Dr. Sorena Sattari*

There has always been a proverb among the Iranians, which is used at the time of the need to contentment and saving money. It is said: “Am I sitting on a treasure?” Now that our country’s different basics from top to bottom have come to the conclusion that we are sitting on a treasure and this damned oil has made us lazy, dull, and oblivious, we have to replace it with a real treasure. Hakim Ferdowsi has composed: “the heart adorned with wisdom/ becomes a desirous treasure”. Our real, precious wealth and properties include the great thoughts, research, findings, and knowledge, which have remained undiscovered in our youths’ minds.

Unrecorded Treasures

Our universities are laden with treasure and jewels, which should be burnished properly in order to attract the entire world. Our schools are the diamond mines. Our institutes are jewelry museums, on which the dust of oil economy and crude retail’s horses’ hooves has settled. Also, we have recited these woes in different speeches and, hopefully, everybody has heard them. Yet, after identifying the problem, solving the problem is essential.

Before the Industrial Revolution in Europe, the economic status of thinking and culture had been clear and obvious. Scientific, cultural developments in the ancient times, the glorious age of Islamic Revolution, and the science development and its influence over the other parts of the world had resulted in a balance between hard and soft economics, the obvious, everlasting example of which is the written materials, which are and will constantly be reference points. However, Industrial Revolution inflicted the quick bodies of societies with gout, as a result of overeating and bad eating and extremely decreased the human motions under the profiteer industries.

Again, the world has been aware 

However, now the conditions have changed. Nowadays, many of the past experiences and lessons of the Industrial Revolution have made the world aware and awake. We do not mean that we have retarded or we have to do that, yet it is necessary for us to advance with the same pace and have a look at the past, since the past events are important.

During the last century, our country’s economy has elapsed the experience of oil great earnings and could have developed in several fields based on this economy. But, being concerned with oil economy has taken the attention of our country away from its main capitals, which are the creative, efficient manpower.

Paying attention to the neglected

In recent years, simultaneous to the growth of young, educated, and ready to work population, the public sector’s capacity for employing and job creation extremely fell. The private sector, also, which has been neglected by the government, because of the government’s reliance on oil, rather than taxes, lost its capability for job creation. Besides, construction activities, large cement, steel, etc. companies have dedicated a great deal of their manpower to the operators and technicians; thus, they provide few job opportunities, appropriate for the graduates.

In this situation, with the counsel of our Supreme Leader, the resistive and knowledge-based economy has been introduced as the main doctrine for our country’s development and the Vice-Presidency of Science and Technology has undertaken the task of being the forefront; therefore, the law of protecting the knowledge-based companies in order to develop the country’s economy, based on innovative and creative thinking was enacted.

Changing the direction towards a knowledge-based economy

Now, it is necessary for us to change the attitudes in the economy system towards a knowledge-based economy so that we pave the ground for our country’s all-encompassing development. 32 million youths, 4 million university students, 250000 graduates in engineering per year, achieving the fifth rank in training the engineers in the world, and 50000 Iranian university students studying abroad represent our country’s high potential in human capitals. Not only isn’t this potential a threat, but also paving the ground for the injection of this potential into all sections of society, we can decrease the time period for our country’s development and achieving the desirable status as much as possible.

One of the most important fields which the country relying on that and efficiently employing the human capitals, can achieve economic development and sustainable employment is the cultural industries. These industries, which are knowledge-based and make use of the cultural resources and the creativity of manpower, look at the manpower as capitals.

The combination of entrepreneurship spirit of the youth

Because of the cultural industries, one can make the Iranian-Islamic culture and history current in the daily life. If our thousands of years of culture are combined with the creativity and entrepreneurship spirit of the youth, we can achieve a kind of economy, which besides producing valuable economical products, enhances the soft power of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Further, humanities can also pave the way for its more serious entrance in the country’s basic issues and improving the life quality. Commercializing the humanities promises the realization of universities, in the level of new Islamic civilization.

