Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) organized a validation workshop on a study project titled ‘IT industry growth study’ on June 21, 2023 at the IIDS Campus. It was attended by representatives of various IT companies including the members of Nepal Association for Software and IT Services Companies (NAS-IT). The session commenced with a welcome remark by Dr. Biswash Gauchan, the Executive Director of IIDS. It was followed by the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between IIDS and NAS-IT. Dr. Gauchan mentioned that it has been nearly months since the start of the project. He mentioned that Nepal does not have much comparative advantage in many sectors of the economy. Hence, the IT sector can be a new economic frontier that holds a huge potential to drive economic growth and contribute to Nepal’s foreign exchange reserves. Dr. Gauchan further appreciated the contribution of NAS-IT in promoting Nepal’s IT sector.
The welcome remarks were followed by a presentation given by Dr Amrita Sharma, Consultant to IIDS. She presented the key findings of the study on IT service exports which included the gaps and challenges in the IT sector along with various recommendations to address these issues. After the presentation, the attendees engaged in a fruitful discussion and provided their insights, feedback and suggestions on the report.
Dr Sharma acknowledged Dr. Wagle and Dr. Gauchan’s efforts in recognizing the potential of Nepal’s IT industry. She appreciated their use of the terms ‘weightless and borderless’ to describe the unique characteristics of the IT sector. Dr. Sharma then thanked the Dolma Impact Fund, Fuse Machines, and Cloud Factory for their support. After this, all the attendees of the program introduced themselves.
During the presentation, Dr. Sharma mentioned that the main purpose of this study was to find out the opportunities in the IT Sector. As a part of the findings, Dr. Sharma presented various data including the number of companies and freelancers in Nepal’s IT sector, the education level of IT sector employees, and the level of skills & competency of the employees. Dr. Sharma also highlighted some of the best international practices in the IT industry. Subsequently, she echoed the challenges in the IT industry and the steps that can be taken to address these challenges. Regarding the challenges, Dr. Sharma mentioned about the problems in Nepal’s IT sector ranging from unfriendly policies and regulations, inadequate digital skills, weak infrastructure, limited government support, political commitment, payment system issues, institutional arrangement, to social factors. She then presented the seven major pathways namely – development of adequate infrastructure, support for investment and finance, human resource development, formulation of policies and regulations, branding of Nepal’s IT industry, coordination and collaboration among key stakeholders, and innovation.
After Dr. Sharma presented the findings of the study, a feedback session was conducted with the participants. The panelist asked questions about the project and provided their recommendations. During the session, some of the representatives expressed concerns regarding the number of freelancers. In response, Dr. Sharma clarified that the freelancers are based in Nepal and their number has been double checked through various financial institutions, including the central bank. Some of the representatives also emphasized the problems that IT companies face when trying to conduct marketing and sales abroad. Dr. Sharma added that these concerns have been addressed in the report.
Following the feedback session, Mr. Richan Shrestha, the president of NAS-IT, thanked IIDS for this initiative. He added that the data-driven report will create a spark in the industry. Mr. Dharmendra Lekhak, head statistician at IIDS, wrapped up the validation workshop by thanking the participants.
The event summary was prepared by Ms. Pragyee Bhatta.