From helping local governments to become technology-friendly, there is going to be a partnership between Digital e-Palika and Galli Maps, which started with the aim of making public service delivery within the municipality more accessible and convenient. The heads of the companies have signed an agreement for cooperation between these two startups on Thursday. Along with the agreement, the historical, touristic and other important places in the concerned municipality, their distance, location and other essential information will be available on the e-Palika app.
A web map service developed by Galli Maps has been added to the e-policy app developed by Ninja Infosys. For this, Ramesh Chhetri, Executive Director of Ninja Infosys and Raj Vikram Maharjan, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Galli Maps have signed the agreement. With the inclusion of street maps in the e-Palika app, now the residents of the city can easily know the important physical structures, agricultural areas and other details of the place.
“We have tried to identify the public areas, physical structures and tourist areas within the municipality through the street map, information such as where is what is inside the municipality, which way to get there can be known through the digital e-palika app,” said Chhetri of the e-palika.
This is an app that should be used by every municipality and with this the municipalities can identify and identify their area.” Ninja Infosys has informed that even people who can read normal text can use this app easily and for free.
Similarly, Maharjan, CEO of Galli Maps, expressed his happiness in the partnership between the two start-up companies that will promote innovative thinking and self-reliance on the digital platform in Nepal. “Many of the citizens are not aware of the services provided by their municipality and its procedures, we have partnered thinking that a platform that can provide such services in digital form is essential,”
He said, “Our cultural heritage, local body offices, and even public structures are not easily available on Google Maps. The street map was started to make it easier for the users by providing information about the streets. The collaboration became possible because the two companies’ goals were to align with the localization of public services.
According to Chiranjeevi Adhikari, General Secretary of Computer Association of Nepal Federation (CAN Federation), the partnership between Galli Maps and Digital E-Palika is an example of the fact that there is very little collaboration between startups in Nepal. Officials present at the event held to inform about the partnership said that platform and resource sharing will be possible through collaboration between startups and it will help in cost reduction. “The culture of startups in Nepal, the activities of such companies and such collaborations are important for sharing ideas,” he said.
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Digital e-government
Digital e-policy mobile application was started in Nepal since 2074. Chhetri is also of the opinion that the app created with the aim of making the government’s Digital Nepal campaign even stronger will help all municipalities to provide digital services. He said that through the ‘Digital Municipality Campaign’, along with the Digital Citizen’s Charter, the services flowing through the registration challan system, work management system, complaint management system can also be performed in digital form.
Street Maps
This is a local mobile map app of Nepal. From narrow streets that are not visible on Google or Apple maps, the entire house numbers of some wards are mapped in it. Maharjan of Galli Maps says that this app will be more effective especially in online delivery and ride sharing services.
He said that this app has been developed with the aim of removing the dependence on maps made by foreign companies and saving large amounts of money that Nepali companies spend abroad due to the use of foreign map apps. This startup started in 2020 won the ICT award in 2022. Galli Maps includes maps of all over Nepal. However, currently, along with Kathmandu and Lalitpur Metropolitan Municipality, the house numbers of Kitipur, Changunarayan, Kageshwari and Banepa Municipalities are also available. From the app, users can share their location link to others by pinning their house number. Many places inside the Ring Road can also be viewed in 360 degrees.
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