National 5 (Spotlight Weekly)

Showcase of IT

Although the interest of public has grown by leaps and bounds, the government is yet to tap the potential of the Information Technology

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

If the huge crowd of people that thronged the 2004 Info-Tech show organized by the Computer Association of Nepal (CAN) is any indication, the people have great interest in this sector. Thousands of people including students, IT-workers, working people and others visited the Birendra International Convention Center (BICC) where the show was being organized.

Visitors at IT fair : Attracted by technology

However, from the initial breeze of high expectations regarding Nepal’s potential to tap the out-sourcing markets like Medical Transcription, Call Centers etc being only realized to limited extent, the IT sector in Nepal has failed to take off.

While inaugurating this year’s IT Show, Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa said that the government views the Information Technology (IT) as a vehicle to use in its efforts towards poverty alleviation and economic development. Inaugurating the 10th Computer Association of Nepal (CAN) Info-Tech Show on January 23, he said that the government would soon introduce cyber laws and related policies to facilitate this sector. He said that the Ministry of Science and Technology and the high-level IT Commission have been activated in this regard.

Like all other sectors, IT, too, had been rocked by the lack of proper environment in the country. Even as PM Thapa said that the government was also preparing to introduce community information centers so as to provide the rural population access to the IT, it could hardly be fulfilled given the situation of insecurity in the country.

In the Tenth Plan, the government had planned to introduce 1500 such centers but it could not be materialized due to prevalent situation of insecurity and lack of telephone connection.

Despite this situation, investment in IT, particularly in the education sector, has grown substantially. From the total turnover of more than Rs 3 billion in the year 2001, the sector has grown to around Rs 4.5 billion in 2002. This figure grew marginally in 2003, experts say.

The growth in this sector has been attributed to the sustained rise in the sales of PCs and accessories and the opening of many software colleges and institutions.

The CAN has been organizing annual IT show since 1995. This year, too, it organized the six-day IT extravaganza from January 23-28.

According to Lochan Lal Amatya, president of CAN, there are 114 different stalls of software, hardware and other kinds of vendors at this year’s CAN IT 2004.

“The sector holds a lot of potentials. Look at how the internet usage has grown in the country over the last couple of years. The government needs to do a lot more. The promised IT park in Banepa is yet to materialize though there are positive indications of late,” said Amatya.

The current turnover of the IT sector in the country is said to be in the excess of Rs 4 billion, which is far shorter than the government’s target of raising it to Rs 10 billion by the year 2005. This target was set by the IT policy.

Like previous years, the CAN InfoTech show has once again brought the country’s focus on this sector. This year, the IT show included different exhibitors and vendors ranging from Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to accessories-providers. Many different colleges had also organized trip for their students to the show with the objective to familiarize them with the developments going on in the sector. And there were stalls of different such colleges offering variety of courses in IT.

In short period, the CAN IT show has already become a national event that is eagerly awaited by students and IT-lovers who want to know more about the latest technologies to hit the town. The show will go a long way in building the knowledge-based economy, which had benefited tens of millions of people around the world.