Research and Technology
R. Mahdi; A. Keykha
Abstract
Investigating and solving the problem of innovative research at universities can help improve the role of these institutions in developing technology and knowledge exchange among different social and economic audiences as well as contribute to more effective interactions between universities and society. ...
Read More
Investigating and solving the problem of innovative research at universities can help improve the role of these institutions in developing technology and knowledge exchange among different social and economic audiences as well as contribute to more effective interactions between universities and society. The purpose of this article is to identify and report innovation in the field of research, technology, and knowledge exchange in major universities located in Tehran. This research has been carried out quantitatively based on institutional registration data in two steps. First, the components of the model or conceptual framework were identified through an unsystematic review of the documents. The components include innovation in inputs, processes, and outputs. Inputs encompass human and financial resources aw well as infrastructure; processes involve structures, organizations, mechanisms, and procedures; and outputs comprise of creation and application of knowledge and technology, demand-oriented research projects, the quantity and quality of published scientific articles, books, journals, faculty members' scientific ranks, honors they possess, the expansion of postgraduate education, technological units, start-ups, knowledge-based companies and accelerators, international scientific mobility, and income in the field of research, technology, and knowledge exchange. Second, the state of innovation in eight universities under study has been analyzed in the context of research, technology, and knowledge exchange. In these universities, innovation was found to exist in both concept and perspective: innovation in the research and technology system and its elements and components, and the support of universities and the university research and technology system for transformation and innovation to address stagnation, stasis, and recession. Universities have undergone significant transformation and innovation in research inputs, processes, and outputs, technology, and knowledge exchange, hence, they actively support and promote innovation.
Architecture
H. Pirbabaei; M. Gharehbaglou; M.A. Kaymejad
Abstract
Architecture, as a knowledge that provides a suitable space for human life, is so intertwined with the various dimensions of human existence that any creativity in it due to its vastness and complexity, inevitably pay attention to a wide range of disciplines and fields of knowledge. Thus, creativity ...
Read More
Architecture, as a knowledge that provides a suitable space for human life, is so intertwined with the various dimensions of human existence that any creativity in it due to its vastness and complexity, inevitably pay attention to a wide range of disciplines and fields of knowledge. Thus, creativity in architecture is inherently an interdisciplinary category, and any analysis and evaluation will be inefficient and ineffective without considering this feature. This descriptive-analytical research aims to provide an interdisciplinary model for measuring the architectural creativity using the logical reasoning process. According to its findings, measuring the creativity of architecture with an interdisciplinary approach is the application of different sciences to achieve an integrated knowledge in order to evaluate the novelty of solutions offered by architecture to meet different human needs to live in that space. Accordingly, creativity has two basic dimensions of innovation and usefulness. According to the model proposed in this article, in order to measure architectural creativity, first the human needs and desires of an architecture with a specific use should be determined, then the level of satisfaction with its responses should be measured according to the needs. In the next stage, architectural innovation is evaluated to meet these needs in a 7-step range of materials used (minimum innovation) to create a new function (maximum innovation).
Innovation and Technology
M.E. Zandi; M.S. Khayatian Yazdi; M. Mohammadi
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify innovation capacity in Information and communication technology-based firms. In this descriptive and analytical study, the research method was quantitative-qualitative, which was performed in two parts. The first part was done qualitatively through a literature ...
Read More
The purpose of this study was to identify innovation capacity in Information and communication technology-based firms. In this descriptive and analytical study, the research method was quantitative-qualitative, which was performed in two parts. The first part was done qualitatively through a literature review and interviews with nine policy makers, experts, and managers of companies in the field of information and communication technology. In the second part, the model obtained from the previous stage was surveyed by distributing a questionnaire among 275 companies active in this field to assess the validity of the proposed model. In this research, the most important organizational factors affecting innovation capacity were collaboration and communication, resources of the idea, individual factors, organizational culture, strategies and technology management, knowledge management and organizational learning, and allocation of resources to innovation. In addition, the environmental factors affecting the innovation capacity were respectively institutional support, macroeconomic factors, and the firm location. The innovation outcomes, market outcomes, financial outcomes, and human outcomes were also the most important indicators of innovation capacity measurement. Additionally, environmental factors in promoting the innovation capacity of ICT firms were more important than organizational factors. The reason for this significance seems to be the high impacts of economic growth, stability, competitiveness, and government support for innovation on ICT NTBFs.
Innovation and Technology
A. Ashtari Mehrjerdi
Abstract
A UN report has identified three ten-year development waves of science, technology and innovation policies in Iran since the beginning of the 1990s. The first wave focused on the development of higher education, the second on the development of research and technology, and the third on the knowledge ...
Read More
A UN report has identified three ten-year development waves of science, technology and innovation policies in Iran since the beginning of the 1990s. The first wave focused on the development of higher education, the second on the development of research and technology, and the third on the knowledge and innovation–based economy. Thus, the ground and emergence of startups became fertile since the early 90s. A review of internal and external studies and articles on the success and failure of startups indicates a lack of sociological vision and approach and therefore this issue is the main reason for our study. A qualitative method was applied in the study in order to understand the biological world and social attitudes of actors of this ecosystem. Our most important tool was in-depth interviews with people with their narrative and firsthand experiences, then, they were categorized, sorted, and conceptualized (taking into account Clark and Brown's six-step inductive method). The statistical population included six managers and startup owners, two of accelerator managers and six associates. After summarizing and categorizing the findings, we obtained 5 groups of variables (themes) named PESTE where P is for Politics, E for Economy, S for Socio-cultural, T for Technology and E is the sign of Education. Since social ecology of startups in Iran and the world at large are very new and fledgling, but with their application to the modern world, they are certainly very complex and multifaceted, hence, it will definitely encounter failure if one of its five pillars are not fit and accompany each other.
MohammadHassan Khani
Abstract
Imam Sadiq University was established as a non-governmental academic institution in Iran in 1982 aiming at combining certain branches of Humanities with Islamic studies. In this article the author tries to evaluate the success and failure of declared aims of the ISU founders to make Islamic Studies not ...
Read More
Imam Sadiq University was established as a non-governmental academic institution in Iran in 1982 aiming at combining certain branches of Humanities with Islamic studies. In this article the author tries to evaluate the success and failure of declared aims of the ISU founders to make Islamic Studies not only relevant to the needs of contemporary societies but rather an integrated part of academic discipline. This paper is an attempt to introduce this innovation in combining Islamic studies with other academic subjects, namely, Political Sciences, Management, Economics, Law and Communications at ISU and tries to explore the challenges facing this endeavor.