Gap analysis of current and desired states of entrepreneurship development components in the field of ICTs in Iran

At present, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have led to many developments in all social activities including entrepreneurship, and this is regarded as a major modern entrepreneurship instrument; though, this industry is still immature in Iran, it causes challenges in the field of entrepreneurship development. This study aimed at evaluating the current and desired states of entrepreneurship development components in the field of ICTs. In this regard, factors relevant to the entrepreneurship development towards ICTs were identified in eight major areas, and the gap between current and the desired states was then measured. The statistical population in this study (N = 47) consisted of ICTs experts, professionals and managers who had some experience in entrepreneurship in the field of ICTs. Data collecting was done through a questionnaire. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the current and the desired states of eight entrepreneurship development components towards ICTs; Meanwhile, the greatest gaps were observed for the following components respectively: ‘Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)’, ‘support, technical and managerial services’ and ’supporting entrepreneurship’ in the field of ICTs. On the other hand, the minimum gap was reported for ‘infrastructure development’, indication of the better state of this component than other entrepreneurship development components in the field of ICTs. •This study aimed to evaluate the current and desired states of entrepreneurship development components in the field of ICTs in Iran.•The research method was descriptive-comparative and a survey was used to collect data.•The results showed that there was a significant difference between the current and desired states of eight entrepreneurship development components towards ICTs.