Deputy for Technology Development of ICT Park: The plan to increase the number of techno companies to more than 70 is on the agenda.

Regarding the history of attraction of the techno-companies in the ICT Park, Engineer Yazdanpanah added: “In the first call of the ICT Park, which was held in 1396 (2018) by the Technology Park of University of Tehran, as the executive agent for admission call of the  ICT Park, only four techno-companies managed to obtain the admission to the ICT Park .”

Pointing to the exponential pattern of the increase in the companies’ demand for admission to the Park, he added: “In the later calls, which were held respectively in 1397 (2019) and 1399 (2020), 34 other techno-companies in total managed to pass the arbitration procedures and to be admitted into the Park, thus increasing the number of the Park’s techno-companies to 38.”

“The main purpose and principle of the admission process is to make sure that the quality level and capabilities of the company meet the prerequisites for obtaining membership in the ICT Park,” ICT Park’s Technology Development Deputy continued, adding that the admission process for the  ICT Park will be simultaneously carried out at the main site ( located in Alborz province ) and the two branches of Mashhad and Semnan.

With regards to the  ICT park’s future plans for attracting more techno-companies, he went on to say: “the fifth admission event of the ICT Park is planned for the second half of the year 1400 (2020-21) and the number of the ICT Park’s companies is expected to reach 70 - 80 in the second half of the year .”

“The basic and least necessary conditions for the companies to apply for admission into the  ICT Park are the following: “the company must be registered and should not be a member of other Technology Parks at the same time. Also,  the applicant company must have a minimum of 3 years of activity record. It should formally have at least three financial declarations with a tracking code, for the last three years of its operation”, Yazdanpanah said, regarding the admission conditions for the ICT Park.

He further continued: “according to the financial declaration, the applicant company must have at least 8 billion Rials or 800 million Tomans of financial turnover. Additionally, the company should have a minimum of 30 monthly insurance lists in the last three years of its activities, indicating that the company is active and capable in the field of Human Capital.”

Regarding the arbitration mechanism for the products and services of the applicant companies, he also said: “for acquiring the membership of the ICT Park, the products or services of the company should be present in the market, and they should be in the process of being sold. Also, the products and services should rate at least “average and higher “in the quality level; this means that they should be created from Research and Development (R&D) processes or Reverse Engineering, and not regular non-technical works or mere commerce and imports.”

“It is also necessary for the applicant company to have a written regulated business plan, and the groundwork for the company’s main activity, according to its constitution, should be the production of the products/commodities and providing services based on information and communication technology (the ICT domain). Moreover, in field of expertise and studies, at least 50 percent of the company’s active members must be relevant to ICT or Management and Economics.”

Regarding the admission of young companies, he also remarked: “among the applicants, the companies with specialized stakeholders with an average age of under the 35 would be considered as the young companies and may use the benefits of the young companies during their “deployment” period in the Park.”

Finally, the Technology Development Deputy of the ICT Park, with regards to the evaluation process, declared: “the first step in ICT park’s acceptance and evaluation process is making the announcement through the Park’s website, informing both audience and benefactors. Then, the required forms are filled out by the audience and sent for inspection. The evaluation process begins the moment that the applicant’s file is completed and the assessment expert announces the completion of the file.”

“Then, a specialist referee is assigned for products and services of the company. In the next stage, through a jury session and consequently a working group, the plan presented by the company is reviewed and evaluated by members of the working group,” he stated.

“Finally, the last stage,  the technical referees’ and working group members’ comments will be discussed and reviewed via a report by the reception council,” he added. “Lastly,  the eligible companies and the ones lacking the minimum requirements for admission are determined.”

“The acceptance or rejection notice is sent to the companies in written form.  From the beginning to the end, this process will take around three to four months,” Yazdanpanah noted in conclusion.