Justice Officials Graduate US Tech Course

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
13 January 2010

Nearly 100 Cambodian justice officials on Wednesday received diplomas for a five-month technology course sponsored by the US, one that aims to improve the judiciary’s ability to track cases and detainees and analyze trends.

The 97 officials were trained on an information system being installed by the US government, “which will modernize the way the Ministry of Justice documents the work of the courts,” according to a US Embassy statement.

“Justice officials will take this knowledge to use to work with the general administration and insert the data on all cases that are provided from provincial courts,” said Pen Someathea, deputy general-director of research and judicial development at the ministry.

The US is providing $2 million in 2010 to strengthen Cambodia’s judicial system, which critics say is politically biased and susceptible to corruption.

The information system anticipates an improved judiciary, where “more and more Cambodians come to trust the country’s courts to resolve disputes,” the embassy said.

The system includes a database to track human trafficking cases “and allow for analysis of trends in the prosecution of human trafficking,” the embassy said.

It will also track detainees, allowing officials to identify excessive detentions, another criticism of today’s courts.

The ministry will also be able to chart annual trends in “caseloads and clearance rates” to identify backlogs and reduce case delays, the embassy said.

U.S. help Cambodian judicial officials on IT data base

KI-Media note: It would have been more useful if the US can help turn Cambodia's judicial system into an independent system rather than one working under the order of the Hun Xen's regime!

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Ninety-seven members of Cambodia's Ministry of Justice received diplomas on Wednesday after they had successfully completing an intensive information technology (IT) training program funded by the United States.

The statement released by the United States Embassy in Phnom Penh said the five-month course -- the first of its kind offered at the ministry -- provided basic technology skills to the graduates and trained them on the use of an electronic information system that is being installed at the ministry by the United States.

As more and more Cambodians come to trust the country's courts to resolve their disputes, the volume and complexity of the ministry's work will increase, an issue the new system will help address, said Flynn Fuller, the mission director.

The system consists of an office intranet for file sharing, a webpage to publicize court information such as caseloads and clearance rates, and a series of databases.

Many court officials still use hand writing for their reports and keep their information on shelves instead of using computer database.

According the statement, the United States is providing nearly two million U.S. dollars this year to strengthen Cambodia's legal system by training judges and lawyers and by providing the public with greater access to information about the courts.

Cambodia: BarCamp Phnom Penh 2009

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
By Tharum Bun
Global Voices Online

More than 800 tech-inclined Cambodians gathered at the second annual BarCamp Phnom Penh on October 3-4, 2009 at Paññasastra University of Cambodia.

Last year's success inspired this small, growing technology community in Cambodia to discuss openly issues important to them. BarCamp Phnom Penh has now become an annual technology conference in this nation's largest capital city, inviting some participants from across the country and the region, many are tech enthusiasts from Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore.

In a blog post on CNNGo, technologist and traveler Preetam Rai, who visited this year's participatory workshop-event, wrote about Cambodian women in technology that:

It should be said that women are very prominent at Cambodian Barcamp events, and seeing such large numbers of women at tech meetings still surprises their male attendees. But the women aren't just showing up — they're running the show.

How BarCamp Phnom Penh ‘09 is run, organized and contributed is uniquely interesting. It does introduce Cambodians a new way, if not a breakthrough, in which learning, collaboration, sharing and networking can take place here in Cambodia.

A prolific Vietnamese blogger, Nguyen Anh Hung, who participated Cambodia's BarCamp last year, is traveling to the Cambodian capital with more of his fellow friends for this BarCamp Phnom Penh ‘09.

“It’s here again. We (the folks in Ho Chi Minh City) will be flocking to the capital of beautiful Cambodia once again to attend the largest technology unconference in the country to date. Last year it was a greatly successful event attended by some 300 people from around South East Asia.”

Not only this annual event plays a role to foster open communication in Cambodian society, but it helps build a strong foundation for Cambodia's future in the area of Information and Communication Technologies.

Going to conferences is about getting inspired. It’s about getting some new ideas swirl around in your head. During that event, we will see skilled speakers with a lot of experiences and confidence on stage giving a talk on a topic that they really want to share, wrote Samnang Chhun, a Phnom Penh-based Software Developer.

