Microsoft Signs Memorandum of Understanding with Government of Nepal
Long-term partnership to embark on e-government program and development of local ICT initiatives
Kathmandu, NEPAL — May 26, 2009—Microsoft Corp. today announced today a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to build the country’s knowledge economy through a strong partnership. The MOU will focus on accelerating the adoption and progress of Nepal’s ICT (Information and communication technologies) initiatives in three mutually-beneficial areas:
- Improve access to technology, ICT training and curriculum for students, teachers and the community
- Promote Nepal as a favorable destination for business investment and one which respects intellectual property rights
- Help accelerate the adoption and deployment of ICT within the Government and Education sectors as an enabler of the National ICT Policy and e-Nepal initiative.
Said Manohar Bhattarai, Vice Chairperson of High Level Commission for Information Technology of Government of Nepal, “Microsoft shares the Government of Nepal’s vision to spread the benefits of Information Technology and bring mass access to technology and consistently strives to bridge the gaps across communities in quality of life, competitiveness and economic development. We are pleased to be working with Microsoft to make Nepal a showcase for ICT development in the region.”
“We’re thrilled to play a role in the Government of Nepal’s efforts to promote ICT as an enabler of growth for the local economy”, said Feroz Mahmud, Country Manager, Microsoft Bangladesh, at a signing ceremony today. “Microsoft is committed to working with the Government of Nepal, and both parties will cooperate in establishing an e-government framework, and in the training of software professionals.”
The Microsoft-Government of Nepal MOU covers the following scope --
Student Engagement
Microsoft is committed to offer and contribute a spectrum of education resources and applications to empower all citizens including students and teachers to realize their full potential and encourage computer literacy. Specifically, Microsoft is aiming to support at least 10,000 students to gain various levels of ICT certification and training through the following:
- Live@edu: Through the Microsoft Live@edu program, Microsoft will provide educational institutions with a set of free hosted and co-branded collaboration and communication services for students, alumni, and faculty members. The services include an offer of Windows Live™ Hotmail®, a hosted e-mail service, and Office Live Workspace, an online space to collaborate on Microsoft Office documents.
- MSDN Academic Alliance & Microsoft Dreamspark: Through the Microsoft Development Network Academic Alliance program, (MSDN AA) provides access to all the latest Microsoft professional developer tools, servers, and platforms in a single, comprehensive package which simplifies licensing, deployment and staying current with software updates in a simple and inexpensive way. It helps faculties, and the network managers who support them, better prepare students for their future careers by removing obstacles to accessing the latest technology. Microsoft proposes to offer, at no cost, a 3 years online membership to the Microsoft MSDN Academic Alliance for all the technical universities of Nepal.
Through the Microsoft DreamSpark Student Program, Microsoft will make available, at no charge, a broad range of professional level development and design software for download. This is made available to all university, college and high school students in Nepal so that they can have access to the latest Microsoft developer and designer tools at no charge to unlock their creative potential and set them on the path to academic and career success.
- Microsoft Digital Literacy: The Microsoft Digital Literacy curriculum is the first training course for anyone new to computing. The curriculum includes 30 hours of online or offline downloadable curriculum with assessments and a certificate test. This free curriculum will teach and assess essential computer concepts and skills so that people can use computer technology in everyday life to develop new social and economic opportunities for themselves, their families, and their communities.
- Microsoft IT Academy Program: The Microsoft IT Academy Program gives institutions the ability to train and certify faculty and students on Microsoft technologies and connect them to the job market. Microsoft IT Academies benefit from access to world-class Microsoft curriculum (printed and eLearning), teaching resources, and discounted Microsoft certification exams.
Development of Nepal’s Local ICT Community:
Microsoft will partner with the Government of Nepal to build a greater understanding of the needs of Nepal’s ISV community as well as a provide the MSDN and TechNet portals to enable software developers and IT professionals to share knowledge and better utilize Microsoft’s products and technologies in the ICT projects.
To reduce the digital divide in Nepal, Microsoft will also look into providing Local Language Program, Community Education as well as forming public-private partnerships to provide personal computer skills and provide opportunity for underserved market segments to purchase their first PCs through availability of credit.
Implementation of e-Nepal Initiatives
Microsoft will work with Nepal to help realize the country’s e-Nepal Initiatives by providing access to its partner network, its consulting expertise as well as ongoing support on the development of Nepal’s e-Government roadmap, e-Government workshops and computer security readiness through Microsoft’s Security Cooperation and Privacy Programs.
Interoperability remains one of the most important issues to governments as they develop a heterogeneous and functional government ICT platform. Microsoft will share its expertise with the Government of Nepal via seminars and an overview of standards, open standards and the role of government policy makers in the standards process.
Advancement of Intellectual Property Rights
Recognizing that Nepal has intellectual property laws that are significantly compliant with the TRIPS (Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) requirements but that judicial and prosecutorial experience in enforcing intellectual property laws remains limited, Microsoft will work with industry and trade associations to conduct appropriate training seminars for judges and prosecutors to develop skills in the prosecutorial and juridical processes relevant to intellectual property enforcement. Microsoft will also ensure appropriate Nepal officials are invited to regional capacity building forums sponsored or hosted by Microsoft from time to time.
Microsoft will also assist the Government of Nepal in designing an effective Software Asset Management (SAM) process and know-how transfer which will be used by the Government to deploy SAM within government organizations.
Microsoft will also work with the Government to develop a Licensing Framework for the licensing and use of all genuine valid licensed software by the Government. This will allow the Government to reduce the total cost of ownership for licenses through technology standardization and simplified procurement, lower the cost per desktop by significantly reducing overhead associated with ordering and contract administration, lower support, deployment and training costs as well as respond more rapidly to changing business needs by building a flexible infrastructure.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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For more information, press only:
Sunaina Ghimire Pandey, Microsoft MDP Nepal, 9841277185, v-sunap@microsoft.com