Salion Niang Deing demanded the presence of ICT Park in the Joint Commission of Cooperation between the two countries

Dr. Abbas Ghanbari Baghestan, Advisor to Communication and International Affairs of ICT Park, after welcoming the ambassador warmly and playing the introduction clip of ICT Park, represented a detailed report on the Park’s activities and propulsive projects including food security and smart IoT greenhouse, digital content production, etc., as well as the Park’s potential fields for the development of international cooperation, and potential services and capacities of ICT Park. He also introduced ICT Park’s active sites in Alborz, Mashhad, and Semnan. 

Advisor to Communication and International Affairs of ICT Park gave explanations on optimal water consumption and high productivity of the smart greenhouse based on ICT Park’s Internet of Things and stated that in this greenhouse, water consumption has decreased to 25 liters for the production of one kilogram of tomato, while this amount is 40 liters in traditional greenhouses. However, ICT Park is trying to reduce water consumption to 15 liters. The amount of productivity is also 38 kg per square meter, which is equal to 15 kg in traditional greenhouses. It is also worth noting that ICT Park's smart greenhouse is based on the Internet of Things (IoT). Therefore, in this greenhouse, all parameters must be monitored and controlled through the web and the Internet and there is no need to use human resources. 

ICT Park's advisor to Communication and International Affairs further noted that Senegal’s Digital Park contacted ICT Park six months ago and two online meetings were held in this regard. Since the officials of this park had limited experience in the field of park management and were in the first steps of science and technology parks development, they had a great desire to utilize the experiences of ICT Park.

Dr. Ghanbari Baghestan stated that, under the management of Dr. Sadigh Damghanizadeh, ICT Park has a unique feature, since he founded the first science and technology park in our country about 30 years ago and was appointed as the head of the science and technology park of Tehran University. Therefore, he has provided ICT Park with valuable experiences in the field of technology park management.

He said that currently 62 technology companies are set in ICT Park, and all these large and advanced companies possess their own products. These companies can also develop effective cooperation with their counterpart companies in Senegal. 

Advisor to ICT Park’s Communication and International affairs stated that ICT Park follows up on all its proposals and plans in an operational manner. In addition to the Memorandum of Understanding that was recently signed between ICT Park and Alghazala Technopark of Tunisia, an Action Plan with a specific schedule was also presented.

In the end, Dr. Ghanbari Baghestan suggested that because we believe that there are many talented students and graduates in universities, we welcome cooperation with Senegalese universities and providing them with practical training.

Furthermore, Dr. Mohammad Jaafar Sadigh Damghanizadeh, Advisor to the Minister and Head of the Information and Communication Technology Park, after a warm welcome to the Ambassador of the Republic of Senegal in Tehran, discussed 25 years of experience and raised the basic requirements for the establishment of a science and technology park in any country and stated that he will gladly share his learned knowledge and experiences with Senegal.

The head of ICT Park continued by referring to the structure of science and technology parks in Iran as a unique model which includes scientific and research requirements and processes, suits its owning organization and institution and leads to the development of the knowledge-based economy.

Dr. Sadigh Damghanizadeh explained that in near future we will have a network of smart greenhouses that will be managed only through the control center using the Internet of Things and therefore there will be no need to use human resources. 

This technology can also be implemented on the farms. ICT Park will be pleased to share these valuable experiences with other countries, especially African countries.

He stated that parks are the new generation of research institutions. Private companies based in the park are continually researching and developing advancements and ICT Park supports them in this direction. 

The Advisor to the Minister and the head of the Information and Communication Technology park noted that there are three types of science and technology parks in Iran: General Science and Technology Park, University Science and Technology Park, and Science and Technology Parks which are exclusively focused on one industry.

ICT Park is specifically engaged in the field of Information and Communication Technology. In all kinds of science and technology parks, the ideas and methods are different, but the overall goal and policy are the same.

In fact, the main goal and mission of university parks is to help universities to upgrade from the third generation to the fourth generation. Nowadays, universities teach students entrepreneurship and business development.

In the end, Dr. Sadigh mentioned that ICT Park's cooperation proposal is to create and launch a Joint Innovation Center with one of Senegal's universities or science and technology parks.

Mr. Salion Niang Deing, Ambassador of the Republic of Senegal in Tehran, while expressing his gratitude for getting to know ICT Park, explained that he was surprised by the ICT Park’s smart IoT greenhouse and the cultivation of crops in such a limited-space and he demanded to adopt the technology of this smart greenhouse since tomato cultivation in Senegal is done in a completely traditional way.

Pointing out the presence of the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this visit and the imminence of the joint commission on cooperation between the two countries, he requested the presence of ICT Park in this commission.

Referring to the importance of the agricultural sector and the necessity of its development, according to the current situation, the Senegalese ambassador considered it very important to utilize the capacities of ICT technologies such as the Internet of Things using the experiences of ICT Park.

In the end, Mr. Salion Niang Deing expressed that what is important is to establish communication and carry out initial negotiations between ICT Park and its counterpart institutions in Senegal. Considering ICT Park's vast experience in the field of park management, ICT Park will undoubtedly handle this issue more effectively and we are willing to cooperate in facilitating this communication.

The meeting concluded by a visit to ICT Park's smart greenhouse and Noor Behineh Gostar Co. It should be mentioned that in this visit, in addition to Dr. Mohammad Jafar Sadigh Damghanizadeh, Dr. Abbas Ghanbari Baghestan and Mr. Salion Niang Deing, Eng. Jafari, head of ICT Park’s Market Development Deputy, and Mr. Hossein Parvaresh, head of the Senegal desk at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were present.