In 1996 and 1997, I served as one of the Executive Members of Computer Association of Nepal during a crucial period when Nepal was only beginning to understand the significance of information technology and software industries.
At that time, I believed that Nepal’s transition into the digital age could not happen through academic institutions alone. The private sector, industries, policymakers, universities, and national planners all had to be mobilized together. Nepal needed not only technical education, but also national awareness, institutional coordination, and strategic planning.
Using the platform of the Computer Association of Nepal, I actively reached out to the leadership of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry. I requested support from the FNCCI President and industrial community so that I could gain access to industries across Nepal and conduct a broad assessment of how prepared Nepali industries were for the emerging IT and software era.
This became an important national-level research effort.
I personally visited industries and business institutions, interacted with industrialists, gathered detailed information, and conducted extensive surveys regarding technology preparedness, industrial modernization, software adoption, and future manpower needs. Based on this work, I prepared research articles and reports analyzing Nepal’s industrial readiness for the information technology age.
The findings were later published through Association for Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnerships proceedings and international publications. More importantly, the research was utilized within ministries and policy circles as part of national planning discussions related to technology and industrial development.
During this period, Shankar Prasad Sharma was associated with the National Planning Commission, and I worked actively to connect multiple institutions and stakeholders around a shared technological vision for Nepal.
I mobilized, the leadership of the Institute of Engineering, the Vice Chancellor of Tribhuvan University, the National Planning Commission, industrial associations, policymakers, and private sector stakeholders.
My role within the Computer Association of Nepal specifically focused on promoting and developing Nepal’s software industry. At a time when software exports and outsourcing were still relatively new concepts in Nepal, I consistently argued that software industries could create employment, connect Nepal to the global economy, and generate opportunities for youth without requiring massive physical infrastructure.
Because of this work, I was also entrusted with responsibilities related to technical presentations and coordination during international engagements, including activities connected with Hannover, Germany. I delivered several presentations before the National Planning Commission and other national forums, emphasizing the urgent need for IT education expansion, software industry development, institutional reform, public–private collaboration, and strategic national planning for the digital economy.
Looking back today, I realize that those efforts helped lay some of the early groundwork for Nepal’s software and IT ecosystem.
At that time, many people still viewed computers as peripheral tools rather than engines of economic transformation. But I had already seen how rapidly the global economy was shifting toward knowledge industries and software-driven development.
What gave me strength during those years was the conviction that Nepal’s young people had the intelligence and capability to compete globally—if only the country could create the institutional pathways and opportunities needed to support them.