Gov’t-Hosted Boot Camps Tap Into Tech Potentials

EghtesadOnline: Iran’s Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology has held 26 boot camps in different technology areas over the past few months to train tech teams and startups for the job market.

News ID: ۷۴۹۹۳۲

29 April 2020

According to the Digital Economy Technologies Headquarters at the vice presidential office, boot camps have been held to utilize the potentials of young tech enthusiasts to address the needs and challenges of different economic sectors, Webna.ir reported.

The events were conducted by professionals in artificial intelligence, Android programming, blockchain, internet of things, web programming, digital marketing, cloud computing and big data.

According to the officials, during the boot camps, graduates, students and enthusiasts gather in an educational and experimental environment, grasping the know-how of developing their businesses.

Boot camps have emerged as a popular way to quickly gain marketable skills that organizations are looking for.

The events are typically short, lasting anywhere from several days to a few months, depending on the subject.

This makes boot camps not only affordable and time-effective when compared with university degree programs, but easier to fit into busy schedules for working professionals.

Boot camps also offer an alternative to organizations; they can send employees to boot camps to get qualified workers up to speed on new skills.

The vice presidential office says that in view of the expanding role of the country’s technology ecosystem, such specialized training courses will continue to both empower the business acumen of tech firms and startups and strengthen their ties with the conventional economic sectors.

IoT Boot Camp

One such event was a comprehensive training course named “Internet of Things Boot Camp”, held in July 2019, for youngsters, university students and graduates.

The gathering was jointly organized by the vice presidential office and its affiliate Iran's National Innovation Fund and Iran’s Internet of Things Research Center to promote IoT and its industrial application.

As the common definition of the internet of things goes, IoT is the extension of internet connectivity into physical devices and everyday objects. Embedded with electronics, internet connectivity and other forms of hardware (such as sensors), these devices can communicate and interact with others over the internet and can be remotely monitored.

In this courses, participants received professional training in the field, conducted practical exercises and developed teamwork capabilities.

Participants received 140 hours of training conducted by experts and those who passed the course received a bilingual certificate.

Since IoT is an interdisciplinary field, no matter what the study major of participants, they learned to develop different industrial fields by applying smart solutions.

At the end of the training, individuals or teams that came up with startup ideas were to be supported by the event organizers to develop their activities and commercialize their technological products or services.

Iranian policymakers believe the commercialization of smart services and products offered by homegrown tech firms and startups will reduce Iran's reliance on oil revenues and materialize a digital economy.

That is why support for new startups and technology firms has been prioritized by President Hassan Rouhani since he began his first tenure in 2013.

Growing Ecosystem

One such state support included the establishment of working places, tech parks, innovation factories and tech centers with access to professional mentors, consultants and investors.

Over the past few years, numerous tech centers have been established throughout the country.

The Iranian capital city, Tehran, pioneers the trend with two innovation factories.

The first innovation factory in the metropolis, dubbed Azadi Innovation Factory, was launched in August 2018 at an abandoned chemical factory near Azadi Square, west of Tehran. The center is backed by the Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology and is managed by Sharif University of Technology.

Highway, the capital's second innovation factory, is under construction. The factory is being established in an old building near Nobonyad Square in northeastern Tehran.

Besides Tehran, the vice presidential office has also financed several other innovation factories in Iranian metropolises to expand the startup and knowledge-based ecosystems.

According to tech officials, innovation factory projects in the provinces of Markazi and Fars are almost complete and will become operational in the coming months.

The Roads and Urban Development Ministry, municipalities and governorates in the host cities are assisting the vice presidential office in implementing these projects.

At the innovation factories, startups and knowledge-based companies find legal, technical, and financial support to expand their activities.