 |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
Event |
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
Event |
Drawing a massive
turnout of visitors, CAN Info-Tech 2001, the only annual IT show of Nepal, concluded
successfully. The office bearers of the organizing institute, Computer Association
of Nepal (CAN), were grinning from ear to ear, looking at the swarms of uniformed
students from secondary and higher secondary schools thronging the ticket counters
at Birendra International Convention Centre (BICC) on the day before the closing
date of the five day event. "Our expectation of 100,000 visitors is nearly
fulfilled", declared CAN President Lochan Lal Amatya trying not to look
overjoyed. Rajib Subba, CAN’s Secretary General, said, "The risk that
we had taken by shifting the venue to this place has been amply rewarded".
Nobody can find a point to disagree with the organizers, if the visitor turnout is taken as the indicator of the success of the show. Just compare the figure with 20,000 last year when the event was held at Hotel Blue Star. In earlier years too the event used to be held in the same hotel, but the figures were still lower because IT was not so popular then. Seeing the crowd that this year’s event pulled, one spectator also went on to estimate that CAN must have collected enough to construct its own building after paying all the dues related with the show. Some others were also suggesting that next year CAN should think of holding the exhibition at the Tundikhel.
But the success of the IT show was not limited to that. Two employees of an exhibitor which had offered a motorbike as a prize for the lucky winner to be selected out of all the visiting cards collected from the purchasers of the goods offered by the exhibitor, were overheard saying to each other that the fund required to cover the cost of the bike was already collected from the first four days of the show. And they were hopeful that the space rent also would be collected on the remaining one day.
On show at the fair were PCs of all types. There was Mac which is not so widely available in the market as it is a special type of equipment. Pentium 4, which was launched in the world just a few days before, was also there on a high pedestal. For the Nepali visitors who had mostly seen PCs only, World Distribution Nepal also displayed a system computer. Sigma Resources and its sister concern, Himalayan tCommerce, showed how a call centre operated and what was meant by tele-commerce.
Policymakers had opportunity to be apprised that IT enabled services can really be provided from here to the outside world. Subba says, there were a number of MPs among the visitors. He believes that they have gone back far better informed about IT from the visit. "It will definitely create a better environment for IT in the future".
Visitors also came from outside the capital. CAN had sent them invitation promising partial reimbursement of their travel expenditure. Many more than invited came for the show without consulting CAN. Looking at the number of such visitors, Amatya says, it will not be surprising if cyber cafes will start sprouting in the near future even in hitherto unimaginable places. Sensing such response from outside the capital, Mercantile announced that it was spreading its services to 25 locations in the country from the present nine. College of Software Engineering (CSE), an IT education and software development institution, also revealed its program to spread out of the capital and main cities.
But one visitor, who introduced himself as a Graphic Designer, was complaining that the multi-media segment was not represented well in the exhibition causing a disappointment in his expectation to learn something new in this field. "Neither were the computer education institutes spread across two big halls upstairs of BICC were found offering any interesting course on multi-media", he lamented. The focus of the exhibitors with products in multimedia was more on its application in entertainment and the like than on designing.
Still the Graphic Designer was happy that a totally new concept of cyber learning <cyberlearningnepal.com> was launched during the show by Mercantile in cooperation with Surya Tobacco Company. Another point of happiness was provided by the IT education institutes as they did a very good job in providing proper guidance to the aspirants about the courses they are offering. To see so many training centres in Nepal certified by institutions like Microsoft and Novell is really good, commented the visitors to the Education Pavilion.
CSE was also offering on-line examination in IT and IT training for executives. Also conspicuous were gaming and entertainment software for the kids as well as grown ups. Business management software (Hotelsewa.com and Pumori Office from Mercantile), school management software (smartschool suit from CSE), were some other newly developed software and web-related products launched during the show (see below for some new launchings made during the CAN Info Tech 2001). ISPs were offering discounted rates for their services. World Link was offering lifetime Internet facility for an attractive fee.
Among the foreign exhibitors there were only two companies from India and one from the Gulf, and they did not bring anything new. Rather, all the new products brought there were by Nepali companies. It was also observed that rather than IT products, there were more tools related to IT enabled services this year. That was a major departure from the trend of previous years when the show used to feature primarily IT tools. One exhibitor said, his company was more focusing on selling solutions because, as he said, "when I sell the solution, I automatically sell the machines."
The foreign participation was more impressive in the three-day IT conference held on the sidelines of the of the 5-day show. Representatives from about 8 countries attended. Two countries – Netherlands and Bangladesh – sent their full-fledged delegation.
Assessing the results of the show and conference, Amatya says, the primary objective of awareness generation has been achieved as indicated by the visitor turnout. "Similarly, it has also been established that there is enough opportunity here for IT business", adds Amatya. The show established that the technical know-how and man power are available as the visitors could see first hand from the quality of training institutions that participated is the exhibition.
"The IT sector in Nepal has now arrived to a critical stage. If it is given right impetus now, it will be a success. The policy is in place, Cyber law is drafted, and the exhibition has shown that the people are really aware and interested. We must strike now when the iron is hot", opines CAN’s general secretary Subba.
But in view of the fact that the cyber law is still not presented to the parliament, the current enthusiasm of the IT professionals may be needed to be used for lobbying to get the government moving again in the proper direction.
