Future of IT and Nepal positioning
All the panelists’ deliveries support the common goals in alignment with the UN Sustainable development goal and Nepal Government’s 16th Five-year plan. The IT industry's strength is based, fundamentally, on the trust, which NRNA members and human resources of Nepal collectively work in the areas of investment and technology transfer. The panel members explored potential in areas like Artificial Intelligence, Green Hydrogen Energy, Block Chain, Smart and Sustainable Infrastructure.
Nepal government is committed to energy transition, which will lead to an exponential growth in employment associated with Green Energy sectors, such as renewables, batteries and hydrogen. Nepal can become an exporter of green hydrogen. Given the government’s policy thrust, companies, businesses and industries will likely benefit as first movers with the help of government subsidies, incentives and policy support.
Green Hydrogen Technologies will open up remarkable new opportunities in high-skilled occupations in the coming years. Curriculum in universities has to be reviewed accordingly. Hydrogen can also be used as an energy carrier; a medium to store energy from renewable and other sources and it can be generated at scale with a zero carbon footprint by using renewable energy such as solar or wind power, for instance, to split water (electrolysis). All AI powered project activities will grow with the cheaper sources of energy and agriculture products. This will also help generate plethora of AI projects generating IT professionals who will also be backbone of outsourcing IT companies in Nepal supporting the concept of IT HUB in Nepal.
Women leaders can be engaged by expanding community engagement, strengthening participation, and fundamentally redistributing power to promote a transition to more equitable, resilient and sustainable energy systems. Integrated policy in the area of energy and agriculture will accelerate the benefit to the society especially at the grass root level.
The future of service sectors, industries and communities is intertwined. Harnessing these technology trends while ensuring equitable access can enhance services outcomes for a more sustainable future. Building capacity to adapt technologies and innovate in Nepal’s context is challenging, especially in the context of climate change and building back greener and better.
It is very important to promote AI literacy to the general population. There is a need for smart regulations that fosters innovations and protecting fundamental rights. Synthetic images and fake information are certainly a double threat to democracy. A system needs to be developed for incorporating the opinions of representatives from the society (social partners) in the policy-making process. Corporate managers, workers and academics should all be involved and for the assessment of private sector needs on IT-related issues.
The standard like Industry 5.0 of the Future approach brings benefits for industry, for workers and for society. Additionally, Human Resource 5.0., which is characterized by a focus on technology, data, and analytics to improve HR processes and decision-making. It also focuses on creating a more flexible and agile workforce, by providing remote work options, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and development. Society 5.0 is characterized by problem-solving and value creation, variety, decentralization, resilience, sustainability, and environmental harmony. The goal is to build a society free from the different limitations that exist now, where everybody may generate value whenever they want, wherever they are, in safety and harmony with nature.
There is a need for a special ACT under the banner of “Institutions of special importance” backed by a special budget for generating talents in all sectors through Human capital building program specially in high revenue generating sectors like IT industries. NRN professionals with international experiences can play a catalyst role in policy intervention.
NRNs program is adding value to bring together to exchange all views, latest technological developments in the field which make Nepal self-sufficient in generating talented professional experts. These sessions meet not only the domestic needs but also export to meet needs of regional countries and global requirements.
Experienced girls and AI savvy women leaders of NRN diaspora could play key roles in engaging INGOs, NGOs, government and local communities of Nepal, empowering them through the latest technology of the AI to minimize gender gap. Nepalese people should be motivated to reskill and upskill to cope with changes in the unprecedented speed of AI evolution. Voice, agency and empowerment should be ensured for women, poor and marginalized communities, in the face of technological dominance by a few actors.
Think Tanks from the consortium of NRNs and local professionals need to be mobilized in all sectors including the area of law enforcement fully supported by concerned stakeholders. Support is required in the area of Cyber security, AI act, AI regulation and behavior policy with robust law enforcement. NRNA expert members can be key resource persons to handle the complications involved at policy including implementation challenges. There are challenging areas to deploy AI backed technologies in a federal context where local levels have limited knowledge, capacity, infrastructure, etc.
A road map plan need to be worked out for strong collaboration between Academia and Industries, Science Technology and Innovation (STI), the STI endowment fund and global Scholar Exchange program. Several stakeholders including state and public corporations as well as industry are willing to be partners with NRNs will work together to achieve desired goals and establish NRNA credential as a knowledge investment partner for Nepal’s socio -economic prosperity.
This session has brought together stakeholders and provided strategic support to help transition Nepal’s economy into a knowledge based one. It has helped in fostering connectivity among policy makers and professionals in public and private sectors and establishing a robust professional alliance and partnership between the diaspora and scientific institutions of Nepal. Community of NRNs and stakeholders of Nepal will remain responsive and effective into the future.