Closing Note of The First Cambodia ICT Camp 2018

 

Remark by Mr. Thy Try, Executive Director, Open Development Cambodia (ODC) 
During the Farewell Party
The 1st Cambodia ICT Camp 2018
At Sokha Siem Reap Resort & Convention Center
21 December 2018

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening! I wish to start by congratulating you on the successful conclusion of the 1st Cambodia ICT Camp and welcoming all of you to this wonderful farewell dinner tonight.

Throughout this five-day event we have built on the main themes of Open Source for Good, Social Innovation, Open Data for Sustainable Development and Cybersecurity. It has been an intense and fruitful week full of hands-on workshops, mentoring sessions, lectures, panels, and excursions.

We have not only learned from experiences in Cambodia, but we have also had the opportunity to hear from projects happening in Taiwan, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos and Thailand. It has been great to come together with so many interesting people with such innovative ideas and to learn from all their projects and work. In total, we have had over 90 participants attending this Camp.

Participants especially appreciated the fact that the different sessions incorporated room for discussion. Participants had the chance to discuss their ideas and delveloped into areas that interested them with the speaker and other participants.

Cybersecurity: Ms. Veourn Leakhena

During this session we discussed the benefits of Hashcalc and how it can protect data through encryption and decryption. The session also covered the profiles of cyber attackers, so that participants better understand the nature of the potential cyber-attacks they are vulnerable to. Ms. Leakhena also provided useful and practical advice to our audience on how to remain safe online.

Questions raised by participants focused on their concerns regarding our privacy online and the limits we should set when sharing our lives online. This is a trending topic nowadays as our presence in social media increases every day. We are sometimes not aware of the implications of posting different kinds of information online.

Social Innovation: Mr. Victor Logos

Mr Logos taught participants how to develop a solid foundation for their businesses. This includes defining a problem, developing a solution, segmenting the customer base and testing your solution through consumer research. After this rigorous process, an idea is ready to become a business.

Open Source: Mr. Akira

Mr Akira caught our attention when addressing “How might we use digital technology to connect people with one another more meaningfully?” From him we learned the 5 rules to succeed in Open Space technology. His additional law is the law of two feet: “If you find yourself not learning or contributing to what is being discussed, then it’s your responsibility to move to where you can – self-governance, self-organization.”

Open Data for Sustainable Development: Ms. Pyrou Chung, Ms. Phonephasouk and Ms. Phyu

Women have had a key role in the Cambodia ICT Camp 2018, not only as speakers and participants but we also had sessions which focused on women in ICT and women in tech. We had the chance to engage in insightful conversations with Pyrou Chung, Phonephasouk and Phyu about women in ICT. We heard about how women are increasingly engaging in open data and what the challenges and barriers are that they still have to overcome. Hence, we need to keep engaging women in ICT activities so that their presence in the sector increases, ensuring that there are a lot of opportunities and potential for them.

Mr. Poren Chiang

From Mr. Poren we got very interesting insights about how he and his team are enhancing e-voting in elections in Taiwan. It is an idea with a lot of potential and that has been successful in the different phases implemented.

The highlight of this Camp has been having 14 project prototypes presenting for the market place. Two of these projects have been selected for Cambodia ICT Innovation Funds, which will be implemented in the next three months. I can’t wait to hear more from them to learn from their results and their success stories. I know that it has been very hard for the judges to decide because we had a lot of great ideas for each project prototype.

The first Cambodia ICT Camp this year is ending. I hope all of you will be going home with a great legacy from the Camp and continue our relationships and networking. Share your enthusiasm and joy with your own organization and networks too.

I would like to thank the Committee of the Cambodia ICT Camp 2018, speakers and judges of the Cambodia ICT Innovation Funds for making this Camp a success. Your valuable contributions and active participation throughout the Camp and especially during the sessions is very much appreciated.

I would also like to thank the ODC staff that have worked so hard to make this Camp a success, as well as the volunteers for their patience and great work.

Thank donors USAID, Development Innovations and East-West Management Institute- Open Development Initiative who help to make our dream come true.

Finally, I wish all of you a wonderful time tonight.

Mr. Thy Try, Executive Director of Open Development Cambodia (ODC) is giving speech during the farewell party to the camp.