Computer Association of Nepal (CAN)’s Info-Tech, so far the country’s only Information Technology (IT) fair, is into the fourth day of its 2009 edition. But the crowds that once swirled the BICC grounds, the fair’s earlier venue and now parliament´s premises, are missing. Now at Bhrikuti Mandap, the fair is a great example of customer rip-off, according to one fair visitor who blogged at mysansar.com. The blogger rants on how persistently stall owners had to be pursued for compensation for cheap and low-grade pen drives and webcams, which seem to be the fair’s only attractions. And fatally so!
Even the fun and flair that once filled the fair grounds have been limited to a few food stalls and some computer accessory vendors luring fewer and fewer customers for cheap pen drives and outdated laptops. Web programmer Jeevan Shrestha, 25, says, “In today’s world, it is not appropriate to short-change the consumer. We have internet and global television to keep ourselves updated and none of the things that are ‘hot and in’ outside are to be found here. Most of the exhibitors have products that are so 1990s.”
Shrestha is not the only visitor who feels that way. A fair that is supposed to provide a platform for IT professionals, new consumer products and ideas to stir the IT industry, has been reduced to a mere computer haat bazaar.
New Media student Sudhir Rai, 23, says, “The management is extremely poor. The amount they charge isn’t justified by what’s on offer at the information technology expo, touted as Nepal’s premier and largest. There are no innovative ideas and the gadgets and gizmos are a shameful display of desperation.”
Dipesh Shrestha/MyRepublica.com
Elsewhere, the stalls are a gloomy lot with low grade and branded computer accessories, internet service providers and never-heard-of cellular phone stalls. But visitors seem to have found their cue and they bee around stalls that exhibit solar energy. As load-shedding takes a record toll and inverters seem unable to keep up, solar energy is pretty much the talk of the town and the solar stalls pull quite a crowd. At Buddha Power, one of the solar exhibition stalls, President of All Nepal National Free Student’s Union (ANNFSU) Ram Kumari Jhankri, along with one of her party leaders and friends, is busy inquiring about the solar panels. “Batti balnai paryo (Need the lights to work),” she says as she inspects another stall.
The solar energy stalls might pull in more people in the days to come but one can witness visitors walking out after hearing about the investment that’s called for. The economy is in its worst recession and the public knows cash is the new king in the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. Apart from the reasonably priced external hard disks and branded mini portable laptops, this year’s CAN Info-Tech is desperation at its best. The conference section opposite Nepal Tourism Board too throws a ghastly shadow while dreams of Nepal’s own Silicon Valley at Banepa’s IT Park is yet to materialize fully. Says Worldlink Director of Public Relations and President of Internet Service Provider’s Association of Nepal (ISPAN) Pawan Shakya, “As we all know, it’s nothing but old wine in a new bottle.”
On Thursday, 16 January 2009 at 6:18 P.M. Nepal Standard Time, this scribe visited caninfotech.org.np only to encounter the following message: Bandwidth Limit Exceeded.
