مجله توسعه تکنولوژی صنعتی
پیاپی 12 (پاییز و زمستان 1386)

In the present paper following an explication of the rich network of meaning، affiliated to the tern ''technology'' and clarifying the relationship between ''technology'' and ''science'' I have tried to develop a conceptual framework for assessing the issue of ''technology development''. The final part of the paper deals with a number of proposal and practical suggestions for achieving the aim of ''technology development'' in Iran. I have tried to keep the paper as succinct and brief as possible the main objective has not been to produce a comprehensive picture but to draw the attention of the reader to some issue which is conceptual/ theoretical as well as practical importance in the debates on ''technology development''. It is hoped that in this way a common understanding could be forged among those who are dealing with ''technology development'' in Iran.

During the history، technology has had a profound effect on civilization، cultural and economic development. Contemplating the history of Iran shows the influence of science and technology alongside the other factors on its destiny. Based on the documents and the researches done before and after the Islamic revolution، this paper tries to present an analysis of the past situation of important factors influencing technology development. Primarily، the bases and the framework of evaluating the technology development process are studied، followed by the discussion of the government effective policies in both supply and demand areas. After presenting a conceptual model، the paper then proceeds to evaluate the government incentive policies in different periods before the revolution. Meanwhile، the latter policies are scrutinized in industrial and economic areas by presenting the statistics. Then، the trend of the economic، industrial and technological changes after the revolution along with the effects، incentive policies، and also the structures design and the capabilities formation in industrial and technological areas at the national level are addressed. Finally، the effective factors on technology development in the recent decade are discussed.

The most important need of today''s societies is to develop the science and technology in order to achieve their objectives and to stop lagging behind. Also، the most important prerequisites of the science and technology development is to realize and determine the priorities of research and technology. Having enumerated the most important factors involved in determining the above mentioned priorities، the principles and general view of the related methods suitable for Iran are presented in this article.

Technology development is viewed merely as a technical issue by some people، while the others associate it with huge cultural، political and economic issues. There is no agreement even among the latter group about the influence domain of cultural، political and economic systems on technology development. There are different points of view about the cultural influence on technology and vice versa، in Iran. Considering all the viewpoints، this article claims that the technology development in the country cannot be reduced to technical topics، and therefore the theoretical considerations should be taken into account. Thus، the relation between technology development and the huge cultural، political and economic development should be clarified in order to solve the problem of technology development in Iran.