Every week we’ll be bringing you the highlights of Iran’s tech scene in the past week. This week, we covered details of Iran’s first cryptocurrency, the possibility of lifting Twitter’s ban in Iran, Tebyan’s second data center and ICT Parks’ growth in the country.

Iran’s First Cryptocurrency to Be Issued

Finally, after observing various approaches towards digital currencies in the country, Iran’s first cryptocurrency project is on the go. The minister of ICT, Azari Jahromi, whom from the beginning reflected a positive attitude in the matter, once again showed this ministry’s determination by ordering the Post Bank of Iran to issue country’s first digital currency.

Mr. Jahromi twitted that in the meeting with Post Bank’s board of directors, it was decided that this bank would present the pilot mode of the first digital currency in the country using country’s elites. This model will be presented to Iran’s Banking System for further study and final approval. For more info on this news, you can read the article below.

Related: Post Bank of Iran Plans to Launch the Country’s First Digital Currency

Lifting Twitter’s Ban Under Investigation

According to ILNA News, the Minister of ICT announced that the matter of lifting the ban on Twitter in Iran is now in the hands of the Supreme Council of Cyber Space for the final decision. However, he refused to further explain the matter saying we should wait until a conclusion has been made.

Previously we witnessed Rouhani’s efforts for lifting these bans, but it shows to be more challenging than it seems.

Teybyan’s Second Data Center to Be Launched

The Technical Deputy of Tebyan has announced company’s second data center to be launched in the next year. The main purpose of this data center would be offering cloud computing services along with hosting local website’s contents and traffic in the country.

He also stated that the government has done well in developing the National Information Network, and ICT Minister’s policies have resulted in the progression of the data centers. After that, he mentioned some of the problems and difficulties that these centers are having. Tax and electricity cost were some of the most important ones that were pointed by him.

Related: 17 Problems with Local Data Centers in Iran

Iran Focusing on Developing More ICT Parks and Knowledge-Based companies

Last week Iran’s Science Minister, in the presence of the president and some of the country’s elites gave the latest information on ICT Parks being established in the country. He announced the number of ICT parks to be 42 and the development centers, 192. Previously the number of knowledge-based firms in 2014 were reported 52, however, this number reached 2732 in October 2016, providing around 70,000 jobs and 6.6 billion dollars in revenue. For the complete report, you can read the article below.

Related: Over 230 Million Dollar Exports from Iran’s ICT Parks