Digital spaces in Cambodia have been growing rapidly in recent years and have become an integral part of our lives. They have revolutionized how we communicate, work, and access information. According to a recent study, at the start of 2023, there were 11.37 million internet users in Cambodia with internet penetration standing at 67.5 percent. As of January 2023, Cambodia had 10.95 million social media users which is equivalent to 65% of the population. The use of digital technology in public and private sectors is also burgeoning. However, with the increasing use of digital technologies, there are also growing concerns about trust and transparency in the digital space. The lack of trust and transparency can lead to negative consequences such as cyber-attacks, data breaches, and privacy violations.

Open Development Cambodia (ODC) organized the Fifth Cambodia ICT and Digital Forum (CamIDF) in Phnom Penh on 21 September 2023, with 41 participants, out of which 14 are females. The participants were made up of individuals from varied backgrounds, including CamIDF members, Cambodia ICT Camp alumni, researchers, journalists, digital nomads, civil society, start-ups, the private sector, and university students. The forum focuses on the opportunities, challenges, and solutions to the growth of digital usage in Cambodia, gathering all stakeholders for further collaboration in addressing internet governance issues.

The fifth edition of CamIDF aimed to share knowledge and experience related to the growth of digital usage in Cambodia along with its problems, solutions, opportunities, and challenges to safeguard children and the privacy of online users and gather all the stakeholders for further collaboration in addressing the issues.

Morning Session

The Fifth CamIDF began with a welcoming remark from Mr. THY Try, Executive Director/Editor-in-Chief of Open Development Cambodia (ODC). He highlighted the origin of CamIDF which started as a request from Cambodia ICT Camp 2022 alumni. He expressed his excitement about the upcoming government policies related to information and communication technology (ICT) and digital economics and society, which are being enacted by the royal government of Cambodia. Mr. Try emphasized that currently, CamIDF has 86 members from 6 organizations/private sectors. He called for all participants to register to be a member of CamIDF to address their concerns, provide feedback, and ask questions related to ICT. 

Following the welcoming remarks, Mr. Eric Lou (a member of the CamIDF Advisory Committee), shared his opening observations. Being his fifth time attending the event, Mr. Eric stated how CamIDF stimulates strategy to action by bringing together different sectors, including government, private sector, and academia. He mentioned that this initiative is not only inclusive but easily accessible which can stimulate economic expansion, and improve the overall well-being of Cambodian society. 

CamIDF Advisory Committee member and MyData Global Founding Member Mr. Dixon SIU,  delivered a presentation on “Trust and Transparency in the Digital Space”. The presentation was followed by engagement with the participants, with one of the participants from the private sector asking about the process of validation for collected data. Mr. Dixon responded that validation of data could be done by using technologies like blockchain. 

Following the presentation was an online session and group discussion on the topic of “Data Governance for Sustainable Development”, which was remotely presented by Dr. Velislava Hillman – Founder of Education Data | Digital Safeguards (EDDS). Dr. Velislava touched upon the importance of data governance and data management as it affects the reliability of data, including the process of data collection, data processing, and optimization. She also emphasized the importance of providing good content to young children to ensure a safe online environment. Participants were divided into different groups, where they discussed and formed their answers according to questions by Dr. Velislava.   

Dr. Velislava asked the groups about the opportunities and challenges of data in relation to children and young people’s online spaces, including education. In response, one of the participant groups stated that developers have a responsibility to protect children online by restricting inappropriate content. Another group added that technology can help schools design the curriculum, which would be beneficial. However, academic institutions would need to be cautious to avoid the data being leaked. The third group also added that student data can be used to identify subjects for which students need extra help. The last group encouraged the adoption of more online educational platforms for children and adults.

Mr. Dixon SIU,  delivered another presentation on “Why Data Ethics is important for AI/Machine Learning solutions”. He added that data ethics is a branch of ethics that evaluates data practices, including collecting, generating, analyzing, and disseminating both structured and unstructured data that may adversely impact individuals and society. Data ethics aims to navigate negative aspects of data, including privacy concerns, bias, discrimination, security, and misuse. One participant asked Mr. Dixon how to maximize the benefits of data to ethics, to which he responded that selecting the right platform to train data and follow the guidelines is the priority.

The morning session ended with a remote presentation by Mr. Kohei KURIHARA, Co-founder of Privacy by Design Lab, on “Sustainable Digital Safety Literacy”. He observed that digital safety not only focuses on protecting devices, personal data, and privacy but also the health and well-being of users.

Afternoon Session 

CamIDF’s afternoon session featured two main elements: a panel discussion on “Safeguarding Online Child Protection” and a discussion on the “Personal Data Protection Draft Law.” 

The panel discussion was conducted in a hybrid model, with in-person and online guest speakers.  “Safeguarding Online Child Protection” started with a question about the speakers’ perspective on student exposure to the Internet today. Mr. Soklay HENG, Artificial Intelligence Researcher at Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology, responded that students today have more access to the internet than the previous generation, which is an improvement but there are also negative impacts in terms of the content that they are exposed to. In regards to whether there should be a minimum age at which children can use the internet, Ms. Puthineath LAY, a Data Science Researcher at Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology, called for more involvement from parents in managing the content for kids, including restricting the duration that kids are allowed using digital devices.

The panel moved on to discuss how the general public could get involved in protecting children online. Dr. Velislava responded that the government plays an important role in protecting children online as it can issue policies restricting harmful content and protecting children from violence. 

After the panel discussion, the agenda moved on to the discussion on the Personal Data Protection Draft Law. The draft law has been made available for comments by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications to review and share inputs.  The discussion began with a legal expert sharing an overview of the Draft Law, dissecting some of the articles in the draft law. The terminology used in the draft law was also discussed with the participants.

The workshop was concluded by Mr. Try informing participants to submit their comments and suggestions to ODC as the team would consolidate the inputs from the discussion to send to the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications. 

The Fifth CamIDF came to an end with the closing remark from Mr. Dixon Siu, where he expressed his optimism for the future of Cambodia after seeing the active engagement between the speakers and participants. He hoped that all participants could apply what they learned from the workshop in the future. 

Mr. Dixon also highlighted the importance of safeguarding children as they are the future. He urged the participants to stay connected as networking is a key to success while encouraging stakeholders to continue to work together.