PURBANCHAL UNIVERSITY

Acme Engineering College,

Sitapaila, Kathmandu, Nepal

Case Study on
E-government Status in Nepal

Submitted by: Sumbitted to:

Er Roshani Ghimire
Name:Anahita Tiwari
Roll no:6
Sem:8th

Department of Computer and Electronic and Communication Engineering

Date: 2022,march 27
 ABSTRACT
As E-government has been referred to as the use of ICTs to transform government by
making it more accessible, effective and accountable, the Nepal government has taken
some positive initiatives for its development. However, according to the UN evaluation, the
current E-government level in Nepal is still very poor. This paper raised two research
questions: what the major problems of E-government implementation in Nepal are and
which problem(s) should be solved first. For this purpose, the Analytic Hierarchy Process
(AHP) method was used to rank the problems in hierarchical order. This study finds that
among the various problems of E-government implementation in Nepal, a lack of strong
leadership and government will, political-administrative instability, and resistance to change
within organizations were again highlighted as the most severe ones by experts.
Contents
1.Introduction............................................................................................................................4

2.History of E-Government and Current Situation in Nepal......................................................5

2.1 Government Efforts: Historical Approach........................................................................5

2.2 Current Situation of E-government in Nepal...................................................................8

3. Challenges............................................................................................................................10

3.1 Strategies......................................................................................................................10

4.Conclusions and future Recommendations..........................................................................12

5.Refrences..............................................................................................................................13
1.Introduction
E-government is the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in
government to improve managerial effectiveness, deliver efficient public services, and
promote democratic values
Even discussions on electronic governance, or e-governance, might sound like misplaced
priority in present-day Nepal when, in general, the brick-and-mortar governance itself is
making a volte-face. Nepal ranks 137 among 193 countries in the e-governance
development index (EGDI) in a world that excelled in e-governance over the last 30 years by
using information and communication technology (ICT). The United Nations defines e-
governance as "the application of ICT in government operations, achieving public ends by
digital means". Therefore, e-governance has the twin objectives of paperless and speedy
public policy decisions through bureaucratic processes and operations and efficient and
effective service delivery to citizens and businesses. The end goal is good governance by
every level of government.

But, for Nepal, e-governance-enabled public service delivery has increasingly become
a pipe dream for all and sundry. Long queues of people in front of the Passport
Department, vehicle registration offices and a waiting list of about a million across
the country to obtain a driving licence are only a few examples that manifest very
inefficient, if any, use of ICT by even resourceful government offices.

Despite repeated claims of successive governments of all political hues that in several
areas like registration where companies can be registered online, and e-procurement
protocols and platforms and consolidated e-identification like the Nagarik app are
usable, the beneficiaries are still forced to be physically present at the concerned
offices to obtain these services. The country experienced a disastrous failure in
implementing the e-learning mode for students of all levels during the Covid-19
pandemic. The Central Bureau of Statistics chose to deploy door-to-door
enumerators with pencil and paper instead of making the best use of the state-of-the-
art ICT and digital platforms in the recent national census. A very ambitious
integrated accounting software, SuTRA (Sub-national Treasury Regulatory
Application), originally designed as online compliance, was later relaxed to be (also)
offline and now faces the challenge of non-utilisation and increasing non-
compliance. These are accurate reflections of the tardy pace of adoption of e-
governance in Nepal, almost in every sector.

2.History of E-Government and Current Situation in Nepal

2.1 Government Efforts: Historical Approach

Even though the history of E-government is still young, the Government of Nepal has made
some efforts for the development of this sector.

Before 1990

Although there was no significant development in this sector until 1990, the year 1971 can
be regarded as a Landmark Year in terms of Nepal’s exposure to ICT when the government
used a computer (IBM 1401) in its national population census program (Rupakhetee &
Heshmati, 2011). The Communications Corporation Act 1971 aided to establish the Nepal
Telecommunication Corporation in 1975 as a fully state-owned corporation which ultimately
transferred into Nepal Telecom; a public limited company in 2004 (Nepal Telecom, 2015).
The establishment of the National Computer Center (NCC) in 1974 with the aim of
disseminating IT training and knowledge all over Nepal was another initiative which had the
unfortunate fate of dissolving in 1996. Data System International (DSI), a first international
software development company, was established in 1982 with the aim of software
development and the year 1985 witnessed the distribution of personal computers (Dhami &
Futo, 2010).

