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Open Cambodia 2014

24-27 February 2014 - New Hill Hotel (Sihanoukville)
Context: A large part of the work done by civil society organizations (CSOs) in fields such human rights, trafficking and health involves collecting, managing and distributing information about events and situation taking place. The use of Information Technology is helping these organizations improve their efficiency in all the steps of the advocacy and operational processes: information can be collected almost in real time with improved quality; better systems are available to store, classify and report the information gathered, and; it is easier to reach out to the target audience for this information by using new information visualization techniques. Open Cambodia 2014 is a four-day intensive training camp that aims at giving Cambodian CSO staff a clear understanding of the available ICT-based tools and techniques that can be used to increase their efficiency on the collection, management and distribution of information, as well as to increase the security of their information and communications, balancing security with operability and efficiency. The event does not only provide training; it also showcases examples of applications of ICT to CSO advocacy work in other countries and promotes brainstorming and discussion to identify possible uses of these technologies in Cambodia. Open Cambodia 2014 follows an organizational model in which not all participants learn the same materials. An agenda is created dynamically, based on the experience of the facilitators and the requests and needs of the participants (expressed before and during the event). At most times during Open Cambodia, several separate sessions will be taking place, managed by a diversity of facilitators that are experts on the topics that they share. Each participant will be able to choose the sessions they are most interested on. The facilitators will encourage brainstorming on possible uses of the technologies discussed during the event, helping CSOs identify uses that they can give to them to magnify their organization's impact. Open Cambodia 2014 also attempts to reinforce the network of CSOs in these fields, and in particular of technology-savvy advocates, increasing cooperation and technology transfer among them at later stages. To reinforce the contact among the participants, the event takes place outside of Phnom Penh, with all participants staying together in one location. Open Cambodia 2014 is an invitation-only event, as it attempts to increase the connections and knowledge of a specific collective. It nevertheless accepts applications from human rights or trafficking CSOs that have not been directly invited to the event. Open Cambodia 2014 will include around 100 participants, at least 20 of which will be able to facilitate some of the sessions. The rest of participants will be staff of civil society organizations working on human rights, trafficking or other sensible issues for which ICT-based advocacy can give an incremental value. CSOs working on health issues that involve advocacy campaigns are also being invited. Participants are expected to have a clear understanding of the information gathering and communication strategies in their programs; they will typically be project or program managers. Their value is in understanding how their organizations collect data and reach out to beneficiaries or target population, not how their computer systems work. They are not required to have a deep understanding of technology, but must be users of computers and the Internet, be open to learn how society communicates through Internet and computer tools, and what new ways of managing information exist. The event is being coordinated by the Open Institute's SPICE program, in collaboration with the Development Innovation program. It is structured and managed by Aspiration, an US-based non-profit specialized on helping CSOs connect with software solutions that help them better carry out their work.

Open Cambodia 2014 PROGRAM

The program for Open Cambodia 2014 will be developed in three stages: (1) the first program is being developed by the organizers; (2) after selecting the participants, these will be consulted on the issues that they are more interested on (regarding e-advocacy and basic security), using on their response to prepare a program that is better adapted to their needs; and; (3) the program will take its final shape during the first morning of the event, as an agreement by all participants. The program will not be the same for all. Quite often training will break into separate sessions, allowing participants to learn about the topics that are most valuable for them or their organizations. Open Cambodia 2014 will cover two main topics: e-advocacy and basic data and information security (for managers and users). The most important part of the program will focus on e-advocacy, helping CSOs analyze the needs of their own programs to gather, manage and disseminate information. Based on these needs, they will be able to identify the best electronic tools and develop their own strategies for electronic communication. The program will review the main elements of developing effective advocacy strategies, and will show how electronic and online communication tools can be used to acquire more and better data, facilitate its management, and present it to the target audience in forms that they can easily understand it. Participants will learn how electronic tools to be effective - cannot be used in isolation, they must be part of an overall program and strategy that takes into account the needs of the beneficiaries of the programs. The strategy must also define the players and how they will be engaged, identify the required information, and understand how to reach out to those who must receive the information and in which format it must be offered to them. For this purpose, the program will review how an advocacy campaign is planned, considering: The campaigns aims, what it attempts to change and how change will be measured. The strategy that will be used in the campaign (interruption, education, coercion). How the audience will be engaged, what values the campaign will appeal to? Will it appealing to their reasoning, to their moral or to their emotions? What information will engage them if they visualize it and understand it correctly? How will the information be collected and what graphic presentation or representation will be easily understood, producing the engagement of the target? How the four elements of the campaign will interact: information, design, network and technology. After reviewing the elements of advocacy, the program will review how information technology - and particularly online information and communication tools can be integrated and help produce the expected outcome of advocacy campaigns. The sessions will cover: Information gathering tools, including mobile applications and crowdsourcing platforms.

Effective data visualization (graphs, maps, video, etc.). Use of social networks for gathering and disseminating information. Building communities around specific issues.

Open Data. Optimal use of crowdsourcing platforms for communication (Ushahidi, Saksey). Use of Interactive Voice Response for gathering and distributing information. Development of online strategies for campaigns and organizations.

On the topic of data security, the camp will include sessions showing how cloud computing can be used to store information safely, ensuring that all the administrative and program data gathered and stored by an organization can be kept safe from lose or unauthorized access. Topics are addressed to non-IT managers and program staff who are in the habit of using computers for their work. The goal is to be able to understand and manage what their own technical team should do to protect their organization them from different types of threats: How cloud computing helps store data in a way that it will never be lost and can be recovered in case of disaster. Advantages and disadvantages. Free versus corporate services. Types of threats that your IT staff should protect your organization from, including unauthorized access, viruses. Protecting computers that have access to your data from being physically used by others. Developing an IT policy for your CSO that ensures data security.

Other security sessions will cover topics related to protection from others listening-to or reading your private electronic communications: Is it possible to ensure privacy on voice and SMS communications when using the mobile network? How can others intercept your communications? How can privacy be ensured when navigating in the Internet? How can privacy be ensured when communicating through e-mail (webmail and clientbased mail)? Is it safe use of voice and chat application in the Internet? Development of a secure communication policy for CSOs.

By the end of the camp participants will be expected to have acquired or improved a framework for advocacy campaigns that can be used in their organizations, understanding the key elements that should be taken into account. They will also understand how different information and communication tools can be integrated into campaigns, helping to reach to their target with the right information in formats that can appeal to them. Finally, they will understand who to increase the security of their organization regarding storage and communication of information.

Contact: Heng Chantheng chantheng@open.org.kh - 012 435 286