According to a study by ISPI, the goal for the Islamic Republic “is to become the first country in the region of South-West Asia (which includes Central Asia and the Caucasus as well as the Middle East) for economic, scientific and technological development. Great emphasis is therefore given to the hi-tech sector, which is recognized as having the potential for creating jobs and for achieving rapid and continuous economic growth ”. Since his first term, which opened in 2013, President Hassan Rouhani has placed a strong emphasis on what has been called the country's fourth industrial revolution, the digital one. The backbone of this revolution was the extension of the internet network, which today reaches 932 cities and 28 villages, for a total of 45 million users connected out of a total population of 80 million, and the increase in connection speed is grown by 300% in the last three years, thanks to 4G technology. But the main resource behind the digital revolution is demographics: 60% of the Iranian population is between the ages of 20 and 32. This figure, associated with the high levels of education especially in the engineering and science sectors, supports the hi-tech development of the country, as is evident when looking at the founders of numerous start-ups.
From Snapp (the Iranian Uber) to Tahfifan (the indigenous Groupon), via ZarinPal (the Persian equivalent of PayPal) and Bamilo (the first Iranian e-commerce start-up), the creators are all young Iranians and Iranians who starting from intuitions in the technological field, they were able to exploit the large market space left free in the country by the persistence of restrictions for the majors in the tech sector, all American and therefore unable to entertain economic relations with Tehran.
A growth made possible also by the development on site of real "digital districts", such as the one in the north of Tehran - the Iranian Silicon Valley - where the Finnova start-up incubator is based, or as Avatech, another incubator born within the engineering faculty of the University of Tehran. Tehran's priority objective is “the recognized need to diversify the country's economic structure, easing the dangerous dependence on oil revenues. Although it should be remembered that, despite the dependence on oil is still high, the Iranian economy already has elements of diversification, unlike the internal economies of the region. In the period 2012-2014, tax revenues attributable to sectors other than energy were equal to 56% of the total: the highest share among the oil exporting countries of the MENA area. The development of the tech sector in Iran is closely linked to the country's economic history and sanctions. On the one hand, the progressive isolation of the Islamic Republic has stimulated the indigenous development of numerous sectors, including that of technological innovation. The strong importance reserved by the government for the development of R&D, together with the considerable incentives granted to local players, have meant that the large free space left by the lack of penetration of the western majors in the tech sector was largely filled by Iranian subjects. At the same time, however, the sanctions have also had a negative impact: the difficulty in finding the necessary components for the assembly of high-tech products has lengthened production times and raised costs, while the restrictions on exports negatively impacted sales. Now, with the gradual easing of sanctions, new opportunities are opening up: Iran's gradual reintegration into international circuits on the one hand facilitates access to materials, components and software necessary for digital development, on the other opens potential markets in regions such as Europe, Asia and Oceania, which are more profitable than the current Iraqi and Afghan markets. If the Tehran executive continues to grant strong support to the sector, there are spaces for development and cooperation between Iranian subjects and international partners, not only in terms of commercial relations but also of genuine dialogue and brain exchange.
A dynamic, this, which could help the country to overcome the long-standing problem of the "brain drain" and instead establish positive dynamics of re-entry of the brains.