Minister for Information and Communications of nepal,Tanka Dhakal has said that His Majesty the Kings presence in the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) scheduled to be held in Tunis from 16 to 18 November reflects Nepals commitment to the development of information technology.
During the Summit, Nepal will play an influential role in the development of global IT sector, Dhakal said at an interaction on Nepals participation in the Summit. There has to be coordination and partnership between the government and the private sector to take the fruits of IT development to the rural mass.
The objective of the first phase was to develop and foster a clear statement of political will and take concrete steps to establish the foundations for an Information Society for all, reflecting all the different interests at stake.
High level government officials, IT experts as well as representatives from various concerned organisations participated in todays programme organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications at its hall.
WSIS, while recommending representation from governments at the highest level also invites participation of all relevant UN bodies and other international organisations, non-governmental organisations, private sector, civil society, and media to establish a truly multi-stakeholder process.
The participants proposed various issues to be raised in the Tunis Summit in which a joint delegation of the representatives from the government and private sectors will take part.
Vice Chairman of the High Level Information Technology Commission Sharad Chandra Shah suggested to continue international coordination for the development of this sector and expressed the hope that Nepal would attempt to have national ambitions and issues represented in the Summit.
Experts suggested the government to bring out policies to regulate the private Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and forge a working coordination with neighbouring countries India and China for laying optical fiber that would enormously reduce the prices.
They also asked the government to formulate policies that would cut the prices of IT hardware, making them commonly affordable. They said that electricity, which is a prerequisite for the development of information technologies, should be made reliable and that a time-bound action plan be introduced for integrating IT with education.
Education Ministrys Secretary Lava Prasad Tripathi said that clear policies, issues and priorities should be mentioned in Nepals presentation at the Summit.
Earlier, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communications Suresh Man Shrestha presented the issues Nepal presented and other activities at WSIS PrepCom III, the third Preparatory Process prior to the Summit.
More
|
