Ideathon: Building confidence through ideas

I remember it clearly. Two years ago, fresh out of high school, I tried applying for exchange programs and scholarships abroad for the first time. I was excited, nervous, and hopeful. Spoiler alert, I didn’t even get to submit a single application. Not because I was lazy or scared, but because of one question: “Tell us about your extracurricular experience and achievements.” My mind went blank staring at that question. I had no experience, and that realization hit me harder than anything could. From that point on, I decided to stop letting opportunities slip away. I started involving myself more in volunteering, extracurricular activities, and joining events and tournaments. Again, I consistently felt optimistic when joining competitions. Yet, after countless stages, I always seem to receive the same disappointing result – losing.

Eventually, I told myself to simply give up, and I did… until a random morning, when I came across an announcement by the Open Development Cambodia (ODC) of the competition called “Ideathon on AI for Gender Inclusion.” I quickly sent it to my friends and was not expecting much. We also did not have ideas for Ideathon at the time, but decided to have a meeting anyway on the last night before the application deadline. After rereading the given problem statements, we found one that we were intrigued about, which was “how can we prevent gender bias in datasets, algorithms, and AI decision-making?”

We came up with an idea of creating a toolkit for users to test their datasets and AI systems to potentially find biases in their datasets or systems. Since time was of the essence, we quickly delegated tasks and did more research on the topic. We then submitted our application the next morning. By evening, we received a confirmation email that our team had been shortlisted.

Of course, we were excited, but also terrified. We had less than 3 days to prepare for the final pitch, which included the slides, policy recommendations, and a prototype. Not to mention, I was also packed with university final exams and projects that same week. That was one of the most overwhelming weeks of my life. Yet, it was one of the most rewarding weeks I have experienced. In the middle of it all, we were also fortunate to meet our mentor, Mr. Dixon Siu, who was incredibly supportive and genuinely encouraging in our project.

On the day of the tournament, we had a brief check-up with our mentor and were ready to go. After finishing our pitch, something unexpected happened… we weren’t questioned by the panel of judges.

After a moment, we were asked just a single question, and that was it. At that moment, in our mind, there could only be 2 scenarios: either our judges genuinely had no questions, or we had left them so confused that they did not know where to start. Either way, I tried not to think much of it. Then came the result announcement, and once again I got flashbacks – flashbacks from the many previous competitions I lost to. When I heard “ReFair” from the MC, my heart jumped, and then I realized that the streak was finally over. I was so glad that I chose to come back and try competing one more time.

After the Ideathon, we spent more time developing our prototype, doing more research, and improving the software. During the process, we learned more about the problem of data bias in the bigger picture and developed skills to help address the issues along the way. We were also invited by Mr. Dixon to present our project at a Fujitsu webinar, which was attended by over 90 participants from different countries.

Fast forward to December, we headed to Singapore for the study visit. Our first visit was with Mr. Adrian Wan, representative of the Internet Society (ISOC) Singapore. We presented our project idea to him and gained really useful feedback and suggestions. We also got to learn more about ISOC and their mission to help close the digital divide and to promote a safe and open Internet for everyone.

Our second visit was with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Singapore, where we were warmly welcomed by Ms. Athena Foo. That was where we explored Internet governance and the multistakeholder approach, which plays a crucial role in policy development that helps make sure the Internet stays reliable and accessible for people everywhere.

We wrapped our first day with another visit to Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Singapore, a German think tank, where we were hosted by Ms. Valentina Schott. We got to have extensive discussions about policies and legal frameworks regarding data governance and AI safety. We also got to explore Singapore’s open data approach and the advancement of Singapore’s digital government transformation.

The next day, we went to visit Kontinentalist, a creative data-driven storytelling studio, whose mission is to bridge the gap between research and the public, focusing on data across Asia. It was fascinating to see how messy, complex, and boring data could be turned into engaging and visually compelling stories through creativity. I was inspired by their work. It made me realize that creativity and thoughtful design can be the difference between a story being ignored and a story truly making an impact. We also learned about the process behind each story, from data collection and cleaning to analyzing, interpreting, archiving, and finally designing the visuals.

“Singapore doesn’t have natural resources; what we have is human talent,” said Sengmeng Koo, head of AI Talent at AI Singapore, during our next visit to AI Singapore. This statement was simple, but powerful. It reminded me that a country’s greatest asset is not always about the resources it has, but the people it invests in. It was inspiring to see the advancement of the AI ecosystem in Singapore, and their approach to boost the ecosystem through talent development programs like the AI Apprenticeship Programme and Singapore’s National AI Student Challenge, which are incredibly impactful for their talent development.

Although this visit was incredibly action-packed, it was one that was deeply memorable to me, and I am truly grateful for this opportunity. This visit inspired me more than ever to keep learning and use those skills to give back and contribute to my country.

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Open Development Cambodia (ODC), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), with support from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA), and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPTC), for this eye-opening experience.

I would also like to thank Mr. Try Thy, Ms. Thida Sours, Mr. Robert Pham, and the entire ODC team, as well as Ms. May Sokuntheary and the GIZ Cambodia team, for all their support and coordination that made this entire experience possible.

Lastly, thank you to my teammates, Panha and Muyleang, for enduring this journey together, and to our mentor, Mr. Dixon Siu, for his guidance and support in our project. Finally, I am grateful to myself for not giving up and deciding to try one more time.

I’m Eung Laimeng, a third-year student at the American University of Phnom Penh (AUPP), majoring in Information and Communications Technology (ICT). I have a strong interest in data science, particularly in using data for analytics and machine learning to generate insights and support better decision-making. I have been involved in several data-related projects and aspire to apply data-driven approaches to solve real-world challenges.