In 1996, after participating in CeBIT in Hannover, Germany, I returned to Nepal deeply transformed by what I had witnessed. CeBIT was then one of the world’s largest technology fairs, and it gave me a direct glimpse into the rapidly emerging global information technology revolution. I could clearly see that electronics, computing, software, and digital communication were going to reshape economies, industries, education systems, and societies across the world.
At that time, Nepal was still looking at technology in a very limited way. Most policymakers and institutions had not yet understood the scale of transformation that the IT industry would bring. But to me, the direction was already obvious: countries that could produce large numbers of technically skilled engineers and IT professionals would dominate the future global economy.
After returning, I met senior officials and industry leaders, including Fulanath Chalisey and Padma Jyoti Kansakar, who was then associated with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry. I told them very clearly that Nepal needed to urgently prepare for the coming IT era.
I argued that the government should encourage the establishment of private engineering and technical colleges. Nepal needed mass production of engineers and IT graduates if it wanted to participate in the global knowledge economy. I had already observed that India was strategically positioning itself in this direction by rapidly expanding technical education capacity.
At the Institute of Engineering, the intake capacity in electronic engineering was extremely small—only about 24 students. I felt this was far too inadequate for the future that was approaching. I even suggested to the Dean that the institute should introduce both morning and evening shifts to maximize existing infrastructure and produce more engineers without waiting for massive new investments.
But these ideas were difficult for many people to understand at the time.
Some found my proposals unrealistic. Others considered them unnecessary or even absurd. Nepal’s institutions were still functioning within a traditional mindset, while I was speaking about an emerging digital future that most people had not yet seen.
What frustrated me was not resistance itself, but the inability of institutions to anticipate change before it became unavoidable. I had seen firsthand how rapidly the world was moving. The technology revolution was not a distant possibility—it had already begun.
Years later, when the IT industry expanded globally and countries like India emerged as major technology powers through large-scale engineering education and software talent development, I often remembered those conversations. What seemed “too early” in Nepal in the 1990s later became accepted reality.
That experience taught me an important lesson:
visionary thinking is often dismissed not because it is wrong, but because society is not yet prepared to imagine the future it describes.
It also strengthened my lifelong belief that nations must build institutions capable not only of responding to present needs, but of preparing for the future before it arrives.