Contact samking@cs.stanford.edu for more information



programming in cambodia
-hackathon -> instedd job: they flew me out to Cambodia to do machine learning for public health
-history of Cambodia (angkor wat, surrounding nations, french colonialism, khmer rouge, status quo)
-computers are everywhere (tour guide learned English from YouTube.  everyone has cell phones)
-programmers are everywhere (my office was all Cambodian programmers; everyone wants to learn)
-English is everywhere (especially in CS)

What is the landscape like?  Emerging
-they have programmers - you can learn how to do it online, and anyone with a computer can do it.  like in my office.
-they have hackathons - weekly, + intl.  talks about everything.
-they are eager to learn.  I taught + they were great students
-there is internet faster than I have at home;  fast enough for me to play games with people in Chicago!
-corporate partners + international nonprofits willing to sponsor you -- ie, Google.org nonprofits
-people want help!  national radio, government, corporations want their help
-different culture with much the same; cool to see

What do they need?
-CS background.  Ie, algos, framework.  They know how to program, but don't know CS.
-inspiration -- we're lucky at Stanford and in silicon valley, but it isn't like that everywhere.  sense of business.  sense of what is possible.  intellectual culture.  they can run, but need a push.

Takeaway
-see the world for free + see other cultures + learn a lot 
-high impact -- in the US, phonebook is already a solved problem; in Cambodia, you could make the yellow pages.  or public health.  or help bring people out of poverty and into cs.
-also public service hackathons if you don't want to go abroad