ICT Park’s Directors Visited Mali's Rural Polytechnic Institute of Training and Applied Research

At the start of this meeting, Mr. Lassine Soumano, the Director-General of Mali's Rural Polytechnic Institute of Training and Applied Research, expressed his delight with the presence of ICT Park’s delegation in Mali and expressed his willingness to promote mutual cooperation: "Last year, Mali’s Minister of Higher Education and I visited Iran, and during this visit of Iranian universities, I was impressed by the advanced technology there. We are eager to develop our country by taking inspiration from Iran. In particular, the variety of the companies located in ICT Park and the diversity of their activities surprised us," he said 
"In our university, there are various fields of study, including rural engineering, economic agriculture, geotechnics, forestry, agricultural machinery, and similar items, in which students can study up to postgraduate level. There are also students from 15 different African countries studying at this university” he explained.
The Director-General of the Rural Polytechnic Institute of Training and Applied Research listed foreign partners cooperating with the institute under his management: "Regarding renewable energy, we have the support of a German company. We also cooperate with Switzerland and Canada's universities and national educational and research institutes. We hope to begin our cooperation and relationship with Iranian universities and science parks, especially ICT Park, in different fields. It should be mentioned that we are also in contact with the World Food Organization, and we held negotiations regarding concluding an MoU. Recently, we signed an MoU with one of the universities of Romania," he added. 
He stated that modernizing internal management, strengthening educational systems, and strengthening internal HR capacities are the three main strategies of this educational institution; "It would be very effective if we manage to cooperate with the Iranian parties regarding the exchange of lecturers, researchers, and students, especially in the field of skill training courses. This training can also be either online or in-person at Iranian universities," he reminded.
Later, Eng. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the Director of ICT Park’s Techno-units’ Development Center, presented a definition of an incubator; "An incubator is a place where companies are supported by being provided with governmental facilities, space, and infrastructure. The worldwide problem regarding academic ideas and the resulted final product is the way students look at business, which is far from reality. In this regard, we suggest that you invite your country's successful entrepreneurs to give speeches to students in order to help them develop their ideas," he said.
Further, Eng. Jafari described the process of establishing incubators and innovation centers in universities: "Producing marketable ideas is one of the first steps in setting up an incubator. According to the agreement made with Mali's Ministry of Science, we are looking to set up a science park in Mali, but before that, you need to establish a number of innovation centers in universities to develop new ideas," he added.
"The next step is to grow the ideas in incubators and bring them to the park after their full development. In incubators or innovation centers, you will need some mentors from academia to provide technical guidance and some mentors from the industry to provide business guidance. We will help you in developing these systems," he continued. 
Later, Dr. Abbas Ghanbari Bagestan, the Consulter for ICT Park Communication and International Affairs, expressed his pleasure about visiting this long-established institution, the performance of which is remarkable in the dissemination of innovation and agriculture: "In ICT Park, advanced technologies are employed in agriculture. Therefore, we can have an effective cooperation with your university in this field," he said. 
"One of these modern technologies in ICT Park is its Smart Greenhouse, which is fully automatic and based on IOT. These greenhouses contribute to agricultural productivity, considering issues like food crisis and drought. Moreover, many companies in ICT Park possess advanced technologies in the fields of ICT and IT security, and they are also ready to share their experiences with you," he pointed out.
Later, due to the invitation of Dr. Lassine Soumano, the Director-General of Mali's Rural Polytechnic Institute of Training and Applied Research, the Iranian delegation visited the biogas laboratory, Photovoltaics laboratory, farms, fish farms, and other parts of the Rural Polytechnic Institute of Training and Applied Research. 
It is worth mentioning that; the ICT Park delegation has already met with Mali’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Minister of Communications, Digital Economy, and State Modernization, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and visited the Kabala University Complex in Bamako, the College of Science and Technology, and the Institute of Training and Applied Research.