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The start of my involvement: How to open access to knowledge

This conference explores the history of sharing knowledge and the challenges faced in Cambodia, from the early stages of email communication to the development of Khmer Unicode. It highlights the importance of open source and open knowledge for national interests.

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The start of my involvement: How to open access to knowledge

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  1. Open Source – Open Knowledge:some stories from Cambodiaby Norbert Klein@Royal University of Phnom Penh, Department of Media and Communication 8 January 2009

  2. OPEN KNOWLEDGE, FREE CULTURE A Conference on the Sharing of Knowledge Sharing the history how things started Looking ahead – doing it. The History The start of my involvement: How to open access to knowledge

  3. Sharing - how it started: No email? No access to knowledge! (1994-1995) “MSc: Renewable tropical agriculture” 6 months: Ho Chi Minh City, University of Agriculture and Forestry 12 months: field studies in the home countries 6 months: Uppsala/Sweden The History The start of my involvement: How to open access to knowledge

  4. A DOS floppy from Colombia A modem – in 4 weeks – from Singapore The scholarship for Khieu Borin restituted Some – 40 – 100 – 200 users – too many? But:Why all only in English (or French etc.)? Borin in Sweden, his wife does not speak English The History The early stages: e-mail, but not in Khmer

  5. Khmer texts only in mail attachments But 8 not compatible font families (Cambodians in USA, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand – all independent) Joint brainstorming? “If all use my fonts, all problems solved!” UNICODE ! - At Singapore National University: ONE page in Chinese, English, Malay, Tamil The History Many confusing fonts – discovering UNICODE

  6. The History Many confusing fonts – struggling for UNICODE Who decides?“As a result of our discussions we have learned that:1. The encoding approach taken for the representation of the Khmer subscript letters in Unicode, the so-called "virama model", is not the preferred approach of the Cambodian National Body or of Khmer linguistic experts, and is at odds with the way the Khmer Script is perceived and taught in Cambodia.2. A number of characters were added to the encoding of the Khmer script; which upon receipt of further input from the Cambodian National Body, now appear to have been clear mistakes. Those characters cannot properly be considered to be a part of the Khmer script,3. A number of symbols and other characters used in the representation of the Khmer script were overlooked in the encoding,...”

  7. The History Many confusing fonts – struggling for UNICODE “...The Unicode Consortium acknowledges and regrets that over the last several years, and especially during crucial periods when the decisions about development of the Khmer script encoding proposals were being made, that insufficient efforts were made to maintain full communication and consultation with all interested parties in Cambodia. This has resulted in the current unfortunate situation where all interested parties now have to deal with a less-than-optimal outcome with respect to the Khmer encoding.The Unicode Consortium sincerely regrets the impact that this may have on the perception of the Khmer script, as well as any confusion that may result for those who are implementing the Khmer script on the basis of the Unicode Standard.”

  8. To have a UNICODE codification is only a start: 2002 Microsoft will localize, waiting, waiting... Still using 23 Khmer Windows font families: A file converter – no real solution! An expert arrives: Javier Solá KhmerOS – An NGO Open Source Initiative 2004 We share the results with the public - NiDA. The History From standards to applications

  9. Ms. Chim Manavy, Executive Director of the Open Institute, and H. E. Kol Pheng, Minister of Education Sign Memorandum of Understanding on 22.8.2007 The way into the future: keeping it open.From Open Source to Open Knowledge

  10. UNICODE made it!

  11. Dear Khmer Unicode enthusiasts, I would like to share with you that attached file is an official document that the Royal Government of Cambodia now regulates to all government bodies to use Khmer Unicode for exchanging information. This is a great news and good gift of the year for all ICT users in Cambodia. UNICODE made it!Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:10:27 +0700

  12. UNICODE made it!

  13. Senior Minister, Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers Sok An, during the closing of 3 days national seminar on “Information Technology Awareness” (13.09.2001): “All laws, regulations and policies in the IT sector will reflect the following guiding spirit and philosophy: • to uphold the interests of the consumers and general public • to guarantee security of information, while facilitating the broadest possible access to public information • to respect individual rights, and • to avoid dependency on proprietary systems, instead promoting open systems and interoperability.” The challenge to stay open

  14. The challenge to stay openDiscovering Open Source

  15. The challenge to stay openDiscovering Open Source

  16. The challenge to stay openDiscovering Open Source

  17. The challenge to stay openDiscovering Open Source

  18. The challenge to stay openDiscovering Open Source

  19. The challenge to stay openDiscovering Open Source

  20. Business interests? – National interests? “Open source is not capable” “Open Source is not secure” - ??? “Everybody needs to have a free choice!” - to pay! Efforts for promotion – selective 22.8.2007: Ministry of Education accepted KhmerOS applications as official Khmer software in education, 24.12.2009: UNICODE the government script standard The challenge to stay openDoubts and affirmations

  21. The challenge to stay openAdditional confusion

  22. Strangely enough, some people in NiDA want to move away from their own NiDA Standard Keyboard, saying to change the keyboard – after several ten thousand people have been trained to use it, knowing it is a NiDA STANDARD – now some people claim standards can as easily be re-defined as software versions. Internationally considered wrong, because upsetting! And the new proposal would require more complicated keyboard input. Not transparent at all why. I was also told that no foreigners should be involved. The challenge to stay openAdditional confusion

  23. The challenge to stay openAdditional confusion

  24. Now it is no more the programmers, but the users: from creating tools to using tools: creating and sharing content: data, ideas, information, knowledge, wisdom. Learning - sharing - fun - community. The way into the future: keeping it openFrom Open Source to Open Knowledge

  25. Declaration of Principles UN WSIS 2003: Building the Information Society: a global challenge in the new Millennium Our Common Vision of the Information Society “We, the representatives of the peoples of the world, assembled in Geneva from 10-12 December 2003 for the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, declare our common desire and commitment to build a people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life, premised on the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and respecting fully and upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” From Open Source to Open Knowledge

  26. Learning, creating, sharing. Realizing our dreams Cooperating – building the society: New venues: Blogging, BarCamps! From Open Source to Open Knowledge

  27. First Cambodian Blogger Summit 2007 Blogs open communication in Cambodia But it is clear that young, tech-savvy Cambodians are joining Sihanouk in embracing blogs. The trend is changing their lives and their communication with people abroad — even as electricity remains an unreachable dream for most households in this poverty-ridden nation of 14 million. “This is a kind of cultural revolution now happening here in terms of self-expression," said Norbert Klein, a longtime resident from Germany... "It is a completely new era in Cambodian life." From Open Source to Open Knowledge

  28. Closing session of BarCamp Phnom Penh 4.10.2009

  29. Thanks.Norbert Kleinnhklein@gmx.nethttp://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com

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