Organizing the Ninth Conference on Scientific Progress and Development of the Country by the of Scientific Associations of Iran Council Sponsored by Khatam University

The Ninth Conference on Scientific Progress and Development of the Country was held on Saturday, February 12, 2022 by the Scientific Associations of Iran Council and with the support of Khatam University in the conference hall of the University with the presence of Dr. Peyman Salehi - Deputy Minister of Science, Research and Technology, Dr. Majid Ghasemi - Chairman of the Scientific Associations of Iran Council and Chancellor of Khatam University, Dr. Mohammad Jalali, Secretary of the Scientific Associations Commission at the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, and a group of directors and board members of Iranian Scientific Associations.

According to Khatam University Public Relations, this conference was held in two separate specialized sessions, the titles of which were: "Development of Technician Human Capital Competencies" and "Innovation and New Technologies".

This conference was held both in person and online and managers and members of scientific associations such as Iran Genetics Association, Iran Scientific Development Society, Iran Engineering Education Association, Iran Technology and Innovation Management Association, Iran Business Excellence Association, Iran Management Association, Iranian Society of Command and Control, etc. attended the conference and presented their speeches and proposals on the topics of meritocracy, pragmatism, technological developments in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, talent management, innovation and creativity in providing services and digital transformation and its applications in the field of management and economics.

In his opening speech, Dr. Majid Ghasemi stated that "the prerequisite for digital transformation in the organization is creating and improving the competencies and skills of human capital with regard to the use of information and communication technology and digital media." He added, "Digital transformation will be realized by human capital, and contrary to the popular belief, the role of human capital in the process of moving the organization towards digitalization is no less important than information and communication technology and digital media; therefore, the essential requirement for digital transformation in the organization is the promotion of digital competencies and skills of human capital in connection with the use of information and communication technology and digital media, which should be considered as a requirement of digital transformation and a priority for senior managers of organizations.To realize digitalization opportunities, organizations need to know that the jobs and skill sets required by them are changing, and that digital skills have changed from a "voluntary" to a "vital" change for organizations."

Having stated various types of digital skills, Dr. Ghasemi described the concept of "digital competence" as much broader than the concept of "digital skills" and considered it an important part of "digital competencies". He mentioned the systematic establishment of people with special value for the organization along with the internal development approach to create special organizational knowledge and skills as important pillars of organizational talent management and introduced digital talents as people who, regardless of organizational form and structure participate in the process of digitalization and digital transformation by creating ideas or participation and leadership in the process of creating and developing a digital product. Improper management of digital talents will have heavy costs for organizations because this sector is a fluid field and in highly competitive organizations, "motivational factors" are effective in attracting and retaining digital talents.

According to the Chancellor of Khatam University, it is essential to be equipped with the necessary program and preparation to lead the culture, talent absorption performance, talent development and even talent outflow. In terms of attracting and selecting talents, internships are more important than other courses in the organization because in internships, the culture of digitalization needs to be well transmitted in order to be internalized in the minds of trainees.

Dr. Mohammad Jalali, Secretary of the Iranian Scientific Associations Commission in the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, as another speaker, described the duties of scientific associations in solving important and strategic problems of the country and the necessity of recognizing the independent identity of scientific associations by executive bodies the scientific and expert authority instead of experts and scientists active in the field, and considered the promotion of associations to depend on their practical role-playing in solving real problems and improving the situation in the country. Referring to the efforts made to outsource some governance tasks to associations, he noted the success of this approach at the grassroots level, adding: "Our problem in the realization of the true role of associations is not the rules; Of course, there are gaps, but in many developed countries where associations play an active role in resolving issues, there are no specific rules for how associations work. Utilizing the power of scientific societies can be an important and outstanding innovation."

During the second session of the event, the Chancellor of Khatam University and the President of the Iranian Scientific Associations Council, Dr. Majid Ghasemi, addressed the issue of digital economy and said, "Digital transformation is more of a human challenge than a technological challenge for organizations and the main feature of digital economy. Relying on the World Bank’s 2018 definition of digitalization of the economy, "utilizing digital technologies to redesign various aspects of the economy, including production processes, governments, households and financial flows," he considered as essential the development of “Sarzamin Houshmand POD” by Fanap Holdign in order to create an ecosystem for achieving a digital economy, and stressed that businesses should use the necessary infrastructure to expand their field of activity and move to a digital platform, to improve the welfare and culture of society. Referring to the paradigm of digitalization, he added that economy is influenced by this paradigm more than dimensions such as culture and politics.

He called the knowledge-based economy, which is defined based on the production, distribution and application of knowledge, the root of today's digital economy and added: "In the general policies of the country's Resistive Economy in accordance with the conditions of the time of its compilation, a part was devoted to the knowledge-based economy, but if these policies were to be formulated today, an important part should be allocated to digital economy." Highlighting the characteristics of different layers of digital economy and its advantages such as value creation of production methods, increasing organizational capabilities, ease and speed of using services, creating an integrated structure and changing customer targeting approaches, Dr. Ghasemi defined digital economy as creating communication, presenting and exchanging suggestions which create value for customers. He attributed the impact of digitalization on the economy to the structure of the national economy and the economic policies of institutions and governments.

Citing examples of conflict resolution and consensus building in economic theories from Adam Smith and Keynes to Slutsky and Leontief, he asserted that many economic definitions and policies in the digital economy are prone to change and redefinition. The Chancellor of Khatam University mentioned the key benchmarks in comparing the international digital economy and quoted Professor Walter Brenner as saying that aggressive use of data, while changing business models and facilitating the introduction of new products and services, would lead to new processes, greater profitability and a new management culture.

Presenting statistics on the size and growth of the digital economy in Europe and the United States, Dr. Ghasemi referred to Iran's acceptable position in the age group of digitalization compared to the European average and described the teaching of new and unique fields of study such as Convergent Technologies at Khatam University and the university's joint courses with the Sorbonne University in France as one of the measures that will help the growth of the digital economy in the country. He also announced his readiness to use the capacities of Khatam University in order to develop basic sciences and discover talents with the aim of solving the current problems of society.

At the closing ceremony of the event, Dr. Peyman Salehi, Deputy Minister of Science, Research and Technology, mentioned the effective role of the policies of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and the activities of scientific associations in knowledge production and publishing 75,000 papers by Iranian researchers. He considered the main goal of scientific centers not only to produce knowledge, but also to develop knowledge and innovation into products. He also mentioned the establishment of 300 innovation centers, 220 growth centers and 40 technology parks in the country, even in the smallest cities. He also mentioned the development of 60 innovation and prosperity funds for companies in different cities with the strong participation of the private sector in order to decentralize the financing centers from the capital.

He stated the realization of scientific development takes place when innovation takes the form of economics and leads to the solution of real problems, and said: "People in a region should feel the existence or non-existence of a university near their city and the same is true about scientific societies. We should try to raise economic issues in addition to scientific ones in scientific societies and we in the Ministry of Science should be able to rely on the capacity that scientific societies create."

Finally, the role of scientific associations in scientific diplomacy and the country's presence in international arenas was discussed, and the Ministry of Science announced his readiness to support chair associations in international scientific institutions in order to maintain and promote their position. It is necessary to reduce division and work with a thematic convergence view.

The conference resolution was read at the end of the session by Dr. Naser Partovi, President of the Iranian Accounting Association.