IBM and the High Level Commission for Information Technology (HLCIT), Government of Nepal today announced a long-term cooperation and collaboration in developing policy, frameworks, research and solutions to support Nepal's vision of being a smart country. IBM will create an innovation policy to help the Government of Nepal achieve its development goals specific to e-government transformation and IT sector development, as well as key infrastructure and IT skills capacity building.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )

HLCIT will establish an Innovation & Smarter Planet Task Force, to be chaired by the Vice Chairman, HLCIT and with representation from key stakeholders. IBM will assume a key role in the task force and will extend the company's domain expertise in helping run National Innovation Initiatives and Smarter Planet policy reviews.

"We are confident that this collaboration will pave way for the Government of Nepal to reorient their structures, information technology and policies around the citizens they serve. At IBM, our resolve is to extend our expertise in helping HLCIT build a framework interconnecting dynamically with citizens, communities and businesses in real time to spur growth, innovation and progress," said Sanjiv Pande, Vice President, Emerging Markets, IBM India/South Asia.

The strategic collaboration will also see strong focus on IT skills development for innovation and Smarter Planet solutions implementation. IBM will extend the company's Shared University Research (SUR) grants and University Relations (UR) grants, as well as funding for students and postdoctoral research fellows. As part of the collaboration, IBM and HLCIT will establish an Open Innovation Resource Center in Nepal.

Honorable Manohar K Bhattarai, Vice Chairman, HLCIT, Government of Nepal said, "Technology provides a cost effective way of making local systems and infrastructure smarter, improving the quality of life for citizens. Through our collaboration with IBM, we will put in place the core infrastructure required to move the large majority of processes in Nepal into the digital society. This project is significant because of its scope and what it will deliver to the people here, simplifying their dealings with government agencies and increasing overall efficiency."

IBM will extend assistance to HLCIT in human performance improvement so as to ensure HLCIT staff and system users have adequate skills, motivation, and knowledge to employ Innovation and Smarter Planet solutions to achieve optimal performance for the organization, and for the government. HLCIT will provide access to subject matter experts within IBM to provide advice, guidance and thought-leadership on leading edge global innovation trends in various industries.

  For more information about IBM, please visit: http://www.ibm.com/
  Contacts:
  Vineeta Durani                      Prashanth Balarama
  IBM Media Relations (Worldwide)     IBM Media Relations (South Asia)
  917-472-3694                        91-984-504-5121
  vineeta.durani@us.ibm.com           pbalaram@in.ibm.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: vineeta.durani@us.ibm.com

SOURCE: IBM