Nepal: China. India. country of Mount Everest and birthplace of Lord Buddha. Mountain District. Hill District. Terai District

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1 Nepal: country of Mount Everest and birthplace of Lord Buddha N China Mountain District Hill District Terai District India

2 Harnessing ICTs for local development: The case of RUPP in Nepal Rural-Urban Partnership Programme (RUPP) Ministry of Local Development, HMG/Nepal & UNDP In Coordination with NPC & MPPW of HMG/Nepal (NEP/01/020)

3 The Relative Position of Village and Markets in the Urban Hierarchy

4 Nepal: 58 municipalities including 12 partner municipalities, 5 replicating municipalities and 33 RMCs China N 2 RMC 3 RMC 2 RMC 2 RMC 2 RMC 4 RMC 3 RMC 5 RMC 2 RMC RMC Municipality Partner Municipality Replicating Municipality Rural Market Centers (RMC) 3 RMC India 2 RMC 3 RMC

5 RUPP Concept and Strategy

6 Enterprise Development Concept Community Tole/Lane Organization Saving Information System Social Capital & Empowerment Enterprise Management Training Technology & Skill Development Equity Generation Credit Enterprise Development LE FA RLL Poverty Alleviation Linkage Development

7 Urban Community Mobilization Process

8 RUPP s s Strategy in the Use of ICT Facilitate Good Urban Governance (e-governance) Supplement to Poverty Alleviation activities (e-commerce B2B)

9 E-Governance Project Context RUPP, while in the process of help strengthen good governance realized that it would be effective to supplement its effort with the application of ICT, which can make a significant contribution to the achievement of good governance goals, where already some strides in the direction of good governance have taken place such as: Adoption of Participating Planning Process Establishment of well-maintained Urban Information Center as a data bank and information dissemination center to its citizens Continue

10 E-Governance Project Context Municipalities fulfilling its statutory obligation of making its annual financial transaction public Adoption of gender as a cross cutting issue and have been adhering to gender friendly policies and strategies Publication of Citizen Charter Upliftment of life of both under-privileged group and urban ultra poor by conducting Entrepreneurship Development Programme Conceptualization of e-governance

11 B2B e-commerce Project Context Poverty alleviation is one of the focused components of RUPP since the initiation of the Programme Creation of 4,241 Linkage Enterprises to date to address poverty reduction Dissemination of daily Agri price Information of around 150 agricultural commodities from/in major markets of Nepal jointly with AEC/FNCCI and Department of Agriculture Continue

12 B2B e-commerce Project Context Realizing the importance and power of ICT in bringing people and business community together and the borderless concept introduced by ICT in the country like Nepal where the geographical area is ranging from Terai to Mountains and to high Himalayas, RUPP brought the concept of B2B e- Commerce.

13 Major Objectives of e-governance Initiative To increase citizen participation in urban governance To increase efficiency and efficacy of services delivered by the municipalities by introducing a range of on-line services To enhance transparency in the working of local government outfits specifically the municipalities To provide expanded access to information resources to facilitate bottom-up, citizen centric urban planning

14 Major Objectives of B2B e-commerce Initiative To expand market access to enterprises located in the municipalities and VDCs (Rural Areas) by creating a virtual trading hub through ICT s To enhance the prospects of regional trade linkages

15 e-governance Pre Project Activities RUPP shared the concept with different stake holders (Partner municipalities, CCIs, TLOs, civil societies, NGO/INGOs, MLD/HMGN) to ensure their support Prepared Pre Feasibility cum Need Assessment Report on how the ICT can be used to improve the existing system, urban service delivery and participation of public in planning and decision making process

16 e-governance Project Implementation Activities Finalized the content of e-governance after a careful review of Government Policies, LSGA, Pre Feasibility cum Need Assessment Report, other supporting documents and suggestions received from different stakeholders Developed portal and registered a standard domain name (changes with the name of municipality) Mobilized University, Institutions and Campuses of Nepal to use IT students for awareness creating activities Continue