Soft but hard

However, today’s developed world has made its soft, creative industries both as a means of creating the world hegemony and a means for the relative convenience of people. Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Amazon, and other such newly found entities of post industrialism era and the forerunners of the fourth wave have produced the greatest earnings with the least cash assets, but the latest intellectual assets. Besides, they have taken the matter of nature and paying attention towards the environment into consideration, which is itself a very important, crucial issue.

Here, I have to mention that I’m very hopeful and optimist about our country’s future in the meantime of soft developments era. Our dear country has cultural diversity and great age. Our country is young. The number of its educated people are high. The interest and inertia in development are great in them. Many of them, now after passing the sufferings of war, sanctions, and injustice, see a vast world in front of themselves, which they want to recognize and be recognized with it. Actually, our youths have being branded in the back of their minds; not only isn’t such a wish a disgrace, but also it is achievable.

From the treasures we have

In the field of Tourism and Cultural Heritage, we are among the most unparalleled countries. In the field of art, we have a great root. In the field of computer games, our developments have been impressive. Of course, in the field of playthings, we have faced with some problems, which, fortunately, have been identified and are being resolved. These form a major part of our cultural and identity-maker industries. However, what adds to their importance is creating social solidarity in them.

Social Solidarity

Nowadays, the networks and quick access to the information is considered not as a dream, but as a daily, objective reality. This is constantly under the changes, transitions, and mutations. The fact is that the realization of the modern and beneficial plan of knowledge-based economy will never be possible without social solidarity. The creative, cultural industries are the best means of achieving social solidarity. Also this social solidarity itself needs other capitals. In our country, economic capital, human capital, and social capital are, fortunately, available to an acceptable extent. Yet, to shine more brightly, we need “symbolic capital” as well. “National pride” is one of the means to achieve the symbolic capital. We have to identify our honorable properties more than before. We have to identify them better than before. This sense of honor should be created in all the Iranians one by one, so that our symbolic capital would be apt for competing with the other countries’. Otherwise, our development would be slow, dull, and sometimes boring. The sense of honor will cause empathy and cooperation; a sense, in which there is no obligation. Several times, I have emphasized on the fact that we owe something to our country and if something should be done, we have to do that for our country. Having such a spirit is the product of our rich symbolic capital.

Cultural Awareness

In such a competition atmosphere, which has engaged all of us, cultural awareness would help us. Nowadays, without having powerful and vigilant media, awareness is unachievable. Media is considered as the soft, identity-maker means of today’s world. One can say, one who is the most powerful, has the more powerful media. In the soft conflicts, the media is both a shield and a javelin. Thus, besides keeping our cultural capitals, we will increase the credits. The sum of these points is the working method for our cultural, creative economy to achieve brand making and flowing show offs.

Two Active Centers

The field of culture, art, and humanities is naturally a vast, great one, having many stakeholders. On the other hand, the necessity of the effective realization of governance practices in culture, art, and humanities is solidarity and integration. Thus, from the organizational aspect, the Vice-Presidency of Science and Technology has decided to establish Identity-Maker and Soft Technologies Center, based on the country’s Holistic Scientific Map, to develop modern entrepreneurship in the fields of culture and humanities. This center can properly undertake the task of developing cultural industries and commercializing the humanities. The main aspect of the practices of Identity-Maker and Soft Technologies Center is economy, culture, and art, so that it can produce wealth, job opportunities, and promote Iranian-Islamic culture. Further, the Center for the Development of Culture, Science, technology, and knowledge-based economy is one of the other centers which have been established by the Vice-Presidency to go on with the same goal, which with the smart collaboration and peoples’ and the elite’s cooperation would make such points possible; these points include the development of economic-cultural infrastructure, the correction of consumption patterns, changing the life style, supporting domestic productions, paying attention to the products’ quality, and the other economic, cultural, and political aspects of the country.

I hope that with the help of these tools and the efforts of all people, technologists, masters, and the conscientious, a situation is established in which the ugly genie of oil economy comes back to its magic lamp and lets the dusty, smoky dreams represent themselves again. Hope it comes.

 

*The Vice-President of Science and Technology and the Head of Iran’s Elites National Foundation