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It’s about time that the country broke ground in the IT field
With Nepal’s internet penetration crossing the 65 percent mark, it is about time that Nepal made its mark in the IT sector, panellists concurred as they spoke on the topic “Can Nepal do IT?” on the second day of Kantipur Conclave on Monday.With Nepal’s internet penetration crossing the 65 percent mark, it is about time that Nepal made its mark in the IT sector, panellists concurred as they spoke on the topic “Can Nepal do IT?” on the second day of Kantipur Conclave on Monday.
The panellists included Biswas Dhakal, president of F1 Soft Group; Asheem Mansingh Basnet, regional director of Pathao; and Akanksha Tyagi, founder of Social Friendly, India.
Tyagi pointed out two perspectives on how Nepal can move ahead in the IT sector. First, she said specified that the IT sector has two facets-users and creators, and Nepali IT professionals should focus on being the latter.
Secondly, Tyagi said that the creators must be able to determine the area of focus.
The products and services offered by IT must cater to the needs of the locals, she added.
“IT is not just about understanding and implementing the current trends in vogue around the world,” she said, “IT is also about understanding the geography, culture and language of a region and being able to give solutions to a common problem.”
Basnet spoke about the digital technology disruption that his company’s ride-sharing app had brought about in the way people commute.
The thought was echoed by Dhakal of F1 Soft Group. Both Basnet and Dhakal were of the view that Nepal needed digital technology disruption, and their ventures have been doing just that, be it through mobile banking, online payment system, or ride-hailing services.
“We have disrupted the way people were moving, the way people wanted to move or wanted their logistics to happen,” said Basnet.
The panel also shared views about securing one’s personal and organisational data.
All panellists stressed the need to raise awareness about the traps of the IT, particularly on social media platforms.
“The government should work towards educating the public rather than issuing restrictions to prevent the breach of data,” Dhakal said.
Tyagi said that the issue of IT security was a continuous and collaborative process. Most social media users fail to browse through the privacy options of any social media site and this lack of knowledge leads to personal data being out in the public, she said.
“The users should be educated on the necessity of accessing privacy options on social media platforms because IT security is a two-way effort-from the users and the creators.”