Between 1990 and 2000

 This decade observed noteworthy improvements and changes in the IT sector (i.e. mainly
after the restoration of democracy in 1990). In this period, many public policies and
programs were reformed as per the spirit of the democratic government. In 1990, there was
liberalization on imports of IT equipment (Dhami & Futo, 2010). The Computer Association
of Nepal (CAN) was formed in 1992 and later registered as the Federation of Computer
Association of Nepal (CAN Federation) in January 2015 with the involvement of
professionals, specialists, institutions and related organizations from the ICT sector in Nepal
which is an autonomous, non-political, nonpartisan, nonprofitable and service oriented
sector (CAN, 2015). In the same year 1992, the Mercantile Communication Pvt. Ltd. (MCPL)
started the first commercial e-mail service (Rupakhetee & Hashmati, 2011). So there does
not seem to have been any remarkable progress in the field of ICT until 1995. When the
Ministry of Science and Technology was formed in 1996, this sector was also acknowledged
as an important part of development, particularly during 1997-2004, which happened to be
an important time when a number of policy and regulatory measures were prepared and
implemented in the ICT sector (Rupakhetee & Hashmati, 2011). In 1996, the
Telecommunication act was enacted as a result. Nepal Telecommunication Authority, as an
independent body, was established in 1997 (NTA, 2015).

After 2000 to the Present

With the declaration of the first information technology (IT) policy in 2000, Nepal moved
into a scientific and systematic way of ICT development. IT policy 2000 clearly proclaimed
policies for a regulatory framework, infrastructure development, E-government content and
applications, human resource development and organizations. Its vision was ‘to place Nepal
on the Global Map of Information Technology within the next five years with three clear
objectives: i.e. to make information technology accessible to the general public and increase
employment through this means, to build a knowledge-based society, to establish
knowledge-based industries (MoSTE, 2000). The formation of the National Information
Technology Center (NITC) under the

Ministry of Science and Technology in 2001 was another remarkable work in the course of
ICT development in Nepal. The National Strategy Paper on ICT with the initiative of National
Planning Commission (NPC) in 2002 added another brick to the wall of ICT’s further
advancement (Dhakal, 2010). With the constitution of the High Level Commission for
Information Technology (HLCIT) in 2003, the prime importance of the ICT sector was made
clear. Likewise, in 2004, the Cyber Law was enacted and the IT Policy 2000 was again
revised. The Electronic Transaction Act was introduced in 2006 and the same year witnessed
the establishment of IT Park at Dhulikhel which sadly could not begin operation for long
time and is now closed. With the aim of development and implementation of an electronic
transaction system and delivery of service to citizens and businesses, the E-government
Master Plan (e-GMP) was prepared by the government in 2006, supported by the Korea IT
Industry Promotion Agency (KIPA). e-GMP (2007-11), which was undertaken by High Level
Commission for Information Technology (HLCIT), has provided a framework for moving
towards fullfledged E-government in the country (Rupakhetee & Hashmati, 2011). To
substantiate the work, HLCIT and KIPA signed the MOU on consulting for the setting up of
Egovernment master plan development and its proper implementation. As a result, the
Government Integrated Data Center (GIDC) administrated by the National Information
Technology Center (NITC) was built, but this center is also still in its first phase. In 2008,
ADSL technology was introduced (NT, 2015).
In the year 2010, a new Information Technology (IT) Policy was launched replacing the
previous IT Policy 2000. The vision of IT policy 2010 is “To establish Nepal in the world map
of information technology and transfer into knowledge-based society” (MoST, 2010). Its
mission is to achieve social and economic development goals including good governance,
poverty reduction with the proper use of information technology in Nepal. Similarly, the
goal of current IT policy is poverty reduction through the maintaining of social and economic
development goals with the use of information technology. To fulfil the afore-mentioned
vision, mission and main goal, it has set up six other goals and twenty-nine policies. And
recently, the Nepal Government has formed an ICT council based on the cabinet decision of
May 12, 2016 comprising 23 members where the PM will be the president, ministers from
Ministry of Information and Communications and Ministry of Science and Technology will be
the two vice-presidents and other members from top bureaucrats and experts, says Dinesh
K. Thapaliya, secretary, Ministry of Information and Communication.
2.2 Current Situation of E-government in Nepal: Based on UN Evaluation

