Infrastructure is a key in building a prosperous and fast growing startup ecosystem. In the past 4 years single handedly with the further development of internet, many sectors in tech have been enabled resulting in a tsunami of online shops and startups. Due to the fact that internet development in emerging markets usually commence later than the more developed countries, it still faces a much faster growth and speed which quickly creates a competitive market for new comers despite the market immaturity. Currently LTE internet and 3G are available in more than 1246 cities respectively in Iran. This disruptive wave has caused a massive opportunity for new businesses with diverse business models to emerge and for entrepreneurs to take advantage of this opportunity. Heavy investments in infrastructure has been done by the government to further boost the Iranian digital economy and this keyword has been proved very effective by NSR stakeholders. The digital economy now permeates countless aspects of the Iran economy, impacting sectors as varied as banking, retail, energy, transportation, education, publishing, media or health. Information and Communication Technologies are transforming the ways social interactions and personal relationships are conducted, with fixed, mobile and social networks converging, and devices and objects increasingly connected to form the Internet of things. This piece of brief document will witness in a bunch of pages will assess how Iran can maximize the potential of the digital economy as a driver for innovation and inclusive growth, and discusses the evolutions in the digital economy that NSR as your host need to consider as well as the emerging challenges they need to address as a part of national digital strategies. We believe our mission to help Iran startup ecosystem to become more global and prosperous will start by this small event that you are attending.
