Technology Khabar ८ असार २०८०, शुक्रबार
काठमाडौं ।
Huawei Nepal is playing a key role in the Digital Nepal Conclave program to be held today, besides this, telecom and technology a giant company is also organizing the Mobile Nepal Congress (MNC) on the same occasion.
The company is encouraging young people to take the lead in information technology research and development around the world and is providing various training and opportunities to Nepalese youth.
On the occasion of Digital Nepal Conclave and MNC, Huawei’s role in the development and expansion of Nepal’s information technology was discussed by Technology Khabar with Jim Huang, the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Huawei Technologies Nepal Company Private Limited; Edited excerpt.
At First, How could you evaluate the current status of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) development in Nepal ?
Considering the whole country, only 80% of the population gets mobile network coverage. That is far less than the Nepal Telecommunications Authority’s (NTA) goal to ensure mobile network coverage for 95% of Nepal’s population.
Nepal is moving very fast towards development with digitalization. Mobile penetration in this country has risen to 72%, and home broadband penetration has reached 36%. These are very promising numbers indeed. We can also see the growing number of ISP users in the recent 2-3 years.
Besides, different companies are bringing out diversified mobile apps. For example, in the mobile financial services segment, we have nine apps like eSewa, fonepay, Kkhalti, IMEPay etc. These kinds of digital services are equipping people with more flexibility. And people are finding these very important, valuable, and convenient. That means Nepal is on the right track to making people’s life easier with the development of ICT.
But when we look at other countries of South Asia or the world, Nepal needs to concentrate on some areas. Firstly, we need to work more on making more people connected. Considering the whole country, only 80% of the population gets mobile network coverage. That is far less than the Nepal Telecommunications Authority’s (NTA) goal to ensure mobile network coverage for 95% of Nepal’s population. On the other side, we need to work to improve the internet speed experience of users. Ookla has recently published a speed test report. The report says the internet speed is 12.9Mbps. That is far less than the global and regional average. One of the reasons for this because 4G penetration in this country is still only 49%. So, we really need to work further to make more people connected with 4G connectivity.
I know Huawei is going to bring Digital Nepal Conclave this week. Why has Huawei joined this event?
Yes, Huawei has partnered with ICT Foundation Nepal (IFN) to bring Digital Nepal Conclave 2023 this week.
Huawei Nepal’s vision is to enable digital Nepal through ICT technologies and talents. Digital Nepal realization will certainly be a combined effort of all parties. If we want to move with the ICT development and how it is happening worldwide, then all parties in Nepal must work together with a tangible goal and development plan.
Huawei believes arrangements like Digital Nepal Conclave help build that common agenda and understanding for a collaborative achievement, helping everyone to contribute more.
On the other hand, IFN has been arranging this kind of event for the last few years and has already shown noticeable stakeholder inclusion and involvement in such arrangements. They are experienced as well.
Huawei has set GUIDE as the theme that stands Gigaverse Initiative, Ultra-automation Speed Up,Intelligent Computing & Network as a service, Differentiated Expectation on demand, and Environmental, Social, and Governance for MNC.
Taking this opportunity, you are also organizing the Mobile Nepal Congress ?
Besides the Digital Nepal Conclave 2023, Huawei will organize Mobile Nepal Congress (MNC) at the same venue by equipping its pavilion with cutting-edge technologies and solutions those can benefit enterprises, telecom, and ICT companies. Huawei has set GUIDE as the theme that stands Gigaverse Initiative, Ultra-automation Speed Up,Intelligent Computing & Network as a service, Differentiated Expectation on demand, and Environmental, Social, and Governance for MNC. Huawei believes Mobile Nepal Congress and Digital Nepal Conclave 2023 will bring global innovation and solutions into a discussion that are relevant and business viable in the country to expedite the journey towards Digital Nepal.
So how does this program benefit the participants and the ICT industry?
Huawei MNC -Digital Nepal Conclave 2023 is an initiative to include all the concerned policymakers, stakeholders, experts, and contributors towards the vision of ‘Digital Nepal’. Topics like 4G expansion, 5G readiness, Cloud & AI, and automation will be discussed here where Numerous companies will come up with diversified solutions in the ICT domain.
It is a nice opportunity to know the latest technologies and understand the trends and opportunities. Experts can also share their opinion on how the ICT industry should move further and the key action points it should take.
With these kinds of new understanding, the industry can adopt new solutions that are very helpful for them.
How is the potential on Nepal in ICT sector’s development?
This young tech-savvy generation is eager to adopt the digital technologies at its fullest. This demographic advantage provides a strong foundation for the development of ICT sector as it fosters a pool of talented individuals who can contribute to innovation, entrepreneurship, technology-driven initiatives.
The potential for ICT sector’s development in Nepal is significant and it holds a great promise for the country’s economic growth. Over the time Nepal has made progress in the field of information and communication technology and the sector continues to expand further. Exploring some data driven facts we can see the growing internet penetration in Nepal. Likewise, Nepal has witnessed the surge in the mobile connectivity with a total of 42.78 million cellular mobile connections, and if we look at the median age of Nepal’s population its 24.3, which makes Nepal a very young country. Nepal being a young country there is a whim of entrepreneurship with majority of entrepreneurs trying to build a business in internet.
It is home to 12.60 million social media users. This young tech-savvy generation is eager to adopt the digital technologies at its fullest. This demographic advantage provides a strong foundation for the development of ICT sector as it fosters a pool of talented individuals who can contribute to innovation, entrepreneurship, technology-driven initiatives.
Also if we look at the budget for Information Communication Technology in Nepal its 8.71 Billion in rupees for this fiscal year. Which portrays that, the government of Nepal recognizes the importance of the ICT sector which shades light to a more favorable environment for startup companies to boom further.
How do you the unique value of Huawei in local ICT development?
We work with customers, partners very closely that we can understand the needs, guide the process and work together for a collaborative achievement.
Huawei has developed itself with some values those make those make Huawei very unique. First thing is being innovative. Since we are an ICT and telecom company we put much more importance on research and development that allow us to be an innovative technology and solutions. Every year we spend a significant portion of our revenue on research and development.
For example, in 2022, we spent almost 23.2 billion US Dollars in research and development. And more than 100K people in Huawei are working in this research and development section. As a result, we have around 120K own patents. So, we are with the capacity of providing cutting-edge technology to the industry.
Second important thing is our Customer Centric approach. It is one of key values that makes us a responsible and contributing member of the ICT family in Nepal and everywhere. We work with customers, partners very closely that we can understand the needs, guide the process and work together for a collaborative achievement.
Third is the Huawei’s ambition for equipping the local talents. Huawei has more than 35 years’ experience. Now we have been working in more than 170 countries and region. Our knowledge and experience are very practical and very valuable for the youth.
We are working to equip them with advanced ICT knowledge, helping them to gain leadership skills etc. Because they are the hope for the future. They must be very skilled when we are talking about ICT development. Some surveys say, there will be 47 million ICT labor shortage by 2030 and an annual opportunity cost of US $4.238 trillion. South Asia Countries must enrich its young generation in ICT field. With that target we have been conducting various programs for them in Nepal.
All these make Huawei very unique as well as responsible for the ICT industry.
प्रकाशित: ८ असार २०८०, शुक्रबार