Successful implementation of E-government initiatives delivers various opportunities such

as new services, more citizen involvement in public affairs and an improved information
infrastructure . Different scholars and institutions have developed their own models and
respective characteristics of each phase. Of these, the World Bank three-stage model, the
UN’s five-stage model and Gartner’s four-stage model are commonly used. UNASPA (2001)
suggested five stages of an E-government model: Emerging Presence, Enhanced Presence,
Interactive Presence, Transactional Presence, and Seamless or Fully Integrated Presence.
Most advanced nations have developed highly interactive government web sites to act as a
portal to connect users and service providers, and the interaction takes place at a more
sophisticated level (Interactive Presence), allowing users to conduct complete and secure
transactions, such as renewing visas, obtaining passports and updating birth and death
records through a single government web site (Transactional Presence). After that, they
have tried to reach the final stage, Seamless or Fully Integrated Presence, which is the
optimum level of E-government development. In this stage, governments utilize a single and
universal web site to provide a one-stop portal in which users can immediately and
conveniently access all kinds of available services. However, a majority of nations in the
world still remain within one of the first three stages— Emerging Presence, Enhanced
Presence, and Interactive Presence. They have significantly progressed in E-government
since they started. However, Nepal’s situation seems inconsistent, having mainly
deteriorated in later years in comparison to its initial situation. After analyzing the United
Nations data discussed below and looking at the real situation of E-government in the
country, we find that Nepal is still in the initial stage, Emerging Presence, in which a single or
few independent government web sites provide formal but limited and static information.
Government web sites are not ready to provide dynamic, specialized and regularly updated
information. As another way to understand and evaluate the situation of E-government in
the member nations, the UN E-government Survey has developed two different indices;
namely the E-government Development Index (EGDI) and the E-participation Index (EPI).

E-Government Development Index(EGDI)

E-participation Index(EPI)
3. Challenges
It was noted that Government in Nepal is still in its early stages and only 60% of its
government agencies implement e-governance services. The country has challenges in all
sectors which include political, social, technology and economic. Below listed are some of
the major challenges:
1. Low Literacy Rate and Language Barrier
2. Lack of human resources
3. Digital divide
4. Political Instability and Sustainability
5. Limited Financial Resource
6. Insufficient Law, Regulation, Strategy and Plans
7. Employee Barrier
8. Lack of feasibility study
9. Change in technology
10. Security and privacy
11. Less priority
12. Corruption

3.1 Strategies

Solving the above problems we have some strategies which are as follows:

1.Government should change their focus of attention

2. Evaluate E‐government Master Plan and develop new Vision/Strategies/
Leadership for e‐ governance
3. Advancing ICT infrastructure
4. Government Process Reengineering
5. Create and Retain adequate skilled IT human resource
6. Increasing training to improve IT literacy to government officials
7.Organize public awareness programs on ICT
8. Develop a mechanism to quick monitor and track the progress of the project
9. Ensure Reliability, Privacy and Security
10. Prioritize the issues of Enterprise Architecture and Interoperability
11. Implementing government web portals and Monitor the functions of Telecenter
12. Assistance from donor community by raising awareness
13. Develop sustainable models for e‐Governanace
4.Conclusions and future Recommendations
Popularity of ICT is increasing but still Implementation is Big Problem in Nepal like other
Underdeveloped country. The basic foundations like Human Resource, ICT Infrastructure,
Literacy, awareness, Commitment, Funds must be improved for the implementation of e‐
Governance. Rural connectivity and ICT use in the rural areas should be expanded through
use of such technologies as WiFi, WiMAX, and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP). First
identify the Size and Scope and then implement based up on the Priority. Always think
about the public expectations and their participation to success the e‐Governance in Nepal.
Conduct further cycle of research where more attention is paid to technical aspect of e‐
Governance implementation .
5.Refrences
https://www.lbef.org/journal/1-2/download/1-2-20-40.pdf
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3857194
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:372485/FULLTEXT01.pdf