Kathmandu, June 23
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal
‘Prachanda’ has said that the government has taken necessary steps for
permanent solutions to end cyber security and other risks that appear in
government data centers and servers.
"We have also moved towards
building a One Stop Solution and Data Exchange Platform to bring blueprints and
all digital services to a single platform, including a technical audit of the
effectiveness of all digital mechanisms used in the government service delivery
and performance system," he said while addressing the inaugural session of
Digital Conclave Nepal 2023 on Friday in Kathmandu.
The two-day conclave will run
through Saturday and discuss various aspects of ICT policies, e-commerce,
e-governance, digital services and their implementation.
Prime Minister
Prachanda informed that the work of
operating all government websites based on the same standard (Standard Webpage
Framework) has started, and the work has progressed to complete using digital
technology, from complaints hearing system including Hello Government to the
monitoring of development works.
According to him, the government
has expedited the process of formulating and implementing laws and policies on
information and communication technology (ICT), cyber security, startup and e-governance
and e-commerce in order to build a self-reliant economy.
The Prime Minister said that along
with transparency, accountability, digital technology and its use are also
important for good governance. "Not only this, there is a need to
systematically use the technologies developed in the information and
communication sector to make the government's role effective at par with
people's expectations in some areas such as social awareness, education,
health, and employment," he added.
However, he said that there is a challenge
to keep updating the technology, structure and service delivery pattern or
style and to change the policy structure accordingly.
Meanwhile, he emphasised on
infrastructure development needed for digital Nepal. "Necessary
initiatives have been taken to raise the standard of living even for the common
people in the remote areas that are not within the reach of the state. The
intention of the government is to reduce the digital divide and emphasize on
the digital economy," said PM Prachanda.
However, the reality is that
Nepal's geographical situation, lack of resources, lack of skilled manpower and
some policy difficulties have not led to development as expected, he
maintained.
"Although our expectations
and thinking are as fast as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the resources,
structure and working style are not in accordance with it. It is necessary to
develop the nation towards digital capability by paying special attention to
this," he said.
Speaking on the occasion,
Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Rekha Sharma, said that
the country needed a high-powered institution that could coordinate among the
organisations and stakeholders working in the digital technology and economy.
"There is not a dedicated
institution that could coordinate among all the institutions and programmes in
the digital sector. Likewise, this field is also witnessing the shortage of
leadership," she said.
According to her, the government
has given high importance to the digital literacy.
Meanwhile, the ministry is also
mulling to implement the hybrid system in technical human resource management
which would facilitate higher payment to the manpower in this field.
"The current government pay
scale has failed to attract sharp-minded technical human resources to the
public sector IT profession. Experts should be paid well," Minister Sharma
said, adding that the concept of IT Staff College for the continuous capacity
and skill enhancement was also being discussed about.
She also informed that the
government is in the process of formulating new and dynamic policies and laws
for the ICT sector to enhance productivity, transparency, and speed of
work.
Razan Lamsal, Chairman of the ICT
Foundation, the organiser of the event, said that the conclave was being organised
after successfully holding digital interactions in seven provinces.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 24 June 2023.
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