Nepal: A Happy, Healthy and Wealthy Data Driven Nation by 2030

(This article is taken from the Special Section of NEFport 53, published on March 2023.)

Individuals, corporations, and societies that utilize insights from data are happy, healthy and wealthy. Examples are many as we look around the world and in Nepal.

Imagine you are happy with the public services you are getting.

Locally in Kathmandu, imagine driving from Maharajgunj to Jawalakhel. You drive through the lush green parkway that connects the northern part of the Ring Road to the southern part. The 15-kilometer drive takes you a maximum of 20 minutes and is enjoyable. The traffic signals are synchronized with flowing traffic and minimized red lights. No potholes. No smoke. Gone are the days of crazy traffic with public services and meetings all handled remotely and electronically. Traffic is light.

You find the best parking spot close to Jhamel for a great price and park without wasting time. You go for a leisurely walk around Patan in brightly-lit safe streets with music and end your day. You get a call from your colleague. Your firm’s annual tax filing was done electronically and immediately submitted. He asks you to check the receipt by email.

Tomorrow is a big day for the country – it is the general election day. However, no national day off. No big banners. You receive an SMS message about your nearest voting center, but you aren’t worried. You plan to electronically verify yourself and vote online. Why waste time in line? And by 10 pm, you will know the winning candidate and party. So easy and a complete change from days when results took two weeks.

You plan to spend the day relaxing with family and friends. You’ve ordered food and help online and you know delicious healthy food will be at your venue with friendly staff. Interestingly, it is no longer as expensive. As it is easier to do business, lots of new agrobusinesses have sprouted up around Nepal. And intelligent supply chain systems have reduced the cost of bringing food to Kathmandu. Moreover, electronic tracking and reporting has made food healthy. You know who to trust as food price and quality has become transparent, so the best vendors are winning.

You are happy and chilling at home. You had ordered your parents’ annual check-up online. Your clinic-at-home service’s physician and diagnostic system arrive and do a thorough checkup at home. You will get the full report electronically. You can video call the doctor and order medicine to be delivered at home.

Moving on, you are spending time with your family hiking in a hill near Kathmandu. You are recharging after a busy week at work. The coming week is vital. You are pitching to a global prospect this week. You have increasingly moved your business to Kathmandu as the cost of doing business has gone down. Nepal has become a data-driven society and the positive impact is seen everywhere. Data insights are used everywhere to increase transparency, reduce cost, and provide delightful products and services at a lower cost.

Isn’t this an amazing experience and one that we feel like should continue? In essence, a data driven society is happy, healthy, free, and relaxed. And with all these cumulatively, a data society is wealthy, and the virtuous cycle continues.

While it may sound aspirational, it really is not. Many countries around the world are already providing this lifestyle to their citizens. In the United States, you benefit from many of these capabilities and entrepreneurs continue to lead the way by utilizing the newest advances to push the boundaries of an insights-driven society.

It is a journey and we have already seen this in pieces in Nepal. And this evolution of a society to become data insights-driven follows four specific stages.

First, you are data on paper. Second, you digitize, and this is the first step to becoming an insight-driven society. We are already here in many sectors. We see Nepali government agencies, corporations and non-profits primarily using digital techniques and storing data. Third, you derive insights from data to understand what happened and why. And finally, you use these insights to proactively create what you want.

Many Nepali government bodies and corporations have been progressing in this journey. We see the digital media house and government bodies heavily push digitization. Institutions such as the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) and National Planning Commission generate and share knowledge from the data. Corporations such as Pathao, Clinic One and others utilize data to proactively provide better products and services for us consumers.

There are many uses of data. In our Eastern culture, we have always learned the power of knowledge – बिद्या धनम् सर्वधनम् प्रधानम् (knowledge is wealth, the chief of all wealth). This comes from data and insights. And the value is immense for individuals, companies and societies that continue to harness the power of this benefit.

We know this, and the real opportunity is propagating this power from a few to the society to transforming the Nepali society as I portray above. And this is exciting.

This starts by increasing awareness of the power of data. Imagine everyone from primary school onwards starting to learn about data tools. Imagine turning on the TV and radio stations and having the option to learn about data skills and level-up your game. Visualize yourself opening a news portal and learning about innovations and entrepreneurship possible with data across Nepal. Dream of having access to free tools and training to learn anything you want in the world. Wow, the power this will bring.

I have already seen this at my work. At our firm, colleagues who are trained from around Nepal are world-class experts in their field. The reason behind this is that they are motivated and have had access to information on the web. We are already seeing a boom in the IT industry in Nepal due to the availability of this information for anyone in Nepal to learn anything they want.

This boom in technology-driven companies is bound to continue. In the past 30 years, we have seen India transform itself by tapping into the global demand for technology. Nepal can also tap into this trend by growing the number of quality data trained talent by leaps and bounds. As a practicing Technology entrepreneur, I know the demand is massive and the supply is very limited in Nepal. Were the Nepali economy generating more qualified Tech talent, the IT industry could have been ten times larger than what it is today.

At a time when other industries have had challenges in Nepal, imagine the lift to the Nepali economy this would have given. Why just rely on remittance from low paid workers working hard in tough conditions in the Middle East and Asia? Why not enjoy the benefits of higher paid happier Nepalis working locally and turbo-charging the local economy with their spend?

The world economy continues to tap into the power of technology. The last decade was one of Big Data. The next decade is one of Insights accessible through Generative AI technologies. This will create a massive demand for talent. Individuals, companies, and countries that tap into the power of this will be happy, healthy, and wealthy as I portray. Why don’t we aspire to become a Data Driven Nation by 2035 and transform ourselves?

Why shouldn’t the government demand data insights education at every level? Why shouldn’t the government, army, and police invest in this area? Why shouldn’t we make it easy to train every Nepali from arts, social sciences, and all disciplines to train and get certified in Technology and Data Insights training? Why not reduce tax for companies wanting to jump into this bandwagon in Nepal? Why make it so difficult for companies operating in this space to do business here?

A तक्मा (honor/recognition) should be given to individuals and corporations pursuing this charter. I know we can. There are companies like GrowByData, Deerhold, Daraz, eSewa, Cotiviti, Leapfrog and many others who have pursued this charter.

Today, the government talks about starting companies only. Why only encourage starting companies? Why not give friction to grow these companies? Why not encourage and give wonderful service to those that grow into the hundreds and a red-carpet service to those that grow into the thousands and tens of thousands?

All is possible. And it starts with understanding the power of this: creating the right policies, reducing friction among those on the journey and encouraging those already on the journey. Data is wealth and it is everywhere in Nepal. Like water, it can be harnessed to create a happy, healthy and wealthy Nepal.

And my bold push is – why do we just aspire for Tourism “Visit Nepal Year”? While Nepal possesses tremendous tourism potential – Nepal also has the potential to harness data.

So why not aspire for “Nepal – a Data Driven Nation by 2030”?