Defining the role of government in TIS case study: Government organizations for the development of technology in Iran

The Technological Innovation System is a concept developed within the scientific field of innovation studies which serves to explain the nature and rate of technological change. A Technological Innovation System can be defined as `a dynamic network of agents interacting in a specific economic/industrial area under a particular institutional infrastructure and involved in the generation, diffusion, and utilization of technology´. In the other hand; government have 4 major roles in the development and achievement of national goals and plans of a country which include policy making, regulation, facilitation and service provision. Today many believe that some of the national goals and plans, including the development of Hi-Tech technologies would not be possible without government support and intervention because of market failure and lack of necessary infrastructures. In this paper, we will try to present an institutional mapping of the role of governments and the applications of TIS as well as the current status of Hi-Tech technologies in Iran.