Open Data Day 2020: You are invited!

The Open Data Day is a global event that brings together enthusiastic citizens in open data, seeking to connect and apply open public data to build solutions to social issues. 2020 marks the tenth year that Open Data communities all over the world celebrate this event. Every year, Open Data communities worldwide organize local events where they engage participants in using open data-based solutions to the challenges faced by their communities. It is an opportunity to show the benefits of open data and encourage the adoption of open data policies in government, business and civil society.

Indeed, Open Development Cambodia (ODC) is one of the open data communities dedicated to this global event. This year and for the sixth time, ODC will organize the Open Data Day in collaboration with national and international Open Data Communities, Open Data Activists, Open Source Enthusiasts and Educators, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

ODC’s theme for the Open Data Day 2019 was “Tracking​ public​ money​ flows”, ​ seeking to identify the​ sources​ and​ destination​ of​ public​ money​ in​ Cambodia, paying particular attention on the role of open data and its potential. The​ event​ gathered​ around​ 100​ participants​ from diverse backgrounds who​ actively​ engaged​ in​ a​ day​ full​ of​ presentations, ​discussions​ and​ a​ final​ Hackathon. To learn more about the event, please read here.

A group photo at Open Data Day 2019

Building on the successful experiences of previous years, ODC is delighted to host the “Open Data Day 2020” in the first week of March. This year, we will focus on the global open data day theme: Open Data for Equal Development. Solving development inequality is both in our country’s policy agenda as well as a global priority. Sustainable Development Goal 10 (SDG 10): Reduced Inequalities, addresses a comprehensive definition of inequality – including disparities in social, institutional and economic spheres – in order to ensure inclusive growth, equal representation and opportunities. Open data and information play a crucial role in bridging inequality gaps. There is clear evidence that open data has contributed to several essential objectives for development, including 1) Foster economic growth and job creation, 2) Improve efficiency and coverage of public services, 3) Increase transparency, accountability, and citizen participation, and 4) Facilitate better information-sharing within government, according to the World Bank report on Open Data for Sustainable Development.

Essay competition

The Open Data Day is an engaging opportunity for open data enthusiasts to write applications, liberate data, create visualizations and publish analyses using open public data. Such activities are designed to show the benefits of open data and encourage the adoption of open data policies in government, business and civil society spheres. 

With the theme Open Data for Equal Development, ODC opens an Khmer essay competition on the topic “The role of open data and information in promoting transparency and accountability in public service delivery in Cambodia”, to promote the importance of disclosing and disseminating data and information together with the need to enhance public participation in monitoring public service delivery in order to advance transparency and accountability.​ 

Prior to the Open Data Day 2020 event, this competition is publicly open to Cambodian youths, in whom we strongly believe that they play a very important role in social change, economic growth and technological innovation in our current digital era. By engaging them in this opportunity, we hope to expand their insights while getting their ideas and recommendations on how open data contributes to improving transparency levels of public service delivery in Cambodia. More importantly, we hope to empower youths to be actively participate in our nation’s development.

Awards

Eligibility and Submission Criteria​

• Be a Cambodian citizen under 35 years old, women are particularly encouraged to apply.
• The submitted essay must be original and serve only for the purpose of this competition.
• The submitted essay must be in both Microsoft Word and PDF files.
• A copy of Cambodia National Identification Card needs to be submitted.
• Send the essay to email: events@opendevcam.net
• If you have questions, please email: contact@opendevcam.net

Time frame

• Open for application: 17 January 2020
• Deadline of essay submission: 24 February 2020

For more details of the competition and requirement, please go to “Youth Essay Competition for Open Data Day 2020“.