17 e-governance Project Implementation Activities Incorporated awareness creation on e-governance in Community Mobilization Process Hosted draft version of e-governance Portal to some time to get feedback and suggestions from the public and different stakeholders Several workshops/orientations organized with municipal staff/authorities, line agencies, NGO/INGOs, TLOs, civil societies, private sectors-ccis, Cyber Cafes, ISPs, IT companies with the dual objectives of orienting them and also ensuring their comments and suggestions are well addressed Continue

18 E-Governance Portal of Bharatpur Municipality

19 e-governance Project Implementation Activities Established e-governance Units in the municipality and some ward offices Provided training to staffs for the operation, modification, update and maintenance of e- Governance Portal Approval of e-governance directive by the Municipal Board Launching of e-governance

20 e-governance Post Project Activities Monitoring the use and effectiveness Study for the System Analysis on the Automation of Internal Process of the municipality Replication of same e-governance module in Hetauda and in process in 6 other municipalities

21 B2B e-commerce Pre Project Activities RUPP shared the concept with AEC/FNCCI Jointly organized workshop to share concept with CCIs, other private sectors, partner municipalities, 33 RMCs, LEs, Cyber Cafes and ISPs to ensure their support Hosting of Agri Price web site

22 Agri Price Web Site

23 B2B e-commerce Project Implementation Activities Contents were developed on the basis of suggestions received from the workshop Prototype was presented to the stakeholders and finalized according to the suggestions received Developed B2B e-commerce web site using local expertise Mobilized University, Institutions and Campuses of Nepal to use IT students for awareness creation activities Continue

24 B2B e-commerce Project Implementation Activities Mobilized Cyber Cafes on B2B e-commerce service delivery Incorporated awareness creation on B2B e- Commerce in Community Mobilization Process Several orientations provided to CCIs, LEs, other business community, traders, farmers, Cyber Cafes, ISPs, partner municipalities, line agencies, NGO/INGOs, TLOs, civil societies Continue

25 B2B e-commerce Project Implementation Activities Provided orientation training on the operation, maintenance, update and dissemination of business/technology information to CCI staffs Finally, hosted B2B e-commerce web site to open the door of business community in the cyber world

26 B2B e-commerce Web Site

27 B2B e-commerce Post Project Activities Increase number of participating CCI Monitoring the use and effectiveness Establish Rural Tele Center in RMCs and B2B Units in CCIs

28 Assessment of performance and key e-governance: results of the initiatives Local government outfits have woken up to the prospects of augmenting basic tenets of good urban governance specially transparency, participation, equity and accountability through digital means Provided increased access to information to ensure right to information to public granted by the Constitution of Nepal in municipalities where such initiatives have been implemented Continue

29 Assessment of performance and key results of the initiatives Improvement in urban service delivery within citizen-centric framework by improving efficiency of municipal administration facilitate bottom-up, citizen centric urban planning in line Promotion of ICT culture among key stakeholders and municipal citizenry

30 Assessment of performance and key B2B e-commerce: e results of the initiatives Exposed local entrepreneurs in municipalities and VDCs to the potential of ICTs Contrary to popular assumptions, the B2B initiative has proved that digitally supported B2B business models can be scaled down to suit small and micro-entrepreneurs Has provided opportunities for articulating and strengthening regional linkages Expanded access to market and customer base

31 Problems Encountered Low penetration of ICTs teledensity, PC ownership and internet/ connectivity is currently extremely low in the municipalities and RMC s where the programme has been implemented. For example, teledensity is 1/1000 in rural areas Relative novelty of the concept The concept of ICT based implementation as a means of extending outreach of urban governance services and facilitating trade linkages among various spatial units is relatively new concept for the stakeholders at the local level Capacity gap of local institutions Capacity gap of local institutions - Local institutions including municipalities, Village Development Committees and local chapters Chambers of Commerce and Industries lack capacity to see through the successful implementation of the project. This underscored the need to launch capacity development initiative for these institutions

32 Lessons Learned So Far Awareness creation is crucial for the success of the Programme Community participation is possible even though they do not own a PC The role of cyber-café becomes very important under such situation Private sector can immensely supplement the efforts Continue

33 Lessons Learned So Far Availability of local ISP provider reduces the costs while their involvement from the inception of the project helped toward successful implementation Citizens are very receptive to the Programme Top Level Management is more receptive to the Programme than lower or middle management

34 ~ Thank You ~