Referring to the role of innovation factories in the transformation and processing of innovative ideas, Ruhollah Dehghani, the Vice President of Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy, said: Innovation factories are a suitable platform for processing new ideas. These factories provide an opportunity to transform an idea into an innovative product or service aimed at meeting the needs of the market and society.

Dehghani, stating that the concept of innovation factory is one of those standard and established concepts in global dimensions, continued: Although we have a lot of words, symbols and signs in the country's innovation ecosystem, which are different in appearance but follow the same goal in content. However, the innovation factory is one of those concepts that has opened its place in the ecosystem of technology and innovation and has proven its role as an effective issue in the field of technology and innovation.

The head of the National Elites Foundation said: When we talk about an ecosystem or a biome, it means a space that can continue its work even if we close all the doors on it. To build a real technology and innovation ecosystem, we need to eliminate ineffective elements and focus on efficient and important elements.

Referring to the stages of evolution of the value chain, Dehghani said: One of the three main stages of the value chain is the transformation of science into the wealth of science. Science, which is processed, produces technology. The combination of several technologies leads to innovation and the processing of these innovations to production and the market. Innovation factories are mainly based on innovation and market needs.

The vice president of science, technology and knowledge-based economy, referring to the existence of two approaches based on science to the market and the need of the market to science, said: One view is from the nature of science to the market, and in this approach, first the science of production and finally the product or service is produced. But another view that can be seen in more successful but less demanding countries, mainly European and Asian, is the view based on market needs. In this approach, first the market needs are taken into consideration, then based on the solution of that problem or need, the production of knowledge, technology, innovation and product or service is done. At first glance, because the end of the work is not very clear, it may lead to extraordinary events, but the costs of this approach are high. In the second view, which is based on market demand and elasticity, it costs less, but nothing extraordinary happens and we see the improvement of a product or the creation of a service based on demand.

Dehghani stated: The growth center is not just an infrastructure or a building, but a platform and software that makes the process of doing innovative work possible with the facilities it provides.

The vice president of science, technology and knowledge-based economy explained in the definition of the innovation center: The innovation center is a group that forms a stable relationship between customers who have a problem and problem solvers. The innovation center is formed between several customers. In these centers, the problem is clear and the people who solve the problems are settled in these centers and finally the customer's problems, which can be a business or an industry, are solved.

He added: Innovation Factory or Startup Studio is also a supply-oriented platform and supports ideas that want to bring an innovation to the market. The innovation factory does not produce products, but is responsible for supporting and guiding teams that have ideas so that they can turn this innovative idea into a product or service and deliver it to the market.

He stated that the art of innovation factories is to connect technologies to each other and bring an innovation, adding: The creative link between technologies that leads to innovation is the mission of the innovation factory.

Dehghani continued: Providing the necessary space for the formation of this innovation is the main task of innovation factories, and there is a network of infrastructure and requirements for the development of innovation, such as fablabs, workshops and laboratories in the network of innovation factories. In fact, production without a factory is one of the capabilities of the innovation factory.

The President's vice president for science, technology and knowledge-based economy stated: Innovation Factory is a platform for accepting startups with the approach of science to innovation.

Dehghani stated that the role of the private sector has made the innovation factories to have a more pragmatic and functional approach compared to other concepts of the ecosystem of technology and innovation. Cultivating an idea to bring it to innovation is managed. The private sector, with its correct and accurate knowledge of the market and its belief in achieving the product, can achieve added value.

Referring to the support of innovation factories, Dehghani said: the process of evaluating knowledge-based companies is evolving, and accordingly, innovation factories can be a platform for the approval of knowledge bases and a communication platform between the vice presidency of science and these companies based on their capabilities.

He expressed hope that a new plan in the field of innovation will be launched with the help of innovation factories and their advantages. Also, play a role in publicizing the vice-presidency of science and introduce the wide range of services and support of this vice-presidency to the technology, innovation and creativity community of the country.

Vice President of Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy stated: Various types of tax exemptions, customs, duty system, the possibility of foreign exchange, the existence of technology development headquarters and the development of knowledge-based economy, a wide network of laboratories and hundreds of other services are only a part of the facilities that the Vice Presidency of science has at its disposal, while mostly the activists of the technology and innovation ecosystem are less aware of these facilities. Innovation factories can play a role as the communication hub in the vice presidency of science and the ecosystem of technology and innovation and provide these facilities to the activists of this ecosystem.

Vice Presidency of Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy