Kathmandu, October 2:

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) expo 2007 concluded in the Valley yesterday. It had participation from over 24 renowned companies from home and abroad, including satellite providers from Singapore and India. The event was the first of its kind in Nepal.

Beside the exhibition (September 27-30), there were interactions and paper presentations by ICT experts on various current issues facing the ICT sector like use of free and open software, rising need of enforcing cyber law in Nepal, media and ICT and Voice over Internet Protocol. In total, five seminars were held.

“This event has hopefully given a platform to the stakeholders and especially the students who are keen on learning about ICT issues,” Pavan S Shakya, President of Internet Service Providers’ Association of Nepal (ISPAN), told this daily.

The expo was organised by ISPAN in association with Direction Nepal at Direction Exhibition and Convention Centre. Speaking at the closing ceremony, Chairman of Nepal Telecom Authority, Dinesh K Sharma said: “NTA is pleased to see such a wide response from the general public in the expo. We hope it would be organised in a much bigger way next year.”

The event drew active participation from the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, Ministry of Information and Communication and High Level Commission for Information Technology, which is currently formulating a new policy paper for development of ICT in Nepal.