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Opening Speech by Mr. Thy Try,

Executive Director of Open Development Cambodia, Co-founder of the Cambodia ICT Camp, and Representative of the Cambodia ICT Camp Advisory Committee

at the welcome party of the Cambodia ICT Camp 2022

Excellency, Ladies, and Gentlemen

Dear all the participants of the Cambodia ICT Camp 2022

My name is Thy Try, Executive Director of Open Development Cambodia, Co-founder of the Cambodia ICT Camp, and representative of the Cambodia ICT Camp Advisory Committee.

A very good evening to you all and thanks for accepting our invitation, and coming to the Cambodia ICT Camp Welcome Party. It’s a delight to have you with us and special thanks to those who have traveled from afar.

I am so glad to see you all here, and I already can tell we will spend a great next few days together sharing our knowledge of open data, digital security, and data journalism. I know we’ve all waited for this Camp to happen for quite a while because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but with cases now consistently at 0, we are finally here in person. We may even count ourselves among the first, after the pandemic, to again enjoy one of Cambodia’s great cultural jewels, Angkor Wat.

Again, congratulations to all of you who have been selected to participate in the Cambodia ICT Camp 2022. Together, we can all do our part to create an inclusive and safe digital information ecosystem. The continued development of digital access, literacy, and culture is a high priority for both Cambodian and ASEAN digital strategies for the next decade. The knowledge sharing that takes place in events like these strengthen Cambodian resilience to cybercrime, equips the economy for continued global competitiveness, closes the digital divide, and prepares and safeguards the next generation. The involvement of the entire spectrum of stakeholders is crucial, and we can spread the knowledge shared here to our communities, our provinces, our professional lives, and throughout the Kingdom.

This gathering is one of the important events of our Cambodia ICT Camp’s activities and I am grateful to be celebrating a part of this occasion with such a distinguished group of guests and colleagues, Mekong ICT Camp Alumni, and Cambodia ICT Camp Alumni.

Tonight, it’s a kick-off event. We get to know each other and build a network among participants from various backgrounds and groups, including stakeholders in CSOs, the Private sector, members of government officials, university students, and journalists. Please also enjoy the Apsara dance, a musical performance by Camp participants, and the welcome dinner.

In the next three days of the Camp, you will have a lot of opportunities to learn more from our experts, who will host workshops on digital topics across many fields, panel discussions, a hackathon, and hands-on activities with all of you.

It was my pleasure to be here and share my reflection and views. On behalf of the ODC and Advisory Committee of the Camp, I want to officially welcome you. From now, onwards you are all Cambodia ICT Camp Alumni, part of the ICT Camp community!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Embassy of the Netherlands in Bangkok and other partners for supporting this event.

Once again I thank you all for coming to this welcome party and hope you heartily enjoy our hospitality.

Thank you for your kind attention!