ODC wraps up data literacy training program

With financial support from USAID Cambodian Civil Society Strengthening (CCSS) project, Open Development Cambodia (ODC) has carried out three phases of Data Literacy Training Program, the first of its kind in Cambodia, with over 25 participants from different sectors including civil society, journalism, think tank, research and private sector. The curriculum used in the training is localised and adapted from the World Bank’s data literacy program. Mr. Yan Naung Oak is the program’s main trainer from Myanmar.

The first training introduced the participants to the concept of data, finding data, cleaning data, and finding stories out of a dataset. The second training focused on making sense of the data available by either combining, sorting or filtering. In the same training, we introduced participants to several data visualization tools; they were also able to practice the tools using the dataset we provided and the dataset they were able to find for their own data projects. In the third training, we focused mainly on data visualization where we introduced more tools, and they use the tools to visualize their datasets. Participants also learn about data security and data journalism.

The trainees find data literacy a completely new knowledge and skills for them, and they find it crucial for their work and their daily tasks.

A journalist at an online news outlet Thmey Thmey, Ms. Khorn Champa said that “I do not know much about technology. However, in this training, I gained a lot of knowledge on new technology tools and data collection methods. In fact, we can get many kinds of data on the internet easily. Before attending this training, I didn’t know how to get data, and I ended up not having the data. Luckily in this training, I now know how to find and get data; when we have enough data and information, we can write a credible story which is crucial for our readers”.

Another journalist from PNN TV, Mr. Mao Samnang, also expressed the importance of data literacy training. He said “I have learnt many things related to information and data collection methods, and more importantly, how to find data from different sources. Data is important for us to produce a whole and complete story. In the training, each of us is also doing our own data project to create a data story at the end”. 

An independent consultant, Ms. Men Vannavy, said “Readers are more interested in pictures and graphics than texts since text requires more time to read and understand. Graphics are more attractive and easier to understand for our audience”. From the training, Ms. Vannavy is interested in two data visualization tools. The one is Flourish; she finds it very convenient to convert datasets to different kinds of graphs and charts. The second is DataWrapper; she claims that in addition to the functions the previous tool has, Datawrapper allows you to visualize data into maps and symbols by just arranging and cleaning the data. 

Throughout the training, all participants are required to do a data project which can either be a data-driven story, an infographic, a report with data visualization or interactive charts. The project topics are chosen from various areas including economy, education, environment, agriculture, gender, sanitation, and health. ODC team have been providing needed technical assistance to the participants so that they will be able to produce their own final product by the end of the training. The projects will be published on the ODC website.

A research associate at Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI), Mr. Roeun Narith has delivered remarkable progress of his data project after attending all phases of data literacy training. He said he has enjoyed the training and able to create a blog which highlights the trade situation – import and export of cassava in Cambodia.

The participants are generally satisfied with the training and have applied the skills to their work. Some participants have already produced data materials using the data skills they have learnt from the training.

Another research officer at ActionAid organisation, Mr. Ven Saroeut has used the skills with visualizations from the training to produce a report on Cambodia’s Women Resilience Index for his organization. His organisational reports have been distributed both in print and online.

With aim to reach a wider audience, ODC’s data literacy program has also engaged participants from provinces as well as Svay Rieng, Battambang and Siem Reap.

A Monitoring & Evaluation and Learning Officer at Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) based in Battambang, Ms. Kimla Nen has conducted cascade training on data literacy to her colleagues. The lessons from our training that she shared include using Google SpreadSheet and Microsoft Excel to clean and compile data using the features like Pivot Table. She also introduced her colleagues to a few data visualization tools such as Datawrapper, Flourish and Piktochart.

At the same time, based on a survey with the participants there are areas of improvement for our training to be even more effective. Those include organizing separate training for different kinds of target audience since they may have different expectations and needs on the training.

ODC continues expressing its commitment to support participants who plan to share their data literacy knowledge to their colleagues or others. We could provide technical support in terms of lessons or some training related to data and data visualization and co-provision of the training.

We sincerely hope that more data stories will be produced, and that data literacy will be shared with and more people.

ODC’s data literacy training program has started since October 2019 and the training program will gather participants with their data projects and conclude with a final workshop held on 7 April 2020.