A memorandum of understanding was signed by Parviz Karami, the secretary of the headquarters for culture knowledge-based economy, Esmaeil Ghaderifar, the president of the strategic technologies development headquarter, and Abolhasan Riazi, the CEO of Hamshahri Institution, to establish Hamshahri Media acceleration and innovation center.

During the program, Karami declared his membership in the media family, expressing: I am happy for the opening of this center for three reasons; as a citizen, as a journalist and as the secretary of headquarters for culture knowledge-based economy.

According to Karami, the center will help to penetrate and use more emerging technologies in the field of media and while facilitating employment for graduates of these fields, will facilitate the entry of technology into the field of media.

Karami continued: one of the main missions of the Vice-Presidency is building culture and creating the innovation ecosystem in various fields of industries in the country. Despite many successes in this field, the media field lacked this achievement until today.

Proving the Scientific Abilities and Dignity of Iran in Corona Pandemic

According to the president of the information and communications center, today, Iran's achievements in the field of science production are commendable. Iran is ranked fourth in nanotechnology, seventh in aerospace, seventh in biotechnology and below 10 in most other disciplines.

The secretary of the headquarters for culture knowledge-based economy also marked: Iran has been successful in the prevention and treatment of corona disease in line with other countries with the help of knowledge-based companies.

Karami continued: 20 days after the outbreak of corona, a production line of masks and diagnostic kits was established in the country. Today, we have become one of the exporters of masks, diagnostic kits and ventilators in the world.

A Gap in Iran to Achieve the Ideal Point of Cyber Journalism

Karami continued: about 190 years have passed since the formation of the media in its modern meaning in Iran, but there are still shortcomings in the production and distribution chain in this area. For instance, we have still not reached a desirable cyber journalism point in the country. Despite the attempts made by the pioneering media, such as Hamshahri Newspaper, there is still a long way to use the newly emerged technologies of the field, which requires the use of open innovation and a higher share of Hamshahri Media.

 

 

The Country's Traditional Media Engagement in Daily Life

Karami also mentioned: our media was still competing with digital and online competitors, when the discussion of multimedia technologies and the use of VR and AR technology was added and entered the world media. These capabilities are also available in Iran, but they are not used well. For example, despite our high potential in the field of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, we still do not use it properly in our media.

Karami added: why don’t we use the technology to develop transnational activities of the country's media? Why shouldn't the creative ideas of educated young people in the field of media lead to its technological development?

He marked: establishing a media innovation center can be a safe haven for presenting innovative ideas in the field of media in the country. We need to make this center a place to turn innovative ideas into a media product. This event is a good opportunity for the national and international development of the country's media.

The advisor to the vice president for science and technology affairs mentioned that Farsi language has become the 7^th international language in the world, emphasizing: why don’t we use this opportunity to attract global markets? Why don’t we turn this opportunity into a foundation for the technological development of the media in the country? In the field of printing and publishing, our media can become regional publications for neighboring countries.

Acceleration of Innovation and Technology Entrance into the Media Field

The secretary of the headquarters for culture knowledge-based economy added: our media are engaged in everyday life and issues such as higher triage and income. This has prevented them from entering the field of innovation and technology.

Karami added: today, we witness that many people with innovative ideas can enter Hamshahri Media Accelerator with the help of Hamshahri Newspaper in order to use their capacity to technologically and innovatively develop the media.

The advisor to the vice president for science and technology affairs marked: the center is opened across the University of Tehran, which is near students and graduates and they can make technological evolution in the field of media.

According to Karami, the innovation center provides a space for development of entrepreneurship, meaning that the foundation will be laid in the center to commercialize innovative ideas in the media field.

 

 

 

 Attracting Innovative Ideas in the Media Field

The advisor to the vice president for science and technology affairs declared: Hamshahri Newspaper has been able to perform its social responsibility regarding attracting specialized forces and newly emerged technologies in the field of media. The Vice-Presidency is prepared to support this innovation center.

Opening the Media Innovation Center Within the Next Two Months

During the meeting, Abolhasan Riazi, the CEO of Hamshahri, pointed out the advancement media innovation area to be the main policy of Hamshahri Newspaper, asserting: we have taken effective steps in this direction, but we have not yet reached the desired point, which we hope we will be able to achieve by setting up a media innovation center.

 

He also mentioned: Hamshahri Innovation Center will be opened in the next two months. The center will play a major role in the development of media system in the country. Hamshahri Institution has allocated 200 billion Tomans to this project. However, such projects do not have early returns and we must be patient.

A Place to Emerge Creative Media Startups

During the ceremony, Esmaeil Ghaderifar, the head of the strategic technologies development center, asserted: I have been one of the fans of Hamshahri Newspaper. This newspaper is one of the leaders in the field of media innovation in the country.

 

 

He expressed hope that the existence of such a center would be a place for the emergence of creative startups, where new and creative ideas are injected into the field of media.

In the end, a joint memorandum of understanding was signed between the Vice-Presidency and Hamshahri Institution. The agreement was signed between Parviz Karami and Abolhasan Riazi with the title of “creating media acceleration and innovation centers”.

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