Today, Nepalis can carry a government office in their pockets. The Nagarik App promises access to identity documents, PAN details, police clearance, traffic fine payments and other public services. The government is also moving towards national digital identity, online citizen service portals, digital lockers and integrated data systems. In February 2026, the World Bank approved $50 million to support Nepal’s digital public infrastructure and digitise public services, including an online citizen service portal, an integrated social registry, a secure data exchange and a digital locker.

This is a positive change. But there is a deeper question: Can these systems actually be used safely, confidently and critically by citizens?

The digital government seeks to gain access. However, when digital literacy is lacking, a new source of vulnerability emerges. The internet penetration in Nepal is 91 percent of the population, but only one-third of citizens are digitally literate. This gap is important because most users continue to use mobile phones primarily for social media, entertainment and messaging, rather than for secure banking, government services, education or professional development.

In my field research on the adoption of digital agriculture technology in Rajasthan, India, I realised that digital literacy was a determining factor in many cases. According to many farmers, they had a hard time using even simple smartphone and computer functions, implying that they did not trust digital tools. They did not trust themselves to operate these technologies safely and effectively, and avoided platforms that would provide them with critical information about markets, subsidies and crop management.

The same lesson is applicable to Nepal. A farmer in Karnali, an old-age pensioner in Rukum, a family of a migrant worker in Dhanusha or a small shopkeeper in Kathmandu—all can be statistically related as connected. But connection does not imply inclusion. The divide is also geographic. Despite the high degree of digital connectivity in the Kathmandu Valley, remote provinces such as Karnali are still far behind, meaning that digital transformation might only reinforce existing inequalities unless it comes with investments in skills and access. Unless individuals know how to distinguish an official application from a fake link, develop secure passwords, authenticate information, or fill out an online form without relying on brokers, digital governance can further entrench the very exclusion it purports to address.

Nepal’s Digital Nepal Framework already recognises this challenge. It identifies digital foundation, agriculture, health, education, energy, tourism, finance and urban infrastructure as key sectors and proposes 80 digital initiatives. It also calls for compulsory IT education in schools and colleges, ICT literacy programmes for rural and underprivileged communities and digital skills training for public sector employees. Nepal has no shortage of ambitious digital policies. The real test is whether digital capability grows as quickly as digital infrastructure.

Why digital literacy matters

The conventional meaning of literacy was the power to read and write. That is not enough in the 21st century. Digital literacy refers to the skill of accessing, assessing, using and creating information in a safe and responsible manner using digital tools. It involves identifying phishing messages, two-factor authentication, securing personal data, detecting misinformation and knowing whether a digital platform is legitimate or a scam.

This difference is paramount to Nepal. The nation is headed towards digital identities, online transactions, online government portals, digital farming, online education and digital medical records. It is not just a citizen who is inconvenienced because they cannot avail these services safely. They are driven towards non-participation.

Without the capacity to meaningfully interact with digital systems, democracies can never survive, and this is the caution the Carnegie Endowment resounds.

Governments are adopting digital governance for several reasons. When done properly, it can save money, make things more transparent and create more access. Welfare can be delivered quicker using digital IDs.

But digital governance is not just a technical upgrade. It is the reformulation of the social contract. It can only be effective when citizens believe that they will be able to receive services in a safe and fair manner. And efficiency gains do not mean anything without trust. Either the citizens will be out of the system or will be exploited.

The current discussion revolves, to a large extent, around the concept of AI literacy: Are individuals literate enough to recognise deepfakes or even familiar with the algorithms underlying them? Billions remain unaware of a phishing email, or do not use two-factor authentication or secure login. Investing in AI literacy while ignoring basic digital skills is like discussing rocket science with people who cannot read.

Action is required

Digital literacy should become a global public good, just like universal education or universal health care, if digital governance is to achieve success. Several countries around the world are introducing digital skills in schools and offering lifetime training. International organisations such as the UN and the World Bank are funding infrastructure for digital literacy programmes. Technology providers are building user-friendly, multilingual services and investing in digital safety training.

Digital governance systems also depend not just on the expansion of infrastructure, but also on digital literacy becoming one of the primary skills of citizens. A skill-based theory, where digital literacy is quantified, assessed and connected to policy instruments like agricultural assistance, business funding and welfare services, has shown good outcomes in pilot programs in Asia and Africa. This implies that digital literacy needs to cease being a voluntary awareness programme and become a formal part of social protection and development policy, with evaluation metrics incorporated into national digital strategies and the SDG monitoring framework. This kind of system provides a scalable, evidence-based method for helping countries transition towards digital access and digital inclusion.

Ultimately, Nepal’s digital future will not be judged by how many apps it launches or how much infrastructure it builds, but by whether ordinary citizens can use these systems independently, safely and with confidence. The 20th century demonstrated that education was the basis of democracy. In this century, governments must demonstrate that digital literacy is the basis of digital democracy. Digital governments cannot advance without it.