Changunarayan Temple of Changunarayan Municipality, Bhaktapur. Photo Courtesy: Oriental Architecture

September 22: Bhaktapur's Changunarayan Municipality has won the title of the world's 10th best municipality. The municipality has been rated as the best performer in the Open City Incubator programme run under the New York University School of Engineering of the US.     
Changunarayan's Information Technology Officer Siddhant Neupane shared that the municipality was so far the first local level of Nepal to win such title. Neupane is also the first-ever participant to take part in the city incubator programme from the municipalities of Nepal.    
Chungunarayan was selected as the 10th best cities of the world in the evaluation of data management practices and open data system, informed the municipality’s mayor Som Prasad Mishra. He further shared that Changunarayan's information technology officer Neupane participated in the programme on behalf of the municipality.    
Mishra claimed that the municipality had attained the position for developing the first-of-its-kind open data platform in Nepal.    
The cities and municipalities that were selected in the incubator programme would get an opportunity to take part in a training to be delivered by prominent data expert in coming six months and prepare their data related activities and programme in line with international standards.    
The announcement of the best municipalities was made at a virtual programme held in New York on Monday, Neupane shared.    
Open Data Incubator Programme official commented that the thoughts and actions of Changunaryan, a municipality of a developing country like Nepal, has inspired all people working in this sector. -- RSS