Mekong ICT Camp 2017

Open Development Initiative team was at the Mekong ICT Camp 2015.

Mekong ICT Camp is a bi-annual sub-regional workshop on innovation, citizenship, and technology. In a week-long series of activities, it brings stakeholders in the region to learn together how it possible to adapt different technologies to tackle the social and environmental issues in their own community and ones that goes across the border.

Four workshops (in 2008, 2010, 2013, and 2015) were successfully held, covering three main topics, namely innovative practice, civic participation in governance and technology infrastructure. After its successful years in Thailand, the 5th Mekong ICT Camp will be proudly held from 04 to 09 September 2017 in Siem Reap province, Cambodia.

Throwing back to the 3rd Mekong ICT Camp 2013, Open Development Cambodia (ODC) team were invited to present on the panel about “Open Data, Social Development and the Implementation Insights” in Thailand. In 2015, ODC team also participated in the name of facilitator and speaker at the events in Thailand. This year, however, ODC has an honor to become a local host who take part as an advisory committee, event speaker, curriculum designer, and logistic arrangement supporter.

ODC's Project Manager Terry Parnell at Mekong ICT Camp_Thailand

Mrs. Terry Parnell, Open Development Initiative Project Manager at the Mekong ICT Camp 2013 in Thailand.

Mr. Thy Try, ODC Executive Director happily joint Mekong ICT Camp 2015 with other participants.

This year workshop will mainly focus on developmental projects in Mekong countries, providing solutions for data and technological problems related to issues such as:

  • Environmental and social impacts of development projects such as dams, mines, oil and gas, road construction or land concessions;
  • Disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation;
  • Health, education, civil rights and others.

The Camp is opened to all developers, journalists, development workers and social workers from every Mekong-region country, including Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Yunnan, China, and elsewhere. Around 60 participants are selected.

The call for application for the 5th Mekong ICT Camp was opened on 05 April 2017 and closed on 25 May 2017. However, there was a re-opening of applicants for Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand until 15 July 2017. The announcement of the first round successful applicants was on 30 June while the second round was on 19 July.

The workshop brings together development workers, journalists and others who are looking for solutions to their data problems, ranging from data collection to analysis or visualization.

At the end of the workshop, the successful participants will form into groups and be assigned to develop demo projects to exercise their skills gained form the workshop. The participants will present their problem to software developers, hardware makers and data experts, who, if interested, will work with to find tech solutions for their projects.

Please click here for more information about Mekong ICT Camp 2017.