ICT survey to be conducted

KATHMANDU, Dec. 29 — The government is set to conduct a survey of the information and communication technology-based (ICT) industry in the country to see how it is doing. The High Level Commission for Information Technology is preparing the terms of reference and plans to entrust the job to any eligible consultant by January 2010.

Vice president of the commission Manohar Kumar Bhattarai said that it had become very essential to study Nepal’s ICT industry as there was no data to find out its real situation and its contribution to the economy.

He said that the survey would portray the condition of the booming ICT industry and problems being faced by them in the changing scenario. “It will help reveal the number of entrepreneurs involved, the amount of employment provided, the services or products being exported and the industry’s contribution to the GDP.

The survey will collect data from all the registered companies and also from unregistered enterprises employing more than 30 people. However, the study will not be able to incorporate the data of the entrepreneurs working individually from their homes or offices without legal registration.

“It will be hard for us to collect data about people who are outsourcing individually, but we will try to cover all the national and international companies based in the country,” said Bhattarai. The number of individuals involved in outsourcing has been increasing rapidly in recent times because of cheaper labour in Nepal compared to India.

According to a recent data of the ICT industry in India, the sector provides employment to 2.2 million people with the annual turnover reaching US$ 48 billion. India has registered an annual growth rate of 27 percent in the ICT sector.

“We can learn from India that the ICT industry too can contribute much to the national economy as the sector is at a nascent stage following the revolution in the information technology sector,” said Bhattarai. He said that the outcome of the survey would be made public by the end of March 2010.

Source: istockanalyst.com

Related posts:

1. Nepal: water bodies in Everest region contaminated, survey
2. SAARC varsity to operate from Aug
3. CAN set to hold its 3rd Softech in September
4. Nepal Eyes IT, Korea for Growth at 2009 IT Expo Busan
5. Insufficient work