TEHRAN –The Organization for the Development of International Cooperation in Science and Technology will hold the seventh edition of the Connect Forum specialized meeting on September 9.

The meeting will be held concurrently with Iran’s 19th International Exhibition of Plastic, Rubber, Machinery, and Equipment (IRAN PLAST 2025), which is planned to run from September 8 to 11, Mehr news agency reported.

Connect Forum will be centered around holding specialized lectures, networking, and sharing expertise among experts and industry owners, discussing opportunities and challenges for collaborations, visiting Iranian experts’ latest technological accomplishments at Iran’s house of innovation and technology (iHiT), as well as paying visits to selected pavilions at the 19th Iran Plast exhibit.

The event will serve as a great opportunity for participants to share the challenges they faced along the way, as well as the strategies employed to address those issues.

Iran ranks 72 in technology, innovation

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Technology and Innovation Report 2025, Iran is ranked among upper middle-income countries, ranking 72nd among 166 countries.

The country’s ranking has improved by one position compared to 2022.

UNCTAD has categorized 17 types of technologies as frontier technologies, including artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, big data, 5G, 3D printing, robotics, drone technology, solar photovoltaic, concentrated solar power, biofuels, biogas and biomass, wind energy, green hydrogen, electric vehicles, nanotechnology, and gene editing.

The Technology and Innovation Report 2025: Inclusive Artificial Intelligence for Development surveys the complex artificial intelligence landscape, aiming to help decision-makers design science, technology, and innovation policies that foster inclusive technological progress.

The Report 2025 calls for AI that puts people first and is shaped through global cooperation in which all countries have a say. The Report identifies three key leverage points – infrastructure, data, and skills – offering a broad socioeconomic perspective on AI while analyzing requirements and policies to promote sustainable industrialization and innovation.

The sub-indices of readiness for frontier technologies in 2025 show that Iran’s best ranking is in the research and development sub-index (35th in the world).

In the finance sub-index, the country’s ranking has improved from 62 in 2022 to 56 in 2025. In other sub-indexes like skills and the establishment of information and communication technology, its ranking has lowered from 74 and 78 in 2022 to 82 and 94 in 2025, respectively.

MT/MG