Open Development Cambodia (ODC), on 17 February 2023, organized the Third Cambodia ICT and Digital Forum (CamIDF) in Phnom Penh with 41 participants, 14 are women from CamIDF members, Cambodia ICT Camp alums, government officials, CSOs, indigenous people community, LGBT+ community, journalists, digital rights defenders, civil society organizations, start-ups, the private sector, and university students. The Forum discussed the Digital Transformation Policy, Child Online Protection Policy, and other topics. 

The Third CamIDF had two main objectives: First, to discuss the aspects of Cambodia's digital law and regulation, especially the Digital Transformation Policy. Second, Discover new aspects of digital society and related legal frameworks.

Morning Session

The one-day event kicked off with a welcoming remark from Mr. THY Try, Executive Director/Editor-in-Chief of Open Development Cambodia (ODC). He highlighted the Second Cambodia ICT and Digital Forum, which focused on a sub-decree on the National Internet Gateway. Meanwhile, the topic for the third meeting focused on the Digital Transformation Policy.

Mr. THY Try also urged the participants to become CamIDF members, which everyone can register through the CamIDF website. CamIDF website is a platform for CamIDF members to discuss any topic related to digital issues and promote an inclusive and sustainable use of ICTs for digital development.

Following the remark from Mr. THY, Ms. Elizabeth Liew, Global Strategic Partnerships and Programme Development Lead at TechSoup and member of the CamIDF Advisory Committee shared her opening remark with the participants. At the event, Ms. Elizabeth Liew, asked the participant to use their mobile phone to scan the QR code to list down the digital barrier that prevents participants from performing their tasks.

After filling out the form, the participant has raised some digital barriers, including poor internet, human resource, digital literacy, digital gap, low budget, software license, and other. After that, Ms. Elizabeth Liew also addressed some solutions to solve those digital barriers.  She added that digital transformation in Cambodia and the Mekong region should begin with addressing inequalities, continuing digital literacy programs, increasing multi-stakeholder engagement, and advocating for good governance.

Mr. NGOV Chihor, Communications Manager at ODC, then shared a quick result from the Second CamIDF held on November 17, 2022. 

After that, Mr. Dixon Siu, Software Engineer at Fujitsu Limited and a member of the CamIDF Advisory Committee, shared his remark on Child Online Protection Policy. Mr. Dixon Siu also encouraged the participants to raise questions and request any topic to discuss. He also suggested a topic for CamIDF organizers to focus on the future event, including digital literacy and digital security.

Overview of Digital Transformation Policy

Mr. THY Try, Executive Director/Editor-in-Chief of ODC. He highlighted that digital transformation is what the Cambodian government has focused on nowadays. His Excellency CHEA Sereyvatt, Secretary General at the Digital Government Committee from the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, presented the Cambodia Digital Government Policy 2022-2035, highlighting the timeline and progress of the policy implementation. In his presentation, H.E. CHEA Sereyvatt explained the performance of the Cambodia Digital Government Policy Framework 2022-2035, including (1)  E-government, infrastructure connection, electricity and connectivity, and good internet connection; (2) Open Government:  the government is open to accepting feedbacks from the citizens with open data that allow business and government to connect;  (3) Data Collection and Analysis; (4) Full Transformation – the system from each ministry connects, for example, the one window service; and (5) Smart Digital Government: the citizen can get any data from the government.

H.E. CHEA Sereyvatt indicated that the digital government would engage with the citizens by receiving comments from them to understand citizen resources and knowledge and educate the citizens about those platforms. 

Afternoon Session

In the afternoon, Mr. Eric Lou, CEO of OneWorld Information Technology and a member of the CamIDF Advisory Committee, confirmed that everyone could be a member of CamIDF, even if they are foreigners. He added that everyone could also create their topic to ask questions about, and every conversation and discussion would be confidential and only seen by CamIDF members.

In the following session, Mr. DUCH Piseth, human rights specialist, highlighted the differences between cybersecurity and cybercrime laws. He added that the cybersecurity law focuses on the infrastructure of the cyber service while cybercrime focuses on illegal action or crime. He then explained how implementing both directions could potentially impact citizens’ online rights and freedom of expression.

Mr. Dixon SIU, Software Engineer - Fujitsu Limited and representative of the CamIDF Advisory, presented the Child Data Privacy. He shared some tips to prevent online child abuse, including asking for consent from the children when taking or posting their photos on the internet and introducing guidelines for children.

The Third CamIDF concluded with a closing remark from Mr. Dixon SIU. He encouraged the members of CamIDF to take into account three pillars. Firstly, the passion that requires the members of CamIDF to have the will to succeed. Second, knowledge makes better choices. And lastly, networking means all CamIDF members are allies with different specialties.