Nepal ICT Policy Challenges and Opportunity

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Nepal ICT Policy Challenges and Opportunity

Workshop on ICT Policy in Developing
Countries University of Manchester

• Ranjan Baral
• Dipu Murti Bhurtyal
• Forum for Information Technology (FIT) Nepal
• 25th March 2010

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Overview

• Background
• Policy Action Plan
• Key Indicators
• Policy Action Plan vs. Results
• ICT in Development Context
• Challenges
• Outcomes
• Evaluation
• Recommendation

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Background

• IT policy 2000
• Place Nepal on global IT map
• Make IT accessible to general public, creation of
  knowledge based society/industries
• Telecommunication Policy 2004
• To create favourable environment to make the
  telecommunication service reliable and accessible
• eGovernment Master Plan 2005
• Electronic Transaction act 2008
• ADB supported ICT Development Project

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Policy Action Plan
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Indicators
Teledensity 27.15 Fixed Line 2.98
Mobile 23.22 Limited Mobility
0.95 Internet Subscriber 1,34,014 Internet User
1,34,014 4 Adult Literacy 56.5 Source
Nepal Telecommunication Authority,
UN eGov Survey
2005 2008 2010
Ranking 126 150 153
E-Readiness 0.3021 0.2725 0.2568
Web Measure Index 0.4000 0.2876 0.1683
Human Capital Index 0.500 0.5176 0.5820
Infrastructure Index 0.0063 0.0119 0.0226
E-Participation Index 0.0794 0.0227 0.0572
Source United Nations E-Government Development
Knowledge Base 
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Policy Action Plan vs. Result
Action Result
An IT park establishment and special incentive to company established on the park including provision of 100 foreign investment in IT enabled Industry IT park established. No adequate infrastructure in park.
An internet node at every district with info-super highway and north-south info-highway Basic telecommunication services reached to every district. Internet expansion should focused.
On demand telecommunication/electricity shall be provided to IT entrepreneur Nepal facing critical power shortage. Power cut for 12 hrs/day in capital on its peak.
Capacity Enhancement of University college providing IT courses. Program on computer education to all by 2010 A.D. No program in supporting ICT education for college. However, private colleges developed their capacity on their own. Only few public School provides computer education.
Free Internet to University and Public school No work carried out.
Web site for all Government offices Most of the central level office only have basic web presence.
Venture capital establishment with govt. 100 million investment No initiatives by Government.
Institutional arrangements Established NITC and HLCIT but overlapping roles problems for proper implementation. Electronic transaction act decl
IT policy shall be revised in every 2 years Not revised for 10 years. Draft presented to cabinet last month.

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ICT in Development Context
The Onion Ring Model Source Heeks(2005)
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Putting Key Challenges into Onion Ring Model
Political Instability
Infrastructure
Human capacity
Content
Attitude Culture
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Challenge Tree
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ICT Export-led Growth

• Opportunity or over-ambition?
• Nepal India comparison
• a

Factor India Nepal
Infrastructure Rail network, IT parks, high-speed broadband Power outage
Human capacity Large pool, reverse-brain-drain Small pool, brain-drain
Universities IIT leading institutions Few
English language Widely spoken Limited
Active Diaspora Entrepreneurship, FDI Very few IT-focused activity.
Brand and Global trust International clients, high-profile projects Tourism as established brand.
Government Policy Single-window system, land purchase privileges etc. Learning phase, slow decision process.
Political stability Long history of democratic practice Political strikes halt everyday life.
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Few Good Initiatives

• Language Technology progress (MPP)
• Nepali Unicode, Dictionary
• NLP Speech recognition for Nepali language
• Localisation of Operating Systems
• Localised Information Systems
• Above progress propels the Content Development
  movement, for telecentres and excluded ethnic and
  minority groups.
• Aids in e-Government many sectors

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ICTs in Nepal in Development Perspective

• Place of ICT in Tenth five-year National Plan
  2002-2007 and three-year interim plan.
• Integrating ICT in primary contributing sectors
  to GDP.
• E.g. Tourism, SMEs, Agriculture

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Recommendations

• Political leaders and top bureaucrats not aware
  on dynamics and element of knowledge based
  society. Training on eGovernment, eServices and
  Knowledge economy.
• Target beneficiaries should be involved at the
  policy formulation stage ( policy always
  undisclosed material before announced)
• Communication between beneficiary and policy
  implementers is important for monitoring
  successes.
• Policy itself should clearly define the proper
  independent monitoring ( Important for both
  implementation and corruption control).
• Reduce Time lag between the policy formulation
  and actual implementation.
• ICT less attractive sector within government
  (unless there is an opportunity of procurement of
  hardware/services) . Special incentive for ICT
  workforce within government.

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Recommendations...

• Key ICT post based on political appointments.
  Frequent changes in government results in change
  of leadership. Key post holders always
  apprehensive about their job.
• Ensuring proper responsibility delegation and
  accountability. People keen to delegate risk.
• Most eGov and ICT4D project hardware driven. More
  emphasis should be given on Process and Service
  improvements thru the use of ICT.
• Focus should be on Quality of Service in Telecom
  sector. Capacity Building of regulatory body.

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Bibliography

• Butt, D. (2005) Internet Governance
  Asia-Pacific Perspectives, UNDP-APDIP, Bangkok.
• Heeks, R. (2005). Foundations of ICTs in
  Development The Onion-Ring Model. DIG
  eDevelopment Briefings, No.4/2005. Manchester
  Institute for Development Policy and Management.
  Accessed Online Feb 28, 2010 from
  http//www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/idpm/publications/
  wp/di/short/DIGBriefing4Onion.doc
• Heeks, R. (1999) Software strategies in
  developing countries, IDPM, University of
  Manchester, Manchester.
• ITPF (2002) Policy Recommendation on Electronic
  Transaction and Digital Signature Act (draft), IT
  Professional Forum, Kathmandu, Nepal
• MoEST (2006) eGovernance Master Plan, Ministry of
  Environment, Science and Technology, Kathmandu
• MoEST. (2000) Information Technology Policy 2000,
  Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology,
  Kathmandu.
• Regmi, S. (2006) ICT, SMEs and Business
  Development in the Nepalese Context, IT
  Professional Forum, Kathmandu, ITPF
• World Bank (2006) Information and Communication
  for Development, Trends and Policies, World Bank,
  Washington, D.C.

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• Thank You!!!