The Open Development Mekong platform has been working to connect people with information about services during the pandemic. Over the last months, Open Development Vietnam has published a timeline of relevant government policies, a page of essential information on COVID-19 services, and a page on theimpact of COVID-19 on Vietnam. To assist readers, ODV has also published a video walkthrough of how to use the resources. In addition, the Open Development Mekong blog offers a different take on the impacts of the pandemic as it relates to the data ecosystem. In the upcoming months, work will be published on the impact of COVID-19 on employment in Myanmar, gender equality in Laos, precarious employment in Thailand, as well as a regional look on the impact of the pandemic on human rights and education, as well as the impact of data gaps on understanding COVID-19 in the region.
East West Management Institute’s Open Development Initiative (ODI) and World Resources Institute (WRI) are teaming up to monitor and fight deforestation, protecting the lives of 70 million people living along the Lower Mekong Basin.
EWMI’s ODI supports an open data and information platform that uses visually compelling mapping data to track development trends on a country and regional level, including mapping the effects of deforestation over decades in time-lapsed animation maps. The ODI network is designed to advance openness and transparency to the broad benefit of society without promoting a particular perspective, agenda, or bias. The flagship site of this initiative is Open Development Cambodia.
The World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch is an online forest monitoring system that unites satellite technology and almost real time forest clearing alert systems to create never-before transparency on a global scale. By combining this real time data and displaying its effects in visually compelling maps that create context over time the two organizations hope to empower NGOs, the media, the progressive public and private sector leaders to hold governments and companies more accountable for forest conservation and sustainable management.
ODI’s Forestry initiative has already affected government policy. In late 2013, it published a map series of animated forest cover change maps in English and Khmer illustrating the extent and rate of reduction in Cambodia’s forest cover over 40 years along with complementary charts, news, laws and publications. This forest cover change page represented a new technical tool, produced by Cambodians, to help understand environmental changes and inform development planning. Until this page was launched, no attempt had been made to track changes in Cambodia’s forest cover over such an extended period.
The maps attracted important press coverage, making headlines in the Phnom Penh Post on the day after publication and the following day in the Cambodia Daily. It was discussed on a Khmer-language Cambodian TV program offering news analysis. Conservation groups praised ODC privately, with Wildlife Alliance planning to use the animations in upcoming discussions with the new Minister for Environment. Several organizations thanked us for the maps and described plans to use the maps as teaching or advocacy tools.
The Cambodian Ministry charged with providing this information has long been questioned by NGOs for not updating their forest cover maps since 2006. When ODI published its forest cover change maps in December 2013, this government ministry publicly critiqued them on a technical basis, but also offered explanations as to why it had not released forest cover maps, and stated it would do so by 2015. This suggests government is becoming more attuned to the idea that public expectations regarding access to information is increasing — and that the provision of information by an independent organization can increase public demand and government response. When information is made available, questions about development policy direction, and posited alternatives, can be advanced.
The new ODC board comprises seven members with a vast range of knowledge and experiences in Cambodia’s development, particularly in the IT field.
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ODC launched an Election Page in June for the Cambodian July 2013 election, featuring maps, briefings, documents, news, videos and past ballots.
Open Development Cambodia (ODC) is soon to become an official Cambodian NGO. On July 10, ODC’s governing board was installed and by-laws promulgated in a brief ceremony at the EWMI office, shared by ODC. The board, comprised of seven members with a vast range of knowledge and experiences in Cambodia’s development, particularly in IT field, were announced to more than 20 supporters on hand to witness the event. The ceremony was followed by a reception. Thy Try, one of the original members of ODC’s advisory group, was announced as the interim board chair. He will serve in that role for three months before exiting it to become ODC’s director in October 2013. This was a critical milestone in the localization of ODC, which expects to make application to the Ministry of Interior to register as a local NGO before the end of next week.
Open Development Cambodia has had a very successful year so far. On a monthly basis, ODC posts hundreds of news items, receives thousands of visitors, and has nearly 3,000 “Likes” on Facebook. The ODC was featured on the tech website, Geeks in Cambodia, and Loy 9, a BBC Media Action TV show, shared ODC’s press release on its Face Book page.
On June 28th, 2013, ODC launched the much anticipated Election Page for the Cambodian election held at the end of July 2013, which features maps, briefings, documents, news, videos and past ballots. The page is in Khmer. The team is now working on a simpler parallel page containing basic information about Cambodian elections in English. The ODC staff has completed building a Phnom Penh Polling Station map and is uploading it into the site. After a few days of testing, a press release about the launch of the new page was sent out to various media outlets, aid agencies, universities, professional networks, and NGOs on July 4.
