Open Data Day 2022: The role of open data in digital government

29 March 2022
Access to information / Communications infrastructure / Government services
Data for Equal Development / Digital government / Open Data Day

On 5 March 2022, Open Development Cambodia (ODC), in collaboration with the Institute of Digital Governance of the Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology (CADT), was delighted to host the Open Data Day 2022 at CADT in Phnom Penh. This is the 8th consecutive year that ODC has successfully celebrated this international event. The International Open Data Day is a global celebration that takes place annually with the objective to raise awareness and encourage the use of open data. Groups of Open Data enthusiasts and proponents across the globe host local events to promote open data in their respective communities. This year, the topic of discussion was “The Role of Open Data in Digital Government”, encapsulated within the broader theme “Data for Equal Development.”

In order to ensure the safety of participants, the open data day 2022 was conducted in a hybrid format. Participants were given the choice to join physically at CADT or virtually through Zoom. Around 60 participants have joined the event of which 20 of them joined physically, ranging from national and international data to ICT experts.

After listening to the National anthem of the Kingdom of Cambodia, ODC Executive Director Mr. Thy Try gave the welcoming remark. He acknowledged that the open data day is an international celebration that provides citizens and relevant stakeholders opportunities to take ownership in fostering data-based solutions. Given the recent launching of the digital Government policy, the topic of open data has never been more timely. He emphasized that the unrestricted use of data can improve decision-making, public service delivery, and governance transparency, effectiveness, and accountability. Mr. Try noted that this Open data Day in Cambodia was one of 126 open data events across the world.

The objectives of the open data day 2022 consisted of:

Informing citizens and encouraging them to take ownership of open data.
Raising awareness about open data and its potential role for digital government transformation, openness, transparency and responsiveness.
Identifying key challenges and opportunities posed by data in enhancing the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of public service delivery.
Bringing together relevant stakeholders to forge collaborations and exchange ideas around new initiatives to integrate open data in the digitalization of government.

H.E. Hean Samboeun, Vice President of CADT, took over the floor by giving an opening remark and officially kickstart the Open Data Day 2022. After mentioning that he was pleased to join the event, H.E. Hean Samboeun highlighted the crucial role of open data in strengthening the digital government in Cambodia. Digital government focus on modernizing the government system to meet the needs of citizens. The use of open data will provide room for innovation and improve public service delivery quality through a digitalized system. He concluded that together with other relevant stakeholders, CADT will play its part in contributing to the progression of digital government through human capital development.

Mr. Chia-Kai LIU, CEO of DSP, gave the first keynote speech on “Open data for evidence-based policymaking.” He covered the insightful example of the Taiwan experience in using data to fight air pollution and citizens against its harmful effects. He stated that local citizens use personal air monitoring devices to track the atmosphere. Taking advantage of the data-sharing platform and mechanisms, the government then utilizes the information provided by citizens. As a result, new decisions and policies have been implemented to address the problem. He concluded that the combination of government and citizen data makes huge differences and plays a critical role in tackling environmental issues.

Ms. Pyrou Chung, Director of the Open Development Initiative (ODI), gave a keynote speech on the “Role of Open Data in Promoting Digital Government.” She highlighted that the role of digital governments is not to govern the use of data in digital application and information but to uphold the rights of the data files. She hopes that today’s discussion will be fruitful, and participants will gain great insights on digital government from the panel discussion.

The first panel discussion addressed “How Open Data Contributes to Strengthening Digital Government in Cambodia?” and was moderated by Ms. Chet Charya, program coordinator of FHI 360 Cambodia.

The four panelists in this session consisted of representatives from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPTC), the Ministry of Civil Services (MCS), the National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development (NCDD), and the Organization for Data-Driven Application (ODA). The panel addressed the need to reform the digital infrastructure and technology ecosystem to modernize governance in Cambodia, and the role of open data applications to promote digital government as well as potential risks, and challenges.

H.E. Mao Neang, Director General of General Department of Information Telecommunications and Technology of MPTC, began by providing an insightful lecture on open data. The key takeaway from his presentation was that the government’s vision seeks to build a smart government system based on technology, digital tools, and data to improve citizens’ quality of life. He stated that open data is necessary for digital government development in Cambodia and decision-making. Data is one of the three pillars of the “Digital economy and social policy framework of Cambodia (2021-2035)” set out by the government. He also touched upon a drafted policy which focuses on data management to ensure the quality and data privacy of the citizen. Find the new release of digital policies of RGC as the following: Digital economy and social policy framework of Cambodia (2021-2035) and Cambodian Digital Government Policy (2022-2035).

Mr. Ngorn Moi, Head of the Training Center of ICT of the MCS, joined the discussion. He addressed how data and information technology can assist civil servants in monitoring the provision of public services across the country in the forthcoming future.

