Comparison of the Islamic Republic of Iran With a Selection of European Countries With a Moderate Level of Innovation in terms of Technological Capabilities

countries have different understandings of their technological needs. However, they all have one thing in common, which is their need for establishing, maintaining and improving technological capabilities. The main purpose of the present research is to compare Iran and several European countries with moderate levels of innovation in terms of technological capabilities. The research has also aimed at identifying the points that Iran should focus on in order to improve its technological capabilities. To that end, in the first phase, the available literature on technological capabilities was reviewed and indicators of technological capabilities were extracted. In the second phase, the data were extracted from international reports. In the third phase, the indicators identified for evaluating technological capabilities were weighed using analytic hierarchy process. In the fourth phase, the countries were ranked using TOPSIS, and the status of the Iran in terms of technological capabilities was identified in comparison with them in order to identify the points Iran should focus on in order to improve its technological capabilities. The results indicated that from among the ten countries studied, Italy, Spain, and Iran are the first three ones and Portugal, Ukraine, and Greece occupied the eighth, ninth, and tenth position.The results furthermore indicated that Iran has a suitable status in terms of scientific & technical articles, patents, tertiary education, and ICT infrastructure; however, in order to promote its technological capabilities, it should focus on producing high-tech products, the number of full-time researchers, and expenditure on research and development.