Overview

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) has a strong commitment to FOSS.

A High Level Information Technology Commission (HLITC) chaired by the Prime Minister, Prachanda, manages an IT Park at Kavre.

The Park is located within the tourist areas of the Kathmandu Valley - at the eastern hill slope of Dhaneshor Mahadevastan VDC along Kavre Panauti Highway. It is just 23 km from Kathmandu and 1 km from Kavre junction (Banepa and the road to Tibet).

 This might be a suitable location for international FOSS conferences, code sprints, "summer of code" etc that combine suitable work and residential facilities that have reliable high speed internet connections with a pleasant environment for leisure tourism.

Perhaps that could also be developed into a regular "FOSS College" providing world class ICT education with a mix of international and local staff and students and a strong orientation towards international FOSS visitors that establish personal relations enabling ongoing mentoring online.

It will presumably take some time for commercial development of the business park itself. But short term conferences and similar activities should be feasible already. This could help ensure the residential and work facilities are not underutilized during the startup period as well as giving a strong impetus to, and immediate returns from, Nepal's policy of supporting the FOSS movement.