'Nepal's youth are tech-fluent. The government is not.' I said this to a friend who recently asked if Nepal formed a government through discord. He was surprised. So do many political leaders who ruled Nepal for decades. The disconnect between the rulers and the youth is one of the reasons (may be the most important) for the recent Gen Z protest. When Singha Durbar was burning, people wished the data centre were safe. Most had only a vague sense of what it does, but they knew it kept the government running. New generations are digitally aware and understand what digital infrastructure means for the country. Now it is time for the current and future government to rapidly adapt to digital technology. For good governance, political stability, and national security (given how fragile files and paperwork systems are). Through many struggles, Nepal achieved a political system (federal republic) which most thought would lead to prosperity. But for ordinary Nepalis, things hardly changed. Getting public services was still a hassle, and the only way to get through the system was to carry 'party ko jhola'. Political affiliation became people's primary identity, as if it were a new 'gotra'. Maybe for the generation that experienced the monarchy, a multiparty system provided the needed dignity. But loyalty remained paramount – earlier for one individual, now distributed to many. If your party wins, you gain easy access to public services. If not, you wait until the next election. The rent-seeking mentality helped a few but compromised the entire system. For the Gen Z who grew up with smartphones and the world's information at their fingertips, this was unacceptable. They wanted a system that is fast and efficient, where loyalty and bribes aren't required to get work done. In many ways, the recent protest was also a demand for better use of technology. How could the government of Nepal regain the trust and support of its digital native youth? For Nepal, digital technology should focus on four pillars: policy, people, infrastructure, and security. On Policy: Nepal already has the Digital Nepal Framework in place, though it requires updating. The country recently introduced a National AI Policy and has a cybersecurity bill under consideration. These initiatives shouldn't exist in silos as they are fully interconnected. Digitalisation creates the data that Artificial Intelligence (AI) consumes; cybersecurity protects that data; and the framework should coordinate all three. Without integration, Nepal risks building infrastructure that's either vulnerable or underutilised. On People: the gap is stark. While 80 per cent of Nepalis own mobile phones (nearly half use smart phones), only 31 per cent are digitally literate. People mostly use their phones for social media, unaware that government services, banking, and shopping are equally accessible. Digital literacy is a public good with a free rider problem, which means the government must fill this gap. Literacy programmes should teach not just how to use digital services, but to recognise fraud, protect personal data, and navigate the digital economy safely. On Infrastructure: the private sector is making tremendous progress on digital infrastructure. The banks and fintech sector especially have quickly adapted to digital technology. Around 28 million people use mobile banking, while QR based transactions have skyrocketed. Commuting apps like Pathao, Indrive are now popular in urban spaces along with online food delivery. Comparatively, the government is way behind on digital adoption. The Nagarik App, meant to be Nepal's super-app for government services, has implementation challenges. The app rating is 4.2 on Google Play but only 2.9 on Apple's App store, suggesting inconsistent performance across devices. Multiple users report login failures even with correct credentials. The government should, at minimum, be an 'enabler' to the private sector by focussing on wifi networks, data storage facilities, network towers, and the like. The fruit of digitalisation should reach the remotest areas of Nepal, and the government should focus on reducing the digital divide. On Security: Digital systems are prone to hacking; someone sitting thousands of miles away can disrupt or freeze an entire network. Many nations have faced such attacks, and Nepal is no exception. As digital adoption increases, the system becomes more vulnerable. Nepal can collaborate with international organizations like the World Bank that helps set up cyber resilience initiatives. Digitalisation generates a huge volume of data that requires storage. Not all data can be stored in the cloud (due to safety concerns), hence Nepal should focus on building its own data centres, which needs stable power and water supply. For ordinary Nepalis, digitalisation means simple things are actually simple: renewing a driving license without endless queues, getting tax clearance certificates with a few clicks, or registering a business without navigating a maze of middlemen. If people don't get anxious hearing OCR (Office of Company Registrar), then that would be a success. Nepal can learn from countries like Estonia, which has become a role-model country for digital transformation. Nepal's youth expect more from their government. Nepal has taken steps towards digitalisation, but the question is whether it is moving fast enough to meet citizens' expectations. Bishu is a data scientist at the World Bank HQ, Washington D.C., and Indra is a lecturer at BridgeAI Academy, Kathmandu