- Hold for local university students in Cambodia from 7 to 11 August 2023
- Cultivate convergence talents who can graft and utilize data science in various promising fields
2023 Cambodia Data Science Camp (Stnadard) Group Photo
As part of the UNESCO UNITWIN project, Handong Global University (HGU) (President Dosoung Philip Choi) held ‘Data Science Camp(Standard Level)’for the Cambodian university students at the Handong-ASEAN Start-up & Innovation Center located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 7 to 11 of this month.
The camp is first project of the UNESCO UNITWIN-Cambodia Data Science Joint Certification Program which is joint certification program between with HGU and six Cambodian universities: Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), National University of Management (NUM), Pannasastra University (PUC), Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC), and American University of Phnom Penh (AUPP).
The camp was divided into lecture, practice, morning and afternoon sessions for 5 days. The camp focused on the following topics: Math and statistics, machine learning, data processing and visualization, business data analysis applications, multi-platform applications, Dart language and Flutter framework. The camp received a lot of attention. More than 300 local university students and professionals applied for registration in a short time for the 100-person recruiting camp.
SENG Lay (Cambodia Technological University, Junior year)’s motivation for applying to the camp is “Data science is a great skill set for school projects, internships and future jobs. Therefore, this is a valuable opportunity to learn cutting-edge and useful skills that will help advance Cambodia in the rapidly evolving field of data.”
The lectures were taught by HGU professors, including: Prof. Jae-Sun Yi (School of Contents Convergence Design), Prof. Yun Seon Kim (School of Creative Convergence Education), Prof. Charmgil Hong (School of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering), Prof. Hyebong Choi (School of Global Entrepreneurship and ICT), Prof. Sungbae Jo (School of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering), and Prof. Dae shik Kim (School of Business and Economics). The theoretical lectures included the basic knowledge of mathematics/statistics used in data science, artificial intelligence, the basic theory of machine learning, data processing and visualization, business data analysis applications, multi-platform applications, Dart language and Flutter framework.
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Cambodian students practicing in small groups with Handong Global University students
The practical training sessions were carried out in a small group of 1 to 5 students of HGU undergraduates or graduate students with Cambodian university students. As a small group training, it was conducted as an activity to apply machine learning and statistical analysis techniques to actual field data and analyze the results.
It was an intensive education schedule of 8 hours a day for 5 days, but it was rewarding time for the camp participants as it was a well-organized program with practical educational contents and student-participatory classes. Thus, camp participants were trained in the basic competencies required as data scientists through theoretical and practical training.
Prof. Jae-Sun Yi, a director of UNESCO UNITWIN project in Cambodia, said, “Students have already taken data science-related major classes at school and have basic skills, but there is a wide gap in practice to engage in the field as a data scientist in Cambodia.” She also mentioned the future plans, “Cambodian companies and corporations reached out to me soon as hearing about the UNESCO UNITWIN-Cambodia Data Science Joint Certification Program. We hope to work with them in next intermediate and advanced round of Data Science Camp in February and August next year. So, the camp programs can also serve as a bridge for students to find their future job or career path.”
Science and technology innovation is emerging as an important tool for the advancement of developing countries under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In order for developing countries such as Cambodia to have capacity to respond to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, they need capabilities related to the use of data and the application of digital technology, but there is an absolute lack of professional teaching staff and practice equipment. The UNESCO UNITWIN Project Team of HGU provides the necessary education to Cambodian university students and enhances the educational infrastructure in Cambodia.
* UNESCO UNITWIN (UNITWIN, UNIversity, TWInning, and Networking) was established by UNESCO in 1992 for the purpose of reducing the knowledge gap and fostering self-reliance in developing countries by the educational method of supporting university and research institutions in developed countries through a network between developed and developing countries’ universities. In Korea, HGU was designated as the first UNITWIN host university in 2007.
* In addition to this, HGU is accelerating the promotion of internationalization through various ways. It was designated as the first OECD intern dispatch university in Korea (2008), recognized as the host university of the UN Academic Impact, and named as UN depository library operating university. Also, it was acknowledged as a host university for UN NGO meeting (2016) and opening of UNAI Ban Ki Moon Institute for Global Education was followed. (2019).