Always recognized as an area of great potential, the IT sector received the much needed boost when the government released the IT policy a couple of months back and with the subsequent CAN Info-Tech 2001, the only IT exhibition of Nepal. The private sector participated in the show with unprecedented zeal, offering a number of new items to the IT enthusiasts. Here are some of them:
MIPS Pvt. Ltd., the authorized dealer of Apple, has introduced desktop computer Power Mac G4 Cube. According to MIPS, Apple’s power PC G4 processor with Velocity Engine gives supercomputer performance. The G4 Cube comes with a powerful AIT RAGE 128 Pro card for stunning 2D and 3D graphics, claims MIPS. And adds that despite its power, the G4 Cube’s revolutionary design makes it whisper quiet. Moreover, the Apple Display Connector reduces desktop clutter by putting power, video and USB signals on one slim cable, informs the company.
According to the Apple authorized reseller, the Power Mac G4 Cube is priced at Rs. 2,40,000.
Trade Wings has
launched PC CT6410 from Daewoo Computer Business Tower System. Priced at Rs.
60,000, the PC is available in Intel Pentium II and Intel Pentium III technology,
inform Trade Wings sources. In addition to a high-performance SDRAM memory which
is expandable, the CT6410 is also equipped with 2X AGP Graphics Card Support,
reveals Trade Wings.
Also, the CT6410 Daewoo personal computer comes with a one-year warranty, says Trade Wings.
CAN Info-Tech
2001 also saw OKI present its OKIPAGE 8z colour printers for the benefit of
Nepali buyers.
OKI, which is yet to appoint a Nepali dealer for its products, claims that the 8z printer is the most cost-effective solution for both personal and business printing.
Priced at Rs. 24,500, OKIPAGE has capacity of printing 8 pages in a minute. It also boasts of dual – platform support for Windows and Macintosh. OKI, ‘the people to people technology’, also reveals that the 8z printer has an in-built USB, and a 2MB on-board which enables it to handle complex print jobs.
Apart from a one-year warranty, OKI assures of easy availability of spare parts.
International
Electronics Concern (P) Ltd. took the opportunity to introduce a few new gadgets
from Canon which already enjoys a good presence in the Nepali market.
One of the products launched during the exhibition were scanners, available in numerous models and suitable for household, personal, business and corporate use. The price of the Canon scanners range between Rs. 8000 and Rs. 28,000, informs International Electronics. The firm also launched Multimedia Projectors, equipped with digital zoom and other digital devices. Also available in different models, the projectors are capable of capturing 3D images as well, reveals Canon’s dealer. Besides the Multimedia Projector, International Electronics has also made available Canon’s Presentation Assistant PR-2005. While the projector is priced between Rs. 3,70,000 and Rs. 8,90,000 the PR –2005 costs Rs. 78,000, informs the company. It adds that the equipment is suitable for all types of presentations. One important feature of the tool is its built-in scanner which allows the user to scan a variety of documents, says International Electronics.
Sigma Resources
Pvt. Ltd. launched what it calls a ‘powerfully simple’ Payroll management
system by the name "Potali".
Said to be ideal for both large and small business organizations, Potali, as the Hindi name suggests, seems to be targeted more to Indian market.
The company claims, Potali provides an efficient and effective method of preparing payroll. It claims that the software is designed keeping people in mind, and can be enhanced to meet changing needs of users and also to handle legislative requirements
Sigma also informs that Potali is a multi user system and can be used on any network model. It also provides an element of security through the necessity of user name/ password combination.
Other primary features of the Potali are its ability to handle a wide range of allowances (including taxable, nontaxable, fixed amount, variable amount) as well maintaining for each employee a personal details screen on the employee master file with unlimited number of texts. Sigma also makes available a 1- year totally free service for buyers of the software.
Bearing the punch-line
‘Bridging the Digital Divide’, Surya Tobacco Company and Mercantile
Pvt. Ltd. have collaborated to launch <cyberlearningnepal.com> a cyber
education portal with a perspective of educating people on IT.
Affiliated to the US- based Cyber Learning Universe (CLU), cyberlearningnepal cuts the necessity of attending regular classes. Also, courses can be taken any time anywhere since all that is needed is Internet access. Most importantly it delivers knowledge on demand with up-to-the-minute coursework covering large number of relevant topics. Thus it is claimed to be ideal for working executives also.
As far as courses go, they cover almost anything from basic PC courses, Internet courses and application courses (like Microsoft Office and Lotus) to programming courses like C+ and Visual Basic and from database courses like Oracle to networking courses like MCSE. Students are also entitled to certificates from CLU as well as from a recognized university in USA.
The user name and password for the courses cost about Rs. 15,000.
ITNTI, which claims
to be Nepal's first web-solution provider company, has developed and launched
BISHAL BAZAR.COM.NP, which is claimed to be the first online market of Nepal.
All the shops of Bishal Bazar are placed on line with this portal.
ITNTI boasts of global server-hosting service with its servers located at Tokyo, Kathmandu, London and Washington DC, with three more being added at Lima, Nairobi and Sydney. No other Nepali company can boast of similar strength, claim ITNTI sources.
The company has also launched <www.nepali.com.np> which is a Nepal online full-scale portal.
Editorial | Corporate | Cover Features | Opinion Poll | Economy & Policy | Inner-view | Entertainment | Management | Stock Market | Sectoral | Marketing | Event | Business News | Column | Tourism | Recent Launches | World Brief | Last Word | Main |
Send your feedback to the editor: bizage@ecomail.com.np
1999 © Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd. P.O. Box 876, Durbar Marg, Kathmandu,
NEPAL. Tel : 977 1 220 773, 243 566 . Fax: 977 1 225 407. Reproduction in any
form is prohibited without prior permission. No part of the articles which appear
in the internet version on BUSINESSAGE may be reproduced without the
permission of Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd. For reprinting rights, please
write to us. Send us your feedback:contact
us . CLICK
HERE FOR PAST ISSUE. This site is best viewed at : 800 X 600 resolution
