Guna Keshari Pradhan bags ‘Ncell Woman ICON ICT Award 2021’

Kathmandu, Dec 19. Guna Keshari Pradhan, the first woman computer engineer of the country, has been conferred with ‘Ncell Woman ICON ICT Award 2021’ in the grand finale of the ICT Award 2021 hosted by Living with ICT at Soaltee Hotel, Kathmandu on Friday.

Honouring her tremendous contribution in the country’s ICT sector, Ncell presented Pradhan with a cash prize of Rs 300,000 as the winner of the Woman ICON ICT Award in line its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) journey that strongly advocate, promote, champion and encourage DEI. In the event, the shield, certificate, and cheque were presented to Pradhan jointly by Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, Director of Nepal Telecommunications Authority Dipesh Acharya, Chief Information Officer of Ncell Vishal Mani Upadhyay, and Head of Ncell’s Corporate Communications and CSR Bishakha Lakshmi Khadka.

Pradhan has been contributing in the ICT sectors for the past 35 years. She has spent 31 years in senior positions of Nepal Telecom and government organizations and is now leading Women in Information Technology (WIT) organization. Pradhan began her career with Nepal Telecom as a computer engineer and held senior positions of spokesperson and director.

After retirement, she has been working in Nepal to increase women’s participation and efficiency in information technology in a variety of ways. This year’s Woman ICON ICT Award has been conferred to Pradhan, who is Chairperson of WIT and has been working on awareness programs, trainings, and research to increase women’s empowerment and participation in ICT field.

In addition to Pradhan, awards were given out in 11 other categories to notable individuals, organizations, products, and startups. More than 30 organizations, including the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Nepal Telecommunications Authority, and Ncell, had collaborated on the award program.