Danova 2025 Opens at IIID, Empowering Iran’s New Generation to Shape the Future

On the first day of the fourth Danova student innovation event, the main conference hall of the Iran International Innovation District (IIID) was filled with hundreds of curious and energetic teenagers from across Iran, as a senior Pardis Technology Park official called on them to discover their unique responsibilities in life, trust their talents and practice entrepreneurship.

The opening ceremony of the Danova 2025 student event at Iran International Innovation District (IIID) brought together students born in the 2000s and 2010s from provinces across the country for three days of technology-focused competitions, exhibitions and startup-oriented activities.

Sajjad Abbasi Fashami, Director General for Promotion and Development of Innovation Clusters at Pardis Technology Park (PTP), set a different tone for the opening by posing a fundamental question to the audience: “For what purpose and responsibility have we come into this world?” He stressed that every teenager should eventually be able to answer this question clearly.

Reflecting on his own high-school experience and the pressure of exam rankings, he described the traditional pathway of “running for the entrance exam, then for university, then for an overseas application” as insufficient for defining the true purpose of life. Instead, he encouraged students to look inward.

Abbasi Fashami likened each person’s abilities to a unique “toolbox” given at birth – a specific combination of intelligence, skills and talents that must be discovered and developed over time. He underlined that recognizing this personal toolbox is the starting point for building a meaningful and impactful future.

Describing Pardis Technology Park as a training ground, he added that IIID is a place where teenagers can experiment with responsibility and impact: some may feel called to agriculture, others to health, others to technology or different sectors. Danova, he said, is designed to help them practice that sense of responsibility in real projects and teams.

In the closing part of his remarks, Abbasi Fashami expressed confidence in the future of the participants, stating that many of them would become leading entrepreneurs, scientists, policymakers and influential figures in the years ahead. He invited them to return one day to the same hall and say that their first real step toward that future began at Danova.

He urged teenagers to choose their paths based on responsibility and impact rather than external pressure, and concluded by telling them to be proud of themselves as the generation that will build tomorrow’s innovation-driven Iran.

Youth-led presentation and official opening

In another segment of the ceremony, three high-school students took the stage to introduce the main components of Danova 2025, including the exhibition of student-made technology products, the Danova Cup competitions and the teen-focused business event “Teen Expo” – elements that distinguish this year’s edition from previous ones.

After the opening program, Danova 2025 was officially inaugurated. In a symbolic moment, members of the youngest generation stood alongside IIID managers and Danova organizers to cut the ribbon of the exhibition, highlighting the event’s focus on youth ownership of the innovation ecosystem.

The fourth Danova student event will continue at IIID until Thursday, hosting student-led technology projects and welcoming young innovators and technology enthusiasts from across the country—this time with teenagers themselves positioned as the primary hosts of the innovation arena.