‘Wig data has not been used in Nepal’

9 June, Kathmandu. Stakeholders have emphasized that big data has not been used in Nepal so far. Speaking at the Data Governance and Security for Digital Capabilities session on the second day of Digital Nepal Conclave 2023, the stakeholders said that the use and security of data in Nepal is very weak.

On behalf of the National Statistics Office, Dr. Hemraj Regmi said that the use of big data in Nepal is not good.

He said, ‘Deputy Chief Data Officer, National Statistics Office, Big Data has not been used well in Nepal. V.No. In 2028, computers were used for the first time in Nepal to conduct the census. After the use of computers for the first time, the National Statistics Office has not been able to use IT properly.’
He also admitted that there are some legal constraints in the National Statistics Office’s inability to use IT properly.

He said, ‘Due to the lack of resources, technology has not been used properly,’ he said, ‘but despite the limited resources, we are using information technology as much as possible. There is a law preventing data sharing.’

Similarly, he said that the government’s cancellation of statistics offices in 33 districts in the budget of the financial year has raised the question that the priority has not been given to data collection, analysis and implementation.

He said, ‘In the budget of the financial year 2080-81, it is said that the data offices in 33 districts will be abolished. It is said that a provincial office will be established in its place. Due to this, the question has arisen whether the state has not prioritized the data.’

Deep Sharma Poudel, Executive Director of the National Information Technology Center, said that when there is only one data center in such a place, questions about data security are raised day by day.

He said, “When there is a data center in only one place, the security of data has been raised many times. The more data centers are in more places, the more data is protected. However, currently there is only a data center in Hedaunta.”

He said that the government is becoming weak because it does not have this data, and now Nepal can be made a data center hub by placing data centers in the Himalayas. But he also says that there is a lot of challenge in creating infrastructure.

Nepal can be made a data center hub by placing a data center in the Himalayas of Nepal. But it has some challenges. The challenge is whether connectivity and electricity will reach that place or not. We are weak in infrastructure. Now the National Information Technology Center is just a place to be abused.’

Similarly, even though the information and communication technology sector has become an integral part of people, the data security awareness in rural Nepal is weaker than in urban areas, said Vishal Mani Upadhyay, Chief Information Officer of Ncell.

He said, ‘Information and communication technology has become the lifestyle of people. Ncell is committed to customer data security and privacy. Although there is some data security awareness in the city, the data security awareness in the villages is weak.’

He said that there is a challenge in data security because the mobile number of the SIM provided by the telecommunication service providers is randomly given. However, Ncell is paying attention to data security and privacy, he says.

“More people in the village than in the city give their email and mobile number wherever they get it. It should be taken care of,’ he said, ‘Nepal’s telecom sector is safe, but it depends on how it is used. But Ncell has been paying attention to data privacy.’

On the other hand, Narendra Mainali, Head of Cyber ​​and Digital Innovation of NIC Asia Bank, said that for any system to be secure, the entire data must be secured. He says that there is a data security weakness in Nepal’s banking sector.

He said, ‘For any system to be secure, the entire data must be secure. There are some security weaknesses in Nepal’s banking sector.’

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