By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu Aug. 2: Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) is all set to inaugurate its new ‘technology building,’ which will be housing the Nepal-Korea Information Centre and Information Communication Technology (ICT) laboratories.
The building has been constructed at a total cost of Rs. 260 million, and will officially come into operation from September 8, as per Dr. Rabindra Dhakal, Chief of Faculty of Technology at NAST. “The schedule of the inauguration ceremony might change as we try to adjust the timing with regard to the pandemic and the growing threat of COVID-19’s third wave.”
Back in December last year, NAST signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Information Society Agency (NIA) of South Korea to establish the Nepal-Korea Information Access Centre and foster cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). NAST Vice Chancellor Dr. Sunil Babu Shrestha and Vice President of NIA had digitally signed the MoU on December 12.
NIA has provided sufficient aid for developing the Information Centre inside the building.
According to Dhakal, the new technology building will have well-equipped ICT class rooms, seminar halls, and a lab, which will help general public get easy access to information on emerging technologies.
“We have developed a mobile-bus with ICT laboratory, which will be mobilised in all seven provinces. Each bus will have a total of 18 laptops with training packages. People living in any part of the nation will be able to make use of information technology via the mobile-bus,” he added.
NAST claims that the mobile-bus with ICT laboratory will play a significant role to reduce the digital divide in the county.