In the last 5/6 years, there has been a lot of change in the field of startups and digital business. Innovation efforts have been made using technology in the fields of agriculture, finance, education, and transportation. Our information technology companies have started participating in London Tech Week, road shows in the US.

Nepalis living abroad are surprised to see the progress made by this sector in Nepal. However, the transformational work that should be done on a faster or larger scale has not yet been done. However, the initiative is encouraging.

It seems that the new generation like Genji and Gen Alpha are thinking about using technology not only to make their lives easier, but also for entrepreneurship. As it becomes more widespread, the Information Technology (IT) sector will further develop. Women are also active in this field.

Information technology companies are now encouraged by the government. It has encouraged everyone to work and expand their business. The information technology sector of Nepal is progressing significantly in the last few years. Earlier, the companies of this sector used to 'lobby' at the private level for policy reforms, but now we have started speaking collectively. The government has become positive about this sector after organizing and putting forward its demands and asserting itself through work. 

Especially cyber security companies have been asking the government for a long time to create a cyber security law in Nepal. However, it was difficult to get the attention of the government when raising voices separately. When technology companies started organizing and putting their demands together, the government started to listen. As a direct result of this, significant policy reforms in the information technology sector have begun to emerge. Only last year, the National Cyber ​​Security Policy was implemented.

Two years ago, by forming the Nepal Association of Software and IT Services Companies (NAS-IT), a demand was made to the government to remove the threshold on foreign direct investment in the field of information technology and to open branch offices abroad. Through the

budget, the minimum limit of foreign investment in information technology has been removed. This sector has been encouraged by the provision of allowing industries that export information technology services to open branch offices in third countries through the Ordinance. It will help in market expansion. Now, if it is passed, it would become a law and then it would be easy if the procedure came soon. 

We have good policy initiatives announced. However, there is a trend of not reaching implementation. Guidelines or procedures are needed to clarify how many or which companies are allowed to open branch offices by taking investments abroad and when. We are not sure until we experience one or two success stories. It will be a positive step for the IT professionals if the government opens the door for expansion abroad even if it is through the quota system.

The IT sector is developing rapidly in Nepal. From new startups to large software companies within the country, international level services are being provided. But among the main challenges facing this sector, the most complex problem is the lack of skilled manpower. As the number of job opportunities in the information technology sector increases, it is more difficult to find and retain qualified personnel. Companies are finding it difficult to meet the demands of serving international customers, maintaining quality, and delivering on time.

Some experienced and qualified technicians cannot be 'afforded' and most of them do not last long in the company. Technology experts who are able to compete in the global market prefer to work for international companies through freelancing or remote work rather than joining a company.

The purpose of another type of manpower is to go abroad. Nepali companies have become like training centers or training places for new manpower. Trained, went abroad, migration of skilled manpower i.e. the problem of brain drain has disturbed information technology companies. Now there is the matter of opening a branch abroad, it will increase the workload. Companies get enough work but delivery is difficult because manpower is less. Whether it's

startups, women's entrepreneurship or any innovation, all are being centered in Kathmandu. As soon as you go outside Kathmandu, a big gap appears. Due to the lack of basic infrastructure such as electricity and internet in remote areas, startups based on the latest thinking and solving local problems and technology-based businesses have not been born. The government should also focus on building digital public infrastructure. Issues such as information highways, shared use of technology infrastructure have been limited to policy.

Some people at the policy-making level understand the information technology field and try to learn it, but it seems that many of them make rules/laws without knowing the basics. For us, this is a very big and long-term issue. For example, only some time ago, when talking about the bill on electronic business or e-commerce, the then industry minister and members of the National Assembly talked about electricity business. It is natural to worry about what kind of law will be made in such a situation.

Another challenge is the tendency of government agencies to seek foreign vendors for IT projects. This not only discourages local companies, but the government also faces risks such as money going abroad, maintenance services not being provided on time, and Nepali data getting into the hands of foreigners. In the

startup sector, it is felt that the government has not made enough efforts. It is announced that startups will be encouraged and invested in them, but their implementation is not effective. Women are not encouraged in this field. When a business fails, there is pressure to leave the business and take a job. This is preventing women from becoming entrepreneurs. 

Regarding the information technology sector, the way in which the government has shown caution to bring policy ease, the way in which the political leadership has shown enthusiasm to understand this sector or listen to our words, has made us very optimistic. The government's goal is to establish information technology as a pillar of the economy, develop Nepal as an information technology hub, and create 5 lakh direct and 10 lakh indirect jobs in the information technology sector in 10 years with the export of services worth 30 billion rupees. This is an easily achievable goal. 

If you make it easy to bring in investment and ensure ease of opening abroad, you don't have to wait 10 years to export IT services worth 30 billion. Our wish is that the Ordinance gets legal recognition and the procedures come soon. In this way, the information technology sector of Nepal is very likely to become stronger in the next 5/10 years. Five/six years ago, if the legal basis for business expansion abroad had been prepared, the founders of several companies in the information technology sector would have become billionaires by now. It is not possible for us to compete in the global market or become a giant company by investing only in Nepal or being limited here. If legal and procedural simplicity is brought to the

startup sector, it also has potential. Our brothers and sisters of the latest generation are preferring to try new things in startups and tech businesses. They are doing innovative work in AI, machine learning, robotics. Their knowledge, access to information is good. But for startups we have a lot of procedural hurdles. The company registration process frustrates startup entrepreneurs at first. There is a situation from collecting various documents to running to one agency after another. If it is simplified, the number of new entrepreneurs will increase. Now some of the leading organizations in the private sector are working to provide advice and guidance to the startups. This is very important. There are more organizations and experienced entrepreneurs to teach newbies as experts. If we can establish such a culture, startups will flourish.

When our educational institutions seem to have to work hard to create manpower that matches the market, there is a gap in it. To remove this gap, we have also started some initiatives from NAS-IT, the umbrella organization of information technology companies. We have designed two/three courses to provide knowledge about the practical aspects of the job market, which will help the college graduate to fit into the job market. Some professionals in the technology sector have been trying to prepare manpower at the private level. Educational institutions themselves can help in creating the manpower required by the market by updating the curriculum or arranging training. Collaboration between industry and academic institutions is essential.