Sam Oudom

Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology (CADT) is strengthening its research and education institutions for the betterment of digital technology and innovation by cultivating digital talent and innovators to move Cambodia towards a digital society in the 21st century.

Chantra Be, the Director of Digital Innovation Center at Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology (CADT), told Cambodia Investment Review that CADT focuses on education, research and innovation by providing quality higher education and vocational training in digital technology. In addition, CADT also strengthens research and advancement of knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship or start-up for better educational and social services.

“We aim to be one of the leading public education and research institutions in Cambodia for the development of digital talent and innovators that propel Cambodia towards a digital society,” he said.

“We also want to provide education, training, R&D and promote innovation on digital technology to students, civil servants, and innovators to contribute to the development of digital government, economy and society, ” he added.

According to Chantra, CADT has also made a significant contribution to Digital Technology in Cambodia. CADT seeks to create digital talents to supply the job demand in the digital technology sector and to promote and support digital technology, as well as startup ecosystem, R&D in Digital Technology.

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“The reason that we focus on technology, Innovation, Research, is because we have an important mission that the government has implemented, which is part of the framework of economic policy and digital society in Cambodia 2021-2035,” Chantra said.

Three institutes are involved in promoting Digital Technology, Innovation

Under the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the Ministry of Economy & Finance, CADT currently has three educational institutions that specialize in digital technology, innovation and research. The three institutes are the Digital Governance Institute, the Digital Research and Innovation Institute, and the Digital Technology Institute.

According to CADT, the Institute of Digital Technology is a public higher education institution specializing in digital technology, providing excellent training programs to promote digital talent that is indispensable for digital economic development and society.

The Institute of Digital Technology focuses on computer science, telecoms & network, and e-commerce educating a total of 600 students, of which 40% are women.

In particular, the Institute of Digital Governance is a training ground for the development of digital governance in Cambodia, to provide digital skills training to civil servants and promote technological change in government agencies.

In a presentation to Cambodia Investment Review, Communication Coordinator Ms. Sofy Thy stated that the institute has three main goals, including leading digital transformation, professional skills, and digital skills for employability and productivity.

“Leading Digital Transformation is to train government leaders and policymakers with key knowledge and skills to use digital technology for national and social-economic development,” she said.

“With professional skills, we are focused on developers, network administrators, digital communication, and cybersecurity. We also mainly center on digital skills for employability and Productivity. At this point, we want to strengthen a capability to utilize digital tools confidently, productively, and efficiently,” she added.

For the Institute of Digital Research & Innovation, Sofy explained conducts research and development on digital technology to promote digital innovation and entrepreneurship in Cambodia.

Sofy explained that the institute has two centers under its management. These include the Research and Development Center and the Innovation Center.

The research and development center focuses on cybersecurity, data science, IoT, Khmer NLP, and Al. The Innovation Center focuses on digital marketspace, co-innovation space, accelerator programs and events.

“What the Research and Development Center has achieved in the past is the establishment of Khmer NLP,” she said.

“We created Khmer ASR and Voice Translate as for the Internet of Things (IoT), we focus on agriculture. Agriculture is considered a major sector of national economic growth, accounting for 22% of Cambodia’s GDP and employing 3 million people, led by rice, corn and cassava. Demand is growing, but land expansion is not a good solution with the current market and situation. So in our research project, we look at irrigation, live storage management systems, crop control systems, AquaFarm control and feed systems,” she added.

In addition, the institute also has a Data Science program to solve problems that businesses encounter, collect data to solve problems and protect through data cleanup and data transmission, according to Sofy. 

CADT connects with Cambodia’s start-up and innovation ecosystem

Through the CADT Digital Innovation Center, there is a mission to support and develop the Digital start-up and Innovation ecosystem.

Professor Chantra confirmed to Cambodia Investment Review that the center is helping to promote digital innovation and startup establishment, Promote industry linkage for research and innovation and provide digital consultancy, training, and solutions for digital adoption in the private sector.

“At CADT there is no start-up training but we will have Incubator and Accelerator programs, which are projected later this year. In particular, these two programs are part of the government’s new sub-decree supporting the digital business. We also hope that this program will work sustainably to drive digital business that will be successful in business,” he said.

Start-up accelerator programs are supported by technology businesses and Training Talent. According to CADT, these programs support start-ups to provide business services and rules for digital start-ups. As for technical support, CADT is entrusted to provide technical support to digital startups. And finally, business coaching, mentor network and access to talent.

Regarding the innovation ecosystem, he also mentioned that CADT has contributed and played a role in supporting the Ecosystem to have a positive impact on society.

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“As actors playing a role in supporting and promoting start-ups, ecosystem innovation, we have created a Digital Talent Training Center to supply the ecosystem,” he said.

“We are also a partner with the government in promoting, supporting and formulating policies related to the start-up and Innovation ecosystem so that Cambodia can move towards a wider and more comprehensive ecosystem,” he added. “We also have an additional role to play in developing programs that promote start-up and innovation ecosystem development.”

Sam Oudom is a Prince Foundation Young Business Journalist.