Speaking at the two-day conference on e-Democracy, which began on Friday, ICT experts and stakeholders opined that implementation of IT Policy would open new opportunities and also increase work efficiency in public sector.[break]
Internet Society Nepal and Computer Association of Nepal are organizing the event on the sideline of Midas CAN Info-Tech 2013.
Inaugurating the conference, Minister for Environment, Science and Technology Keshav Man Shakya reiterated government´s commitment to promote ICT sector. “Our major priority is in delivering services in an effective manner. We believe optimum use of ICT tools can definitely help us make our service delivery quick and at the same time effective,” he added.
Delivering his keynote address, Rohan Samarajiva, CEO of LIRNEasia, suggested the government to prioritize investment in development of infrastructure in telecommunications. “Compared to other services, people still find it easier to make calls to get information,” he said, adding that opening of call centers to provide government related information could be one of the important steps toward e-Democracy.
Secretary at the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology Keshab Bhattarai, who chaired the first session of the conference on e-Democracy and emerging technologies, said the ministry has already started the process of bringing ICT Policy into implementation. “Government ministries should prioritize ICT as it is associated with every sector,” he added.
Citing the case study of India on e-Governance, Durgambini Patel, Professor of Technology Law at Pune University, stressed the need to incorporate information technology in every sector.
The conference also features experts from South Korea and Bangladesh. More than 100 people involved in the ICT sector are participating at the conference.
The second day of the conference will feature discussions on e-Participation and freedom of expressing online.
Baburam Aryal, president of Internet Society Nepal, said the major objective of the conference was to float a discourse on e-Democracy and various aspects related to it.
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