Book Review (Spotlight Weekly)]

Information Technology and E-Commerce for Development
Edited by Dr. Bishwa Keshar Maskey
Published by Center for Development and Governance
Pages: 158
Price: Rs.300

Electronic Exchange

A synopsis of Nepal’s prospects and challenges in harnessing information technology

By A CORESSPONDENT

At a time when many developing countries have been making serious efforts to establish themselves as exporters of information technology (IT), Nepal cannot afford to remain ignorant of the importance and trends of the global IT marketplace. Although Nepal has not made any aggressive effort to demonstrate its potentials, the country’s share in the global IT market is gradually increasing.

After the spread of IT globally, the basic structures and phenomenon of marketing have changed. One can see visible changes in international marketing strategies. Many companies have started to use the Internet to increase their marketing access and have improved their profitability by doing so.

The Internet is acting as a powerful means for improving the quality of management and services, thereby enhancing existing or establishing customer and supplier relationship, while bringing new efficiency. It is a potent mechanism for reducing costs across the board, including those associated with production, inventories, sales execution, distribution and procurement.

Although electronic commerce is in the early stages of evolution, it is rapidly establishing itself as one of the most powerful tools of development. E-commerce has already achieved widespread recognition, having become a highly visible symbol in the contemporary language of IT.

In Nepal, e-commerce remains in a very early stage. The government has realized its importance to developing market potentials for Nepalese products. The government recently announced a national IT policy and has expressed its commitment to developing the IT sector both as an important mechanism and as an instrument for development.

With support from the Asia Foundation, the Center for Development and Governance has published a book consisting of papers presented at a recent roundtable on information technology. "The Internet and digital technology offer enormous potential for international participation in electronic commerce and, as a result, electronic commerce has become a significant component of world trade. It is critical to examine the potential impact of electronic commerce on emerging economics," says Dr. Bishwa Keshar Maskey, who edited the volume, in his preface.

IT has spread across the globe as marketing, sales and communication phenomenon, even changing the face of certain business sectors. The articles and papers included in this book provide an overview of emerging trends and throw new light on the importance of IT in business-promotion activities.

For a country in the preliminary stages of development, it becomes very essential to understand the basics of IT and identify areas in which it can be applied most efficiently.

In his article "Partnership of E-Trade: Challenges and Prospects for SMEs", Dr. Bernard Andre Ance highlights the benefits small- and medium-scale industries can derive from the e-trade. He specifically highlights the importance of IT for SMEs of Nepal.

In his article "IT and E-Commerce for Development: Prospect and Challenges", Manohar Kumar Bhattarai discusses the nature and scale of the task of using this tool of development. Suresh Kumar Regmi discusses at length the topic of software development and IT-enabled service.

As e-commerce is gradually yielding information about the global market and showing ways of tapping its potentials, the publication of a volume that comprises papers on core IT areas and proceedings of the meeting would definitely prove useful for a wide audience.

Despite some lapses and weaknesses found in the volume, this first effort to present a broader perspective on e-commerce and IT in Nepal is highly commendable.