In the United States, IT alone was responsible for two-thirds of total growth in productivity between 1995 and 2002 and virtually all growth in labor productivity. Moreover, between 1993 and 2001, IT usage in China was responsible for 38 percent of increase in total factor productivity growth and 21 percent GDP growth.
Recognizing this potential of IT in all-round development of a nation, the first IT policy for Nepal was drafted in 2000. The goal was to put Nepal on the global IT map within five years. It’s been over 10 years and yet we are nowhere near the set objective. This stagnancy in the growth of IT owes to inefficient policy formulation; it shows a clear lack of vision, ineffective planning and absence of a clear road-map for IT evolution.
For the first policy of its kind, the breadth and focus of the IT policy was severely compromised. Lots of essentials like timelines, milestones, phases, sectoral focus (as in e-governance, e-commerce, e-education etc), relevant cyber laws, intellectual property rights, industry-government efforts and so on are missing. Like a political speech this policy had lots of empty promises but no substance. The outlined 17 policies didn’t align well with the overall vision and objectives.
In addition, the policy was repetitive, incoherent and unimaginative. The statement “to establish Nepal in the global market through the use of information technology” was used repetitively. It is obvious that policy formulators didn’t do proper homework in identifying the IT sector where Nepal could enjoy comparative advantage, and where Nepal could focus its growth, framing timelines, milestones and sequence of actions accordingly.
Lack of implementation and management plagued the policy. One of the policies stated, “To develop physical and virtual Information Technology Park in various places with the private sector’s participation for the development of Information Technology”. After five years, the only IT Park in the country was established in Banepa. But due to myopic vision and poor management, that park now stands isolated and is in ruins.
The policy, as per the provisions, is to be revised every two years. However, the second (and the most recent) IT policy was drafted only after a decade, in 2010. The focus of this policy is to put Nepal on the global map (again), provision computer facilities from school level to increase IT-literacy, and set up a phased e-government master plan to reduce the movement of papers while facilitating the use of IT in all kinds of governmental activities.
This policy neither addresses the shortcomings of the previous one nor does it recognize the effectiveness of the same. It has no correlation whatsoever with its predecessor except for its vagueness. The policy talks about luring private investors, creating employment, regulating IT Park, and establishing electronic hardware technology park (EHTP). But there is no clear footprint and techno-managerial roadmap. Moreover, this policy, like its predecessor, ignores hindrances and infrastructure-deficiency like erratic electricity supply, slow internet speed, and dearth of highly skilled manpower that constrain the growth of IT.
The authorities have not only been ineffective in the policy formulation but also in implementation. The efforts to make government services like company registration process available electronically made the procedures more expensive and time-consuming. The registration process after migrating from paper-based system to electronic system takes approximately 15 official days, compared to four official days before (as per a research carried out by Samriddhi). This bizarre delay owes to implementing agencies’ ineptitude and their vested interests. Earlier known for carrying out jobs underhand, the Company Registration Office, while implementing the e-governance master plan, used the policy to serve its vested interest. This made the facility more hassling for service seekers.
There seems to be a fundamental problem with how IT policy was formulated in Nepal. It’s badly researched and unfocussed. This is one of the reasons why even after 14 years of policy intervention, we fail to see a significant growth in IT sector.
For the formulation of a good IT policy, we have to
- understand the socio-economic structure of the country,
- perform a comparative study of the policies of other nations with similar structures,
- recognize the IT sector where the country has a possibility of reasonable growth,
- concentrate the policy to boost growth in that particular sector, and
- create a time plan and landmarks for periodic assessment of progress.
According to Minister of Information and Communications Dr. Minendra Rijal, a modified IT policy is expected soon. Those of us working in the IT field would like to see a policy that is well-researched, realistic and focused and has the potential to yield substantial outcomes.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Suman Khakurel
Quelle/Source: Republica, 22.06.2014
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