Dr. Chi Ming Peng, President of the Organization of Data-driven Application (ODA), took over the session to share the experiences of Taiwan in using data for better governance. He stated that the Taiwanese government used open data in various sectors such as the environment, economy, and others. He also mentioned the essential components of available data and how utilizing good data strengthens the digital ecosystem. Also, he argued that it is important to provide data into machine-readable formats in order to allow users to reuse such data.

Mr. Sok Choeun, Deputy Chief of M&E and Information Unit of NCDD Secretariat, mentioned the essential role of data and pointed to some recent achievements of NCDD in the data digitalization at the sub-national level. He claimed that important data should be interchangeable between the public and private sectors, promoting public data accessibility. He emphasized that reliable and accessible data will enhance effective decision-making. He explained that the NCDD has joined the digital government development agenda by disseminating various datasets to the public through the NCDD database, available on the NCDD website. Those data include sub-national budgets, fundraising projects at the commune/Sangkat level, data on projects priority of the provincial/city governors, and data on the One Window Service (OWSO) public service delivery.

The second panel discussion focused on “Using ICT to promote digital governance.” Our guest speakers discussed various possibilities of integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into improved digital governance and public service delivery. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Phan Daro, Head of the Center for Digital Governance and Technology Promotion of IDG-CADT.

Mr. Chen Tim, Vice-president of ODA and President of TMS Technologies Co., LTD, briefly illustrated the role of ICT at the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MOTC) of Taiwan. During his presentation, he explained a few open data-related ICT applications available in Taiwan and the 11 elements to build up data governance. According to him, an essential component of data governance is AI technologies as they play a crucial role in collecting, formulating, and analyzing data.

Next, H.E. Maun Prathna, Deputy Secretary-General of MEF and the Permanent Vice Chairman of FMWG, explained the Financial Management Information System (FMIS). The purpose of the implementation of FMIS is to bring transparency and accountability in government budget spending to the public, he said. He also highlighted the vital role of public participation in building effective digital governance. Find more about FMWG: Website or YouTube.

Mr. Mao Chandy, Product Manager of InSTEDD iLab Southeast Asia, continued the discussion by sharing the development and implementation of the Digital Community Scorecard (DCSC). The initiative mainly collects citizens’ experiences and feedback on the public services delivered by civil servants within their subnational administrative boundaries. What is interesting about this tool is the integration of technology into collecting data and submitting the results to the data cloud. Currently, the initiative is being piloted in some provinces across the country. The next goal of the initiative is to standardize DCSC tools and scale up the use of the scorecard nationwide, he concluded.

Mr. John Weeks, an Open Data Specialist from Internews Cambodia, shared his organization’s experiences in promoting the implementation of the social accountability framework in Cambodia through strengthening skills on data literacy and tools for open data usage among the partners. He also highlighted the Open Data Survey, a report that formulates an up-to-date picture of available and emerging open data resources on the NCDD budgeting process.

By the end of the two panel discussions, an interactive and engaging Q&A took place. Many interesting questions were risen by the audience, both on-site and virtually. One of them asked H.E. Neang Mao about the issue of data fragmentation and how the government addresses it. H.E. Neang Mao mentioned a series of policies, laws and regulations that address data fragmentation, including the Digital Government policy 2022-2035, Digital Economy and Social Policy framework 2021-2035, the draft law on cybercrime, and the draft law on personal data protection.

Another participant asked H.E. Maun Prathna about the availability of FIMS for the private sector. H.E. Maun Prathna responded that FIMS is the management system for the government’s operation, financial management, and budget planning. And, hence, it is not available for the private sector. A follow-up question for H.E, Maun Prathna sought to learn about the challenges that constrained the development of the financial management system. He answered that the transaction procedure is time-consuming due to the manual processes required, which poses a great difficulty for the financial management system to collect the data. He explained that it is being improved and that, hopefully, by the year 2025, we can digitalize all the public expenditure.

Finally, Mrs. Siv Vatana, ODC research and web content manager, gave an insightful closing remark. She firmly believed that participants got great insights into digital government and open data. Likewise, she wished that participants will continue to discuss about open data and participate in improving the digitalization of the government for a better implementation of the digital government policy 2022-2035 in Cambodia. Mrs. Siv Vatana explained that after ten years of leading experience in collecting and providing open data in Cambodia, ODC is committed to continuing its mission and collaboration with all stakeholders to promote digital government in Cambodia. In doing so, ODC will expand its open data platform and continue to provide training programs on data literacy. In the end, she expressed her gratitude towards local and international partners, honorable guest speakers, moderators, and participants who joined the Open Data Day 2022.