From Phnom Penh to Taipei: ODC Takes on the g0v Summit

On 23-24 May 2026, the Open Development Cambodia (ODC) team touched down in Taipei, Taiwan, for one of the most exciting gatherings in the civic tech world, the g0v Summit 2026.

g0v (pronounced “gov-zero”) is a decentralized civic tech community from Taiwan advocating for information transparency and builds tech solutions that help citizens participate in public affairs from the grassroots up. Their biennial summits are centered on “Information Transparency, Open Results, and Open Collaboration,” bringing together civic hackers, open data advocates, and digital governance practitioners from around the globe. This year’s theme was Invite Yourself, because in this community, nobody waits around to be asked.

ODC is excited to be back at the summit! In 2018, ODC was invited for a sharing session on “Bringing open data to the community in developing Southeast Asia,” under the topic “Open data global perspectives,” bringing the Cambodian open data experience to the g0v summit.

This year, ODC had its very own booth at the summit, where we showcased the range of work that keeps our team busy back home. From environmental data projects, media and information literacy training, and the fight against technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), to the Prayuters Library program and ODC’s ongoing work on open data and digital policy development in Cambodia, the booth engaged visitors of all backgrounds to learn more about ODC’s work. Visitors were particularly curious about ODC’s role in open data advocacy in Cambodia, our mission, our progress, and our challenges.

On day 2, the ODC team joined a panel discussion titled “Open Data in the AI Era: Exploring Co-Creation in Taiwan through International Public-Private Collaboration Case Studies.” Organized by the Open Culture Foundation (OCF), the panel featured research findings on open data progress and models across different countries, including Spain, France, and Cambodia. ODC had been invited as an interviewee for this research, and on the day itself, we took the floor to give participants a snapshot of who we are and what our open data mission looks like on the ground in Cambodia.

This is not ODC’s first rodeo with OCF. Back in December 2024, the two organizations came together at the Cambodia ICT Camp 2024 for the panel discussion “Open Data Advocacy: A Discussion Between Taiwan and Cambodia.” The session gave participants a chance to explore open government and open data through the lens of both NGOs, one rooted in Taiwan’s civic tech scene, one on the frontlines of data advocacy in Cambodia. The discussion unpacked the core ideas driving both organizations’ work: citizens’ right to access information and the power of public participation in ensuring governmental accountability. That conversation planted seeds of a partnership built on shared values, and the g0v Summit was proof of how far those seeds have grown.

It was a proud moment: Cambodia’s open data story, shared on an international stage, in conversation with some of the sharpest minds in civic technology. The g0v Summit reminded us that the fight for open, accessible, and trustworthy data doesn’t stop at any one border. For ODC, being in that room meant more than just representing Cambodia; it meant reaffirming that open data is not a technical checkbox but a foundation for accountability, inclusion, and informed decision-making. We came home with new connections, sharper ideas, and a renewed commitment to making Cambodia’s data landscape more open, one dataset at a time.