Press Release
National Seminar on IT Education for Government Officials
For Khmer Version, Click Here
December 22nd, 2004
Phnom Penh Intercontinental Hotel
(Pnomh Penh, 22nd December 2004) In the presence of H.E. Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia, InWEnt (Capacity Building International, Germany), NiDA (National Information Communication Technology Development Authority) and Open Forum of Cambodia today held a National Seminar on “IT Education for Government Officials”.
The National Seminar marks the opening of a project to educate Cambodian Government Officials on IT-related issues. The project is one of its kind to showcase the first ever cooperation between Cambodia and Germany in Information Technology with the cooperation of the non-governmental organization and is jointly funded by the German Government through its Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and NiDA. This cooperation is to last for one year initially and may continue into the future.
InWEnt – Capacity Building International, Germany is a non-profit organization. On behalf of the German Government its objective is the promotion of personnel development, advanced professional training and dialogue. InWEnt works with partners in developing countries, transition states and industrialized nations, and in this way reaches some 55,000 individuals every year.
The National Information Communications Technology Development Authority (NiDA) of Cambodia is the only government authority in charge of IT promotion and development. As of today, NiDA has conducted several seminars to ensure awareness and the general understanding of the importance of Information Technology. In addition, NiDA has successfully connected the central government and is taking the next step to connect the local government.
Open Forum of Cambodia – OFC – is a non-profit and a local non-governmental organization established in late 1994. The vision of the Open Forum of Cambodia is to provide means and resources for Cambodian citizens to develop their understanding for decision making and to use their experience to contribute to building a stronger civil society in Cambodia. The mission of the organization is to provide Cambodian citizens the possibility of full equal access to information and to foster communication using information communications technology – ICT (between people who living in the city and remote areas), and in particular to promote the use of the Khmer writing in ICT.
The project “IT Education for Government Officials” aims first and foremost at providing IT training to government officials so they can better serve the Cambodian people. It shall furthermore raise awareness within the government and high level policy makers of the importance of IT education in general and ensure awareness of the availability of the new collaborative learning environment (CLE) and the blended learning products developed by InWEnt.
The project includes today's one day National Seminar in the capital city of Phnom Penh and a series of follow up training workshops at twenty two provincial capitals. Cambodia will require an IT responsive policy for the development of the country and needs awareness and understanding of the importance of IT. This National Seminar should lay the groundwork for IT friendly policy makers.
Provincial workshops will allow this project to network deeper in to the local government. The ability to network deeper in to the local government and to be able to improve public services at the local level will be an ultimate goal of the Royal Government of Cambodia. In addition, the workshop trainees will be a valuable asset for the government in its efforts to implement the current e-government project. NiDA is leading the implementation of this project in partnership with Open Forum which will, among other things, be responsible for conducting 50% of the training sessions. InWEnt gives strategic support and contributes its blended learning products developed over the years.
The project shall be implemented on a step by step basis and be constantly reviewed to assure its quality and progress. The progress as well as the review shall be made public through the NiDA website (www.nida.gov.kh).
Deputy Prime Minister Sok An was quoted as saying: ”The Royal Government of Cambodia is fully aware of the benefit of IT for the development of the country. We therefore thank our German partners for assisting us with this National Seminar and subsequent provincial workshops which will directly benefit the Cambodian people.”
Mr. Ulli Fuhrke (InWEnt) added: “Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become the great enabler and a prerequisite for economic and social development. The benefits of having a well-trained pool of government officials should not be underestimated. InWEnt is glad to be able to contribute to this goal with its long-standing experience in human resource development.”
For more information, please contact:
National ICT Development Authority (NiDA)
H.E. PHU Leewood
41 Russian Federation Blvd, Offic of the Council of Ministers,
Statellite Building 3rd Floor,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
E-mail: leewood_phu@nida.gov.kh
InWEnt- Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwickung gGmbH
Ms Corinna von Hartrott
Weyerstr. 79-83 50676 Cologne, Germany
E-mail: corinna.von.hartrott@inwent.org
Open Forum of Cambodia
Ms Houth Ratanak
House 245, Street 51, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
E-mail: ratanak@forum.org.kh
