In August 2004, His Majesty’s Government of Nepal (HMGN) and the Commission of European Communities (EC) launched a project to disseminate the Census 2001 and to establish a National Geographic Information Infrastructure (NGII) in the country.

The Project Management Unit is located at the Survey Department in Kathmandu. Main stakeholders are the Survey Department, the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Local Development, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Population and Environment.

The main objectives of the project are the dissemination of the Census 2001 and to support HMGN in the creation of an infrastructure to facilitate data sharing of geographic information. More agencies are expected to participate in this infrastructure, which will gradually cover agencies within the country that either produce or use geographical information. The NGII once fully established will be an enabling platform for geographic information handlings serving the public and private sector.

The project focuses on technology and human resource development for data analysis and dissemination of the Census 2001, adding spatial dimensions by the use of Geographic Information Systems. Database systems, application programmes and the Internet will provide an effective platform for user-friendly data access and data processing. In addition, the project will produce a Census Atlas in printed and CD format.

The project will as well assist HMGN in the establishment of the legal and institutional requirements for data sharing and the development of standards, pricing concepts and copyrights