Nepal Internet Governance Forum (Nepal IGF) 2018 was recently organized in Hotel Himalaya, Kathmandu from 2 – 3 November, with the theme of “Making Internet accessible, affordable and safe”. The event was hosted by Internet Society Nepal and co-hosted by Internet Governance Institute. The wide range of national and international organization supported the event.

The panel discussion and presentation on various topics related to the accessible, affordable and safe Internet were conducted. The sub-theme of the workshop at Nepal IGF 2018 were:

1. Multi-Stakeholder Model and Governance
2. Inclusion and Human Rights
3. Emerging Technologies
4. Access, Infrastructure, and Affordability
5. Security, Trust ‎, and Privacy
6. Media and Local Content
7. Law and Policy
8. Others

Our CEO, Nikesh Balami participated in the event as a panelist for “Smart Palika: Transforming into Digital Governance” session alongside Bishal Dahal and Shreedeep Rayamajhi, both working to reduce the gap in-between citizens and government by using technology. The session was moderated by Manoj Bhattarai, Initiator of Smart Palika – an integrated software system backed by Smart City Researchers, Local Governance Experts, Development Experts, and Data Technology Experts.

The discussion session was focused on how technology can transform local government into digital governance. Where Nikesh shared about the ongoing open government and open data effort of Open Knowledge Nepal. He shared how open and transparent government can be the key in the federal context of Nepal and the role of open data for the evidence-based planning and policy making.

We will like to thank the team of Smart Palika and Nepal IGF 2018 for inviting us to be the part of the event.