Closed talent Why does Iran's scientific ability not lead to a leap of innovation? Mina Alizadeh/Publishing Author Innovation becomes the engine of economic growth when ideas can leave scientific and research environments, reach products and services and survive in the market. However, the gap between knowledge production and economic value creation is one of the important challenges of Iran's economy. A challenge that cannot be solved just by increasing the research budget, supporting knowledge-based companies or developing technological infrastructure. Commercialization of ideas requires a set of interrelated conditions; This means access to capital, stability and predictability of regulations, protection of intellectual property rights, the possibility of competition and the existence of a market that accepts new products and services. Maziar Norbaksh, head of the Transformation, Innovation and Productivity Committee of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, believes that currently Iran is not facing a shortage of talent, engineers and researchers. The main issue is the environment that should turn talent into ideas, ideas into products, products into businesses and businesses into sustainable wealth. When this chain is interrupted at several points, the increase in the number of graduates, scientific articles, inventions and knowledge-based companies will not lead to a jump in innovation and economic growth. The 2026 Global Innovation Index report shows this contradiction well. Iran ranks 81st among the 139 economies in the world, but it ranks 56th in human capital and research, and 9th in the world in the rate of science and engineering graduates. Meanwhile, the sanctions have had a profound effect on Iran's innovative environmental system. The effects of the embargo should not be limited to difficulty in importing equipment or transferring money. One of the less visible effects of sanctions is limiting the free flow of knowledge and reducing the natural connection of Iranian universities, researchers and companies with the global network of science and technology. Access to advanced laboratories, joint research projects, technology transfer, joint investment, cooperation with international companies, presence in global research and development networks, and even the daily communication of Iranian experts with foreign colleagues becomes more difficult under such conditions. One of the most serious problems in the business environment is the expansion of the license-oriented vision.

Closed talent Why does Iran's scientific ability not lead to a leap of innovation? Mina Alizadeh/Publishing Author Innovation becomes the engine of economic growth when ideas can leave scientific and research environments, reach products and services and survive in the market. However, the gap between knowledge production and economic value creation is one of the important challenges of Iran's economy. A challenge that cannot be solved just by increasing the research budget, supporting knowledge-based companies or developing technological infrastructure. Commercialization of ideas requires a set of interrelated conditions; This means access to capital, stability and predictability of regulations, protection of intellectual property rights, the possibility of competition and the existence of a market that accepts new products and services. Maziar Norbaksh, head of the Transformation, Innovation and Productivity Committee of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, believes that currently Iran is not facing a shortage of talent, engineers and researchers. The main issue is the environment that should turn talent into ideas, ideas into products, products into businesses and businesses into sustainable wealth. When this chain is interrupted at several points, the increase in the number of graduates, scientific articles, inventions and knowledge-based companies will not lead to a jump in innovation and economic growth. The 2026 Global Innovation Index report shows this contradiction well. Iran ranks 81st among the 139 economies in the world, but it ranks 56th in human capital and research, and 9th in the world in the rate of science and engineering graduates. Meanwhile, the sanctions have had a profound effect on Iran's innovative environmental system. The effects of the embargo should not be limited to difficulty in importing equipment or transferring money. One of the less visible effects of sanctions is limiting the free flow of knowledge and reducing the natural connection of Iranian universities, researchers and companies with the global network of science and technology. Access to advanced laboratories, joint research projects, technology transfer, joint investment, cooperation with international companies, presence in global research and development networks, and even the daily communication of Iranian experts with foreign colleagues becomes more difficult under such conditions. One of the most serious problems in the business environment is the expansion of the license-oriented vision.