Published on Feb 06, 2018
The iLab Southeast Asia (SEA) Solutions Incubator launched one year ago with the mission to inspire and help launch new community-based projects using technology to solve social problems in Cambodia.
How does the incubator work? Potential project ideas are generated from the community through two types of local events run by the iLab SEA: Open Thursdays and iCamps.
"Open Thursday" is a weekly opportunity for local organizations to schedule face-to-face discussions with the coders and developers at the iLab SEA to discuss their technology ideas. iCamps are day-long collaborative workshops aimed at generating solution ideas for specific challenges.
In 2017, the Solutions Incubator held five iCamps on the following themes:
Better Education in Cambodia: This focused on issues such as the need for education on environmental issues, providing information to migrants about safe migration, and helping youth learn the local Khmer language.
Improving Farming Production: This addressed topics like helping farmers find markets for their products, obtaining localized weather forecasts, improving systems for disabled farmers, and promoting the use of quality seeds.
Protecting Children's Rights: This focused on areas such as family migration, promoting parenting skills, and creating safer communities for children.
Connecting Rural Youth to Employment Information: This explored ways to help youth access employment information, improve soft and hard skills, and find work opportunities abroad.
Preventing Lifestyle Diseases: This discussed neglected health areas such as proper nutrition, the dangers of smoking and drinking, and the importance of exercise.
Through the five iCamps and weekly Open Thursdays, a total of 22 different institutions engaged with the iLab SEA to brainstorm and consider ideas for support from the Solutions Incubator. After a rigorous selection process, three apps for smartphones and tablets were chosen to advance in the incubator: Sorse Khmer (Khmer Writing App), Go Green, and Trey Visay.
Sorse Khmer (Khmer Writing App) helps students in grades 1 to 3 improve their Khmer writing skills through interactive lessons and exercises. The application is already being used in various New Generation Schools by Kampuchean Action for Primary Education (KAPE), which covers six provinces across Cambodia.
Go Green assists citizens in Phnom Penh in communicating about improving neighborhood cleanliness. The app allows users to report areas that are clean or in need of cleaning and organize their own group clean-up events. The application is set to launch in early February 2018.
Trey Visay supports high school students in grades 9 to 12 in understanding their talents, personality, and selecting a future career that best matches them. The app will initially be deployed in schools across three different provinces in Cambodia starting in late February.
In 2018, additional iCamps and Open Thursdays will be held to consider more ideas for incubator support. The iLab SEA Solutions Incubator is made possible by a grant from the SPIDER Center: https://spidercenter.org/.