At one end of the spectrum is Silicon Valley in the US—a mecca celebrated for technology foresight, turbo charged entrepreneurial culture, and a strong technology venture capital ecosystem. At the other extreme is Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, where the essence of Silicon Valley is virtually non-existent.

Internet of things

The digital future will be radically different from what we are used to now. The internet will soon be connected to everything and will be accessible everywhere.

The Economic Intelligence Unit says, “The internet is now worth more to the global economy than more traditional industries such as agriculture or energy.” If the claim is to be understood correctly, the internet should be put at the top of every nation’s socio-economic development agenda. However, the government does not seem to be making the necessary preparations for the country’s prosperous internet-powered future. For instance, if one goes through the list of ministries, one can find the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Agriculture Development, but none exclusively dedicated to the internet and the digital economy.

Nepal needs to take the internet seriously because it will be responsible for a big chunk of the economy in the days to come. According to General Electric, “the industrial internet which links networks, data, and machines through intelligent sensors, software analytics and cloud computing will account for more than $82 trillion in economic activity by 2025.” And by the current estimates, the number of devices connected to the internet by the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to be a staggering 212 billion by the end of 2020—thirty times the current world population.

The internet of things is a technology designed to enable  ‘machine to machine’ communication and connect everyday objects to the internet. For example, the internet of things will soon connect every single physical object to the internet including  everyday objects like coffee mugs and whisky glasses.  Internet-enabled clothes will monitor people’s health 24/7. Likewise, street lamps will automatically notify city authorities if and when a repair is needed and smart fridges will order supplies based on people’s purchase and medical history. Furthermore, cars will drive themselves and municipalities will automatically notify the inhabitants to stay home if the sun’s ultraviolet rays reaches a dangerous level.

Korean initiatives

The future of the internet of things looks  promising as both the Silicon Valley techno-utopians and the ‘wolves of Wall Street’ are highly optimistic about the potential of the new technology. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), the IoT ecosystem will be worth $8.9 trillion by 2020. While Nepal has remained ignorant about the potential, South Korea, a country with the fastest internet speed in the world was quick to understand the new technology’s economic potential and went about making strategic investments from early on.

Now, the peninsula is ready to lead the internet of things economy. South Korea was ranked the second most IoT-prepared country in the world in the  IDC’s 2014 IoT index.The South Korean government recently announced its plans to invest almost $5 billion over the next five years. In the same vain, starting this year, the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy along with the Ministry of Science, Information Communication Technology, and Future Planning will also invest $32 million to develop the necessary core technologies of IoT, $25.5 million for smart cars, and $70 million on

5G networks.

The internet-powered world is not a romantic utopianism, but a reality. Many IoT devices are already available in the market place. LG recently unveiled a smart fridge capable of texting. Similarly, France’s Kolibree has invented a connected toothbrush that can monitor people’s mouth for any symptom that might be of concern to medical practitioners. Google’s self-driving cars are ready to hit the streets. Furthermore, many game changing smart-applications are being developed in different  areas like environment, health, education, agriculture, road, and traffic management.  

Few good steps

Comparatively, it seems that the new administration is more serious about propelling the country towards the new digital age for it has already launched a series of praiseworthy digital initiatives: the Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s new digital recording of house maps and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ online live enrollment system designed to collect forms to acquire Machine Readable Passports from the applicants in Kathmandu. However, probably one of the most progressive steps the country has taken to prepare itself for the digital economy is the digital signature initiative that was launched by Nepal’s first female President Bidhya Devi Bhandari.

Despite such noteworthy efforts, the government needs to do more because the internet of things poses profound policy challenges. A Ministry of Internet and Digital Economy has to be established as early as possible. Then, policies, plans and programmes should be developed to harness the potential benefits of the IoT economy. While doing so, the  government has to create an IoT environment that encourages investments, create a trusted IoT environment, use IoT to address societal challenges, and finally address specific regulatory and policy challenges.

Given the fact that the debate on the digital economy has been sidelined from the mainstream political debate for too long, Nepal’s digital economy dream is highly unlikely to be a reality. For now, we can just wait and see if the new administration has what it takes to do whatever is needed to ensure that Nepal does not miss the IoT boat.

Shah is the co-author of ‘Strategic IT Planning for Public Organisations: A Toolkit’ published by the UN in 2009