February 28: The government has operated the Integrated Website Management System (IWMS) and the web monitoring system in a bid to strengthen security system by bringing uniformity in websites of all government sectors.     
The two systems were developed by the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) in line with the Development and Management of Government Agencies Websites Directive, 2078 BS. Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma inaugurated both the systems amid a function on Tuesday.     
Government agencies under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology including the Department of Information and Broadcasting, the Postal Services Department, the DoIT and the Department of Printing have started operating their websites using the new system.     
The service will be gradually expanded to other ministries and their subordinate bodies, said the DoIT.     
On the occasion, Minister Sharma expressed the hope that the new systems would help the ease the access of service seekers and decrease economic burden.     
It would also help identify and resolve problems like website down and hacks and operate websites in a safe way, she added.     
The procedure to manage the systems has been already passed, and they would be effectively managed through their implementation and monitoring, said the minister.     
Communications and Information Technology Minister Sharma stressed the need for expanding the system across the country including at the local level.     
 "There is a tendency among offices and agencies of not running their own websites, thus not ensuring their security and adding financial burden to the state coffers.     
The systems have been developed in a way to provide easy and accessible services to the service seekers. It will also help implement the monitoring part effectively," she said.     
Similarly, the Ministry's secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal said the systems aim to bring uniformity in all government agencies' websites and help provide the same information in an easy and accessible way.     
"This has helped reduce expenses each ministry and government agency has to spend in building their own websites. They can create websites for themselves on their own through the same kind of website templates. It also does not require qualified workforce," he said.     
    
"The system continuously monitors and alerts where and which site is going to be hacked or go down for what reasons. It will help make government websites more safe and to improve immediately if problems surface," added Aryal.     
Similarly, Director General of the Department of Information Technology, Prem Charan Shrestha, opined that the system not only helps operate government websites in a safe manner, it would help recover immediately after carrying out monitoring of the government online system if it is hacked.     
The websites developed through this system will have disabled-friendly features as well as sections like frequently asked questions, complaints management and automated assistant. 
A press statement issued by the department mentions that the web monitoring system was developed to minimize risk of hacking. -- RSS