A fruitful board meeting for Open Development Cambodia

The Open Development Cambodia (ODC) team was delighted to host the recent board meeting at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Phnom Penh on 10 October 2021. It was the first time the board members and the ODC management team had a physical gathering since the severe of community transmission in Cambodia in early 2021.

A group photo of ODC Board members and Management team at the board meeting, on 10 October 2021.

The meeting began with a welcome speech by Mr. THY Try, Executive Director/Editor-in-Chief of ODC. Mr. Try updated those present about the key achievements of ODC programs and the funding situation, and he highlighted the outreach activities in 2021. He also referred to the earlier event marking the 10th anniversary of ODC. 

Given the health measure requirements and gathering restrictions, the physical attending of our honor guests and board members on the ODC 10th anniversary in August was impossible. Still, it could not stop us from celebrating this exciting event. It is the most excellent opportunity to express our honored appreciation to people who have been supporting this open data portal. Thank everyone for your time and effort in participating in video production for our virtual event, sharing with the donors, development partners, and users the journey of ODC since we started in 2011. Those videos will keep reminding us of how ODC has been through during the last ten years, who we are now, and what the future goal of ODC is in the next ten years. Find all our 10th-anniversary videos on ODC’s YouTube channel. 

After having a small celebration and watching the videos, Board members then reviewed the external assessment of ODC that was recently conducted by an independent consultant. The assessment provided tremendous insights, especially timely when ODC celebrates its work and growth over the last 10 years. Crucial comments, ideas, and recommendations were raised during the discussion, focusing on internal regulations and the organization’s future direction.

According to discussions, ODC plans to have more outreach activities. First is the Cambodia ICT Camp 2022, which was unfortunately postponed since 2020 due to the pandemic.​ The Camp is grounded on the success of the previous Cambodia ICT Camp 2018 and plans to gather over 120 participants next year. The event will include a series of presentations, workshops, and hands-on activities. Participants will build their capacities and share experiences using open data and technologies for improved human rights, freedom of expression, and evidence-based decision-making. 

Another upcoming outreach program of ODC is providing an intensive training program on Data Literacy. The training will target NGOs, government officials, and journalists. As in previous similar programs, it seeks to develop the participant skills in data sources, data collection, and data analysis. The final objective of the training will be to equip trainees with adequate skills to integrate data into their work by simplifying data and producing understandable data-based stories. 

Lastly, the ODC management team updated board members on the plans for hosting the 2023 Asia Open Data Conference. This year, the conference is hosted in Vietnam and in Malaysia, the next one. This will be an extraordinary opportunity for ODC to promote the open data movement in the region as it is expected that representatives from 20 countries will attend. The ODC team is very excited about these and other events that will hopefully be hosted in-person for the most part if the health situation allows it.

Overall, the board meeting was an engaging opportunity for our team to review the work done over the last months and discuss future plans. Relevant recommendations were proposed to advance ODC’s plans under the current Strategic Plan and towards its goals and mission in the longer run. The ODC management team is looking forward to the next board meeting.