KATHMANDU, August 27: The government is moving to end the procurement of software from private companies by government offices, with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Council of Ministers setting up a dedicated body to develop and maintain software for public agencies.
The Council of Ministers has approved the formation of the Software Development and Operations Committee, and the decision has been published in the Nepal Gazette.
Government offices currently spend more than Rs 20 billion annually procuring software from private-sector companies. PMO officials say the new arrangement could significantly reduce that expenditure.
PMO spokesperson Hemraj Aryal said the new office will begin operating this month. “The decision to establish it has already been published in the Gazette. We are looking for a suitable building for the office, and it will come into operation this month,” he said. “Government offices will no longer be allowed to procure software from outside.”
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According to the Gazette notice, the committee will provide policy guidance and supervise a center responsible for developing, upgrading and maintaining software used by public bodies to improve technology-based service delivery.
The committee will be chaired by the secretary at the PMO and Council of Ministers responsible for administrative affairs. The head of the Information Technology and Digital Governance Office, head of the PMO’s IT Division, a joint secretary from the Ministry of Finance and a joint secretary from the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology will serve as ex-officio members. The center’s director will serve as the committee’s member-secretary.
A PMO official said software developed by the new center could cost less than half of what government agencies currently pay private companies.
The center will develop software based on the needs of public bodies, build common IT systems, and upgrade and maintain both newly developed and legacy systems. It will also provide 24-hour technical support for software developed by the center.
The government plans to recruit 93 technical experts on a contractual basis to operate the center.
The initiative is part of the government’s broader 100-point governance reform agenda introduced after Prime Minister Balendra Shah took office. Points 28 to 42 of the agenda focus on digital governance, data governance and communication.
Point 36 calls for implementation of a digital governance blueprint and the establishment of a National Integrated Digital Governance Platform to transform public service delivery into a fully digital, single-window and interconnected system.
The PMO says the new software development center is also part of efforts to implement this reform agenda.