Like many other developing countries, debate on free/open source software as an alternative to propriety software will not end any time soon. Despite the two-day conference offered mixed results to every participant, online discussion has not finished yet.

Michael Smith Jr., from Yahoo Inc., wrote in an email:

[it] looks like a good turnout. I would hope that for any future ones Yahoo Inc. can get more involved to sponsor and maybe have a session.

A-two-minute video clip (taken by German new media consultant Thomas Wanhoff) of Cambodia's BarCamp can be viewed here.

BarCamp, an innovative “impromptu” gathering that began in 2005 in Palo Alto, California, helps “open source” enthusiasts share information about technology in an informal setting. The idea quickly spread from California to the rest of the world, arriving in Bangkok in 2007 and now in Phnom Penh.

Leading IT Company Investing in Cambodia’s Poor

By Ker Yann, VOA Khmer
Video Editor: Manilene Ek
19 August 2009

Cambodia has been slow in adopting the IT revolution, which has transformed much of East Asia. But a radical scheme is underway to give technical and skilled jobs to the country's most disadvantaged and break the poverty cycle. Digital Divide Data (DDD) is a nongovernmental organization operating in Phnom Phenh.

It provides career choices beyond traditional handicrafts, where unskilled workers are trained until they can find better paying jobs.

24 year old Treng Kuy Chheng was born into grinding poverty; at the age of two she had polio. Chheng was lucky to survive, but her illness left her disabled, and badly affecting her future prospects. Despite her disability she had to work every day at her family's food stall.

Treng Kuy Chheng: "This is my house. I lived here for about 18 years. Every morning I went to the market to buy vegetables which I sold just here. I never thought that I would have a life like I have today. I really thought I would just sell fruit forever."

Treng is now is one of five hundred disabled and disadvantaged people who have been offered the chance of a better life by Digital Divide Data (DDD). The people who find themselves at this Phnom Penh office arrive for all sorts of reasons. General Manager Kunthy Kann says the company supports socially and economically disadvantaged Cambodians.

Kunthy Kann, General Manager: "We founded Digital Divide Data to provide data entry jobs to some of the most disadvantaged people in Cambodia-- such as orphans, landmine survivors, polio victims and trafficked women."

Over one hundred and fifty people are now employed in DDD's Phnom Penh headquarters, with another one in Siem Reap. DDD doesn't just offer its employees work, it gives them confidence, independence and the opportunity to realize a better life for themselves. Unlike traditional crafts to which many of the unemployed workers have to turn to, they are given skills in a constantly growing 21st century industry.

Lynn Watson, VP of Client Services, Phnom Penh Office: "We've got young people coming on board who have never worked with a computer before; they certainly haven't worked in a large business environment. Part of what we do is to help train and teach what that's about: not only how to use a computer- but how to use it well, how to work in a business environment- skills that they can take and carry on to the next level in their careers."

New employees start by learning to type, and after six months training, they work on professional data entry projects. The staff is well rewarded; they earn about (US) $90 each month, that's double the national average. DDD also has strong market ambitions.

Kunthy Kann, General Manager: "We are competing with international companies in countries such as China and India, which have access to a skilled workforce. We take people with no experience or suitable education and train them to compete."

Even so the working day at DDD is only six hours long-- this is to ensure that its workers are given the opportunity to study at university in the evening. Thlok Srey Nay, 26, appreciates the company's benefits.

Thlok Srey Nay, 26, Employee: "Before I never used computers, but in here I practice on them a lot. I'm learning to use a lot of computer programs such as Word, which I never used before. And most important for me, DDD also provide me with a scholarship to study at university."

The employees say the opportunity give them independence and earning power to take care of themselves and not have to rely on other people. The company's goal is to build up human capital in Cambodia to tackle the root cause of poverty. Sor Sontheary, DDD's external relations coordinator recounts an old proverb.

Sor Sontheary, External Relations Coordinator, Phnom Penh: "We believe that developing human capital is the key to developing the Cambodian economy. We train people how to work because as the proverb says: it's better to teach a man to fish instead of just giving him fish to eat."

DDD plans to increase its work force to 1500 people by 2012. There are high hopes in Cambodia that projects such as DDD can play a key role in helping to reduce the country's poverty and help disadvantaged Cambodians.

Information for this report was provided by APTN.