On April 5^th, 2020, a note by Parviz Karami, the spokesperson of the Vice-Presidency for science and technology affairs, was published in Jam-e Jam Newspaper.

In this note, which is presented below, the advisor to the vice president for science and technology affairs regarded the efforts of the technology and innovation ecosystem as an unbeatable scientific and technological jihad:

“When the news of the start of an epidemic broke out in China, the world did not anticipate that it would rise to the point where more than 205 countries would be involved. However, this uninvited guest was able to confront the people of the world with a new, rapid and unpredictable crisis very soon. In addition to death and closing of businesses, COVID-19 led to health deficit crisis, such as shortage in the amount of disinfectants, nano masks, as well as medical equipment and devices.

Iran, however, has an efficient and self-sacrificing medical staff working in the ecosystem of technology and innovation formed with the help of the Vice-Presidency, where knowledge-based companies, universities, scientific centers, and creative human resources are active to provide a suitable condition for the growth of the ecosystem in these days. The achievements of the scientific and technological jihad during sanctions against Iran led to achievements of the ecosystem in eliminating urgent needs of the country in the battle against COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the situation of fight against corona in Iran seems to be difficult compared to other developed countries due to its large population and distribution, high population density in metropolitan areas, as well as facing harsh sanctions. Nevertheless, strategies to fight COVID-19 in Iran have been developed in such a way that soon the concerns of the people, which were formed by some foreign media out of hostility, will be eliminated.

We were able to increase and multiply the production of nano masks by increasing the production cycle as well as the production of machines required for the production of masks with the help of the creative youth, knowledge-based companies and startups and cooperation of the people. In addition, COVID-19 detection kits made in Iran are produced with a high standard and in an urgent manner with the help of the knowledge-based companies. We have been able to act fast the area of producing drugs to eliminate corona damages.

Another knowledge-based company has been able to increase the production of the most important equipment to fight COVID-19- i.e., ventilators which is the most important ICU device, to up to 35 devices per day with the support of the Vice-Presidency in order to be prepared in the fight against this unknown virus.

Unfortunately, what we see in the international media in the current situation is that they do not prioritize the treatment of the elderlies and the vulnerable strata of their society in the fight against COVID-19. With the help of God, we will not be forced to prioritize patients in Iran.

On the other hand, there have been achievements in the IT and artificial intelligence areas in the fight against corona. In this regard, the smart COVID-19 detection system was revealed by the researchers of a knowledge-based company from Sharif University in cooperation with the medical universities of Iran and the Vice-Presidency.

One of the best ways to diagnose COVID-19, which is more accurate and less expensive, is to use artificial intelligence and CT scans of the chest to diagnose pneumonia. In this system, which is established as an assistant of radiology experts, the disease detection accuracy and speed are very high. In fact, artificial intelligence causes zero human error in the diagnosis of this disease, which is caused by fatigue and overwork in high workload and triage. The smart system of COVID-19 detection achieves a large amount of information in a relatively short period, archives them and helps evaluation and decision-making in this regard. Moreover, the system detects the disease in patients accurately, which is very important for the proper treatment of patients. The COVID-19 detection system has been established based on the new medicine and artificial intelligence.

We hope for better days and better news