Weeklong Interaction on "Job Opportunities in ICT: Pathway, Plans & Policies" Concludes

As part of Amazon Web Service (AWS) Educate program’s ongoing efforts in Nepal, UKaid Skills for Employment Programme’s (सीप) partner Genese Solutions organized an interaction on Job Opportunities in ICT: Pathway, Plans, and Policies in Kathmandu, Butwal, and Janakpur. The week-long engagement with key colleges, universities, and Government stakeholders from the Federal and Provincial levels was held with the goal to move the dialogue forward on embedding policies and practices that enable stronger job creation in the ICT sector and support growth of the industry.

Genese Solution’s partnership with UKaid सीप seeks to leverage international and national expertise and partner with the academic sector and other employers to inject internationally recognized curriculum, certification, and capability in Nepal and build the work-readiness of graduating students. The major focus of this partnership is to bring forth Amazon Web Service (AWS) Educate’s best practices and models on partnering with the Government, colleges, and other ecosystem actors to influence and improve policies, practices, and opportunities related to cloud computing.

Kathmandu

A moderated panel discussion, with universities/colleges and leading industry and Global Cloud Partner (Microsoft), followed the opening session of the event. The panelists were Amit Agrawal, CEO of Khalti & Janaki Tech, Weeky Yolmo, Country Manager of OYO Nepal, Deependra Raj Bajracharya, Business Development Manager of Microsoft Corp. in Nepal, Sujit Shrestha, Chief Operating Officer of Standard Charted Bank, Suresh Manandhar, R&D Co-ordinator of NAAMII and Dr. Subarna Shakya, Professor of Computer Engineering from IOE Pulchowk Engineering Campus. During the event, Genese Solutions also signed MoU with five different reputed accredited institutions.

Amit Agrawal expressed that ICT, infact is an enabler of diverse industries. He said, “The ICT industry should be paired with other industries in order to gain greater opportunities”. Likewise, Suresh Manandhar opined, “Policy change is an important driver for bringing better investment in ICT and job creation in the country”. He further elaborated that Nepal has higher prospects in the tech domain if there are effective government policies on ICT sector. Similarly, Bajracharya also explained that the opportunities in IT is possible only if Nepal establishes policies that is compatible with the rest of the world.

Janakpur

The second event in this series was held on 6th November 2019 in Janakpur. The program was an engagement session with the key colleges, universities, and Government stakeholders of Province 2. The event focused on job creation in ICT in Province 2 and welcomed the enticing discussion and valuable remarks from the panel discussion with panelists – Dr. Bhogendra Jha, Vice-Chairperson of State Policy and Planning Commission, Prof. Dr. Deepak Shakya, Executive Chairman of Birgunj Public College, Subash Manandhar, Senior Director of AI Services of Fusemachines, Shailendra Raj Giri, Founder & CMD of Rojgari Services and Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO of Genese Solution.

Butwal

The end of this week-long engagement on creating jobs in the ICT sector was marked by an interactive discussion on “Job Opportunities in ICT: Pathway, Plans, and Policies” in Butwal on 7th November 2019. Dr. Gopikrishna Khanal, Secretary of Ministry of Social Development, Province 5 and Madhu Kumar Marasini, Secretary of Ministry of Economic Affairs & Planning (MOEAP), Province 5, both co-chaired the event and highlighted on Province 5’s economic development priorities and the importance of the ICT Sector. During the event, Anjani Phuyal also presented on “Policy Roadmap for ICT – Engaging with Academia, Employers, and Government” – for job creation and growth.

The event saw an engaging panel discussion on “Policies, Employment Creation and Economic Growth in the ICT Sector in Province 5”. The panelists were - Madhu K Marasini, Secretary, MOEAP, Namrata Pandey, Lecturer of Rammani Multiple Campus, Sanjeev Bhandari, Principal of Nepathya College, Puja Sharma, Academic from Butwal Multiple Campus/Nepathya College, Neeta Poudel, IT Officer, Rohini Rural Municipality and Karvika Thapa, CEO of Kimbu Tech.

“I am really happy to hear that this initiative is being piloted in my hometown, but it requires collaborative effort from the government, colleges and employers in Province 5 to succeed,” said Karvika Thapa. Similarly, Suraj Khattri, Founder of Infox IT said that he was optimistic that the Genese and UKaid partnership will help companies like his source and retain market-relevant staff from Province 5.

The event concluded with the closing remarks from Dr. Ishwar Gautam, Vice-Chairperson Provincial Planning Commission, Province 5.