The 5th Steering committee meeting for the IASP Isfahan 2018 Conference Convened in Isfahan

The fifth steering committee meeting for the IASP Isfahan 2018 conference was held at Isfahan Science and Technology Town (ISTT) in Isfahan, on the 7^th of May, 2018. This meeting convened at the Sheikh Bahai building with the participation of several of its international members including Luis Sanz, Director General of IASP, Daniela Carolina Eckert, Executive Manager at Feevale Techpark, Brazil, and Maria Ådahl, Director of Open Arena Urban Development at Johannesburg Science Park, Sweden. Also participating in this meeting were the Iranian members of the committee including the presidents of ISTT, Fars Science and Technology Park (FSTP), Yazd Science and Technology Park (YSTP) and Mazandaran Science and Technology Park. This meeting covered various subjects including the Keynote Speaker, the Invited Speakers, the number of plenary and parallel sessions, the number of full paper admissions, the finalization and grouping of authors chosen for oral presentation during the plenary and parallel sessions of the conference, etc.

The conference key invited speaker was announced to be Dr. Joan Clos, the former executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat).

The topic of Invited Speakers was also discussed and the several persons contacted by ISTT introduced to the committee. The announcement of which will follow shortly after further negotiations of the host organization.

The evaluation of received papers by the conference secretariat yielded 35 full papers from 22 different countries to be presented during the conference.

With the final selection of papers, the conference plenary and parallel sessions were also finalized. This conference will benefit from 5 plenary sessions and 8 parallel sessions for the presentation of papers and conclusions.

The five main panels will discuss five major issues in relation to the main theme of the conference which is ‘Towards sustainable cities and communities: fostering innovation ecosystems”.

These topics include: Cities, STPs and other areas of Innovation: challenges and strategies; New tools and functions for cities and areas of innovation; Community Challenges and Social Innovation; Entrepreneurship for growth and sustainability in STPs and AOIs.

With the conclusion of the meeting the members then visited several of ISTT’s settled knowledge-based companies for further familiarization with the host organization and the conference venue, the Abbasi Hotel, to assess the suitability of it halls and exhibition area to the conference.

The foreign steering committee members also met with the Deputy Minister for Research and Technology, the Head of the Scientific and International Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Science Research and Technology and the Head of International Cooperation at the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology. During the meeting assurances were made towards giving the full support of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology to ISTT in organizing an exemplary conference in Isfahan.

ISTT is the host organization for the 35^th IASP World Conference on Science Parks and Areas of Innovation scheduled to take place from the 2^nd to the 5^th of Sep, 2018.

For more information please visit: iasp2018isfahan.com