"Many individuals and organizations have tried to delay the process of finalizing the ICT Policy. But we will issue it very soon," Rijal said much to the surprise of many participants of 'Stakeholders' consultation Program on Draft ICT Policy', organized by the ministry.Though the draft policy has tried to cover many aspects of the ICT industry, participants said there is a need to change legal and regulatory framework of existing policies and laws.
Prabin Subedi, a lawyer working in the field of IT, said there are many unaddressed issues like standards for security of personal data prevention, issues of foreign investment in the sector and export of software, payment gateway for e-commerce activities, and cyber security, among others.
Similarly, Subash Dhakal, director at Department of Information Technology under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MoSTE), said broader plans and programs should be devised under which issues like merging the responsibility of two different ministries or forming a separate ministry should be made clear.
"In the present context, we need to identify the role of concerned organization and ministries so that the responsibility is taken and coordination among them is maintained," Dhakal told Republica.
Officials say DoIT has neither been asked for suggestions for the policy nor been informed about the policy, officials say.
"The policy overlooks several burning issues like regulation of Internet governance, DNS management and cyber security among others," Dhakal said, adding that there is a need for structural reform in the draft policy as it is the base for formulating laws for the sector.
Speaking at the program, Kabi Raj Khanal, joint secretary of MoIC, said all stakeholders will be invited for further discussion before finalizing the policy.
Ananda Raj Khanal, director of Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), said the policy should be issued by MoIC to address developments taking place in the areas of convergence of IT and communications which cannot be separated from each other. "Development of ICT industry has been affected due to overlapping of policies under two different ministries," he added.
The government has introduced six Acts, policies and regulations for the ICT sector. Three of them -- IT Policy 2011, Electronic Transaction Act and Electronic Transaction Regulation 2008 -- have been introduced by MoSTE, while remaining three -- Telecommunication Act, Telecommunications Regulation and Broadband Policy -- have been formulated by MoIC.
"The policies regarding ICT industry are problematic as the existing policies, issued by different ministries, contradict with each other. Lack of uniformity in existing policies due to absence of inter-ministerial discussion has been clearly reflected in the draft of the policy," Binod Dhakal, president of Computer Association of Nepal (CAAN) Federation, had said at a program organized on Thursday. He also said CAN Federation was asked for feedback only after the draft was finalized.
Meanwhile, the government is working to bring information technology sector, which is being governed by MoSTE, under the jurisdiction of MoIC.
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