03.31.2009 in General
What is BarCamp Phnom Penh 2?
BarCamp Phnom Penh is an international, innovative, and open technology conference. It’s for individuals, businesses, and non-profits. This two-day gathering at Paññasastra University of Cambodia (PUC) is aimed at computer enthusiasts, Internet users, technologists, entrepreneurs, digital journalists, web developers and netizens to share and learn all things technology in a very open and democratic environment.
And what is this BarCamp all about?
As defined by Wikipedia, BarCamp is:
“…an international network of user generated conferences — open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants — often focusing on early-stage web applications, and related open source technologies, social protocols, and open data formats.”
More: Barcamp Community Wiki
In the news:
‘Cloggers’ find new way to exchange ideas on technology
The Phnom Penh Post
Written by: Eleanor Ainge Roy
Monday, 22 September 2008
An ‘unconference’ on Saturday – the BarCamp Phnom Penh – signals to the world that Cambodia’s IT industry is thriving, organisers say.
taken: Eleanor Ainge RoyParticipants at the BarCamp Phnom Penh on Saturday. “GEEKS this way” read the sign proudly, directing the 200-plus bloggers, computer programmers, IT professionals and other interested persons towards Phnom Penh’s first BarCamp, an information technology ‘unconference’ held Saturday at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.
The concept for the meet-up, which originated in Palo Alto, California, in 2005, was to have informal – and generally hastily arranged – gatherings where people could meet and exchange ideas, usually tech-related.
The idea quickly spread, spawning similar get-togethers in nearly 350 cities, and has particularly caught on in Southeast Asia. Bangkok hosted a conference in January, Malaysia in July, and Vietnam is set for its first BarCamp in November.
Cambodia’s meeting held true to the open, collaborative essence of its origins.“How it is run, how people participate, it is completely different from a normal conference” says 26-year-old Tharum Bun, this year’s BarCamp Phnom Penh organiser.
“There’s more freedom here, it’s a more democratic, open environment. BarCampers have the chance to present on a topic of interest to them, and they have the chance to choose what they want to learn,” he said.
Informal fun
The event was certainly informal. The mostly youthful crowd wandered in and out of the convention hall, dipping into discussion groups in the garden about the best programming language or crowding excitedly around some fine new piece of technology.Debates raged freely but didn’t degenerate into arguments, and English was the preferred tongue. Participants included bloggers – or “cloggers”, as the many Khmer web scribes refer to themselves.
How it is run…is completely different from a normal conference.
As well as technology-related lectures and discussions, a handful of people presented on such topics as “The Art of Seduction”, “How to Twitter” and “How to Date a Khmer Girl”.
“I’m excited to be here,” said Clogger Phirun, 17. “It’s a chance to meet people and share ideas about technology. And there is so much here for me to learn.”
BarCamp Phnom Penh 2008 cost US$3,000, and attracted people from all over Southeast Asia, Tharum Bun said.
He added that he hopes it may be the start of a flourishing IT industry in Phnom Penh.“BarCamp Phnom Penh 2008 is a signal to the outside world that the Cambodian industry is really ready to begin,” he said.
Meet Cambodia’s social media elite – the Cloggers
Young motivated bloggers spearheading a web-led revolution
TechRadar
By Geoffrey Cain
With its jagged, pot-holed streets and swarms of begging children, visitors are often shocked at the poverty in Cambodia, widely considered Asia’s backwater behind Vietnam and China.
Shacks and slums are testament to a third of the population earning less than half a US dollar a day and Transparency International ranks the country, only recently freed from years of civil war, coups and rigged elections, as the 14th most corrupt in the world.
Yet tech-savvy youngsters are bringing a new voice to Phnom Penh’s poverty-wrought landscape. Hanging out in cafes and clicking away on their laptops, they comprise a small but growing middle-class of baby-boomers born during the 1980s, after the Khmer Rouge genocide left 2million Cambodians – a quarter of the population – dead. Now they’ve come of age, and they’re wiring Cambodia with it.
They’re a tight-knit clique. Led by 26-year-old writer and photographer Bun Tharum, Cambodia’s first blogger, a small group formed in 2006 to give workshops on social media. With their efforts, and Cambodia’s King-Father Norodom Sihanouk starting his own blog, the group of 30 soon transformed into thousands. Now, they call themselves ‘Cloggers’ – Cambodian bloggers.
Tharum sees change on the horizon. “After all the hardship our country has experienced, we’re trying to bring a new era of innovation,” he says. “Blogs are helping break down barriers, get discussions going – something we need to move forward. It’s the voice of the new generation.”
Reaching the summit
The group reached a peak in popularity when it held the Cloggers’ Summit in August 2007, attended by 200 international guests, including editors from Harvard Law School’s Global Voices Online project. Attendees discussed social networking with a Cambodian twist, looking at how non-profits – which dominate Cambodia’s economy – and students could use it, despite the country’s low-bandwidth connectivity.They hit another success in September with the first annual BarCamp Phnom Penh, an event that saw hundreds from around Southeast Asia attend, including Microsoft. “BarCamp was great for thinking outside the box,” Tharum says. “We got Cambodians to start speaking their minds in that untraditional setting, the un-conference.”
A BarCamp in Cambodia
Ka-set
Written by: Corinne Callebaut
02-03-2009
URL: http://cambodia.ka-set.info/culture-and-society/news-cambodian-blog-internet-cloggers-web-freedom-speech-090302.html
A BarCamp? What on earth is that? It is an open non-conference, mainly about new information technologies. It is defined by participatory workshop events, the content of which is provided by participants themselves, who all have to bring something for the gathering – the main objective being to share knowledge together. Many towns all over the world have already organised such gatherings, starting with Palo-Alto (California) in 2005. Since September 20th 2008, Phnom Penh has also hosted a BarCamp, gathering 250 people, among which a majority of bloggers but also webmasters and many NGOs. Tharum Bun, one of the organisers, explains: “Visitors came from all places. Many Cambodians were there, but also Singaporeans, Malaysians, and Vietnamese, who all came especially for that occasion and also many expatriates. It was a true sharing experience which showed the dynamism of that sector. I really hope the event will be repeated!” A BarCamp 2009 might be on the way.
