oliver Stone. After filming and showing the movie to the king, he asked: where are the people? Since the work was done by non-Iranian people and there was no Iranian identity in the movie.

He emphasized: our universities, especially those in the field of humanities, must train students for the ecosystem and develop a new design based on our country’s features for education.

Sattari pointed out the activities of knowledge-based companies in the field of humanities, which has increased the commercialization of products, asserting: I have visited several humanities research centers, where I was shown libraries. While publication of books and articles is good and necessary, we must determine its effect on the society. Therefore, an ecosystem must be formed in the field to witness the development of related products. In total, 60% of knowledge-based companies are working in the field of humanities. Ideas can be implemented in the society by managing human resources.

The vice president for science and technology affairs also added: the commercialization of humanities products means the production of content for cyberspace, film and series production, and the development of fashion and clothing. Today, if we fail in any of these areas, if foreign toys are in our children"s hands; if our cultural births are unaffected or our cyberspace is in our hands, it means our technology companies have lost space and must believe in themselves.

The knowledge-based economy and culture-building technologies development headquarter considered the formation of the entrepreneurship and technology ecosystem a factor for lack of failure of companies, asserting: if we have a good status in areas like stem cell, nanotechnology and biotech, it is because of the ecosystem of these fields and the interplay of their actors with each other. Knowledge-based companies, growth centers, universities, startups, venture capitals and accelerators are some of the actors whose activity has led to the development of this movement.

Mentioning that Farsi has become the ninth language on the Internet, Sattari affirmed: with regard to the Farsi-speaking population, we can use this opportunity to expand our cultural products and develop the market. We are the 16th language population in the world and this language is the ninth language on the Internet.

We will support Activities in the field of Islamic Sciences and Humanities

Sattari announced the preparedness of the Vice-Presidency to cooperate with universities and professors of the field, declaring: activities of the field are supported and we welcome the synergy among professors of the field.

The fifth international congress of Islamic humanities is an effort to expand scientific innovation with the help of universities and research. Of course, in addition to scientific discussions that can provide a good opportunity in this area, the formation of large-scale group research is also pursued as a way to achieve innovation. In the course of the congress, from 412 abstracts and 363 submissions, 164 articles were accepted for final review. Selected papers are presented in specialized commissions.

A report by the public relations and information center of the Vice-Presidency for science and technology affairs