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E-gov master plan to get top priority
- Can info-tech 2010
KATHMANDU, JAN 13 -
CAN Info-Tech 2010 kicked off Wednesday at Exhibition Hall, Bhrikuti Mandap, Kathmandu. The mega ICT event was inaugurated by Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal amid a special function.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Prime Minister Nepal said that the government would give top priority to the e-governance master plan by speeding up ICT development work as the plan had taken longer to materialise than envisaged.
"We have been discussing this master plan for a long time, but our progress has been below expectations," he said while addressing the inaugural function of CAN Info-Tech 2010. He said that the Government Integrated Data Centre (GIDC) had already been set up as a base for e-governance, and there were also skilled IT professionals, but still the progress in implementing the plan had been poor.
Referring to the snail's pace in the progress of the ICT sector, Prime Minister Nepal pledged to utilise the IT Park at Dhulikhel, expand internet access across the country, create more employment and bring solid new rules and regulations for the development of the ICT sector and related businesses.
Vice chairman of the High Level Commission for Information Technology Manohar Bhattarai said that preparations to implement e-governance had reached the final stage with the setting up of major infrastructure like the GIDC.
He stressed the need to produce quality products, release them in market at
affordable prices and make broadband internet cheaper across the country for the implementation of the e-governance master plan.
The government had initiated work on the master plan in 2006 with the support of the Asian Development Bank and the Korean government.
The concept covers a wide range of IT-enabled reforms designed to raise the quality of the service the government delivers to citizens and businesses.
Bhattarai said that the government would soon revise the policy and introduce a three-year work plan in which the government would work hand in hand with the private sector.
President of the Computer Association of Nepal (CAN) Suresh Karna emphasized the need to spread IT access in rural areas when the government is thinking of implementing e-governance in the near future.
"IT can be the best tool for the development of all the sectors if we are able to develop the IT sector as an industry," said Karna.
On the first day, over 60,000 visitors observed the event.
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