We need 10 billion dollars of investment to jumpstart the digital economy – Ecomotive

Ehsan ChitsazDeputy for Policy and Planning of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, says that artificial intelligence has become a vital element in the growth of the digital economy and without its use, this sector will not be able to make a significant leap. According to him, the digital economy without AI will only remain at a limited level.

Redefining development rules with artificial intelligence

Chitsaz at the press conference of the first artificial intelligence exhibition in Azadi Innovation Factory was held, pointing to the fundamental role of AI, he emphasized that this technology is not only a tool for improving processes, but also redefines existing structures; From business models and productivity to labor market and value chain. According to him, this feature can significantly increase the share of the digital economy in the GDP.

The 14th government’s focus on AI-based development

Stating that the main focus of this ministry in the 14th government is development based on artificial intelligence, the Deputy Minister of Communications said that just as the transition platform from traditional communications to broadband was provided in the past years, now the mission of the Ministry of Communications is to create an infrastructure to integrate data, processing power and algorithms.

Data governance and artificial intelligence market formation

Chitsaz mentioned the drafting of the data governance document as one of the key measures and added that the “data market” document is also being finalized with the cooperation of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance. He considered the presence of large infrastructure companies to be necessary for the formation of a sustainable ecosystem of artificial intelligence and said that these actors can be the engine of technology transfer to different sectors of the digital economy.
According to him, the activity framework of “artificial intelligence operator” has been developed and approved in the regulatory organization.

artificial intelligence operator; The practical step of the government

The deputy of policy and planning of the Ministry of Communications announced that the artificial intelligence operator will start its activity with a minimum processing capacity of 200 and this capacity will increase by 50% every year. According to him, the approval of this plan was approved by the government board last week and the call for identifying companies applying for participation will be published soon.

The need for an investment of 10 billion dollars

Referring to the financial requirements of the digital economy leap, Chitsaz said that in order to increase the share of this sector from the current 4% to 10%, the country needs more than double growth and an investment of nearly 10 billion dollars.
He added that since the beginning of the 14th government, 1.68 billion dollars have been invested in infrastructure layers, which includes 1 billion dollars in the communication sector and 680 million dollars in the field of processing infrastructure.

Economic stability and human capital

The deputy minister of communications mentioned the policy of “guaranteed purchase of services” from artificial intelligence operators as one of the tools to create a stable market and said that this policy can provide the basis for continuous economic activity for this sector.
He also mentioned the “Iran Digital” platform, which is designed with the aim of training 500,000 senior specialists in the field of artificial intelligence and digital economy.

Warning about the reduction of specialist staff

Stating that in the last three years, about 27% of the specialists in this field have left the activity cycle, Chitsaz considered this a serious alarm for the future of the digital economy and emphasized that the implementation of the Digital Iran project can help restore human capital and return skills to this sector.

Orientation of financial resources and provision of infrastructure

According to the Deputy Minister of Communications, close cooperation has been established with the Innovation and Prosperity Fund, and this fund has devoted its support to the development of artificial intelligence at different levels; in such a way that it is targeted that half of the fund’s resources will reach this area in the coming years.
He also announced negotiations with international companies to provide processors and create a secure supply chain and said that most of the investments are concentrated in this layer.

Segregation of tasks in AI development

Chitsaz explained that the development of the application layer and applications based on artificial intelligence is mainly pursued within the framework of the missions of the presidential science and technology vice-president, and this vice-president tries to introduce AI into people’s daily applications and ensure the economic sustainability of this layer.

artificial intelligence exhibition; Showcase of internal power

In the end, the deputy of policy and planning of the Ministry of Communications said that Iran’s first artificial intelligence exhibition can introduce the country’s capabilities in the field of application, productivity and economic use of AI to activists and decision makers as a showcase of domestic capabilities.

According to Ehsan Chitsaz, artificial intelligence has become the main focus of digital economy policy in the 14th government; The axis that includes data governance and AI operator to large investment and training of manpower and is supposed to pave the way for the leap of the digital economy.