Digital Insights is a prominent publication of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Cambodia. Since its inception in 2018, the series has addressed and explored digital transformation’s impact across various areas such as economic transformation, e-governance, sustainability, innovation, and the development of work and cities.
Building upon the previous volume – Future of Education – which responded to the importance of digital talent for Cambodia’s development, this year’s theme for Digital Insights 2025 – Future of AI for Development – has been identified as the next key catalyst to drive digital transformation for stakeholders in various sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, public administration, and automation. For example, in healthcare, machine learning diagnostics could alleviate doctor shortages; in agriculture, precision tools offer increased yields on smaller land areas; in public administration, algorithmic resource planning can optimize limited budgets.
Despite the rapid growth of digital foundations, with over half of our population online and widespread smartphone use among the young population, the 2022 Government AI Readiness Index (132 of 181) reveals a gap between this digital foundation and the institutional capacity for AI. Furthermore, limited adoption of advanced data analytics and AI workflows by most firms indicates deficits in skilled labor, R&D, and coherent governance.
Therefore, this Digital Insights 2025 volume aims to compile applied research, sector-specific case studies, and comparative lessons to map Cambodia’s AI readiness and chart actionable policy pathways. It also focuses on guiding ministries, businesses, and educators on targeted investment, ethical safeguards, and workforce upskilling. Importantly, the book amplifies Cambodia’s youthful grassroots—today’s digital natives and tomorrow’s innovators—positioning them at the center of an inclusive AI agenda.
Scope of the book
This edition explores practical applications of AI across critical sectors of Cambodia’s socio-economic landscape, including agriculture, healthcare, fintech, SMEs, public services, and rural development. Rather than broadly discussing AI technologies, the publication specifically emphasizes actionable research and policy-driven insights tailored to Cambodia’s context and urgent development needs.
Authors are encouraged to focus on how AI-driven solutions can directly resolve measurable and realistic (SMART approach) challenges in Cambodia. Each chapter will present clear evidence and detailed case studies—preferably drawn from Cambodia, though international examples are acceptable if explicitly contextualized to Cambodia’s development priorities. Policy recommendations should be tangible and actionable, emphasizing ethical considerations, investment needs, and long-term feasibility.
Specifically, contributions may include:
- The trend of AI application in various sectors in the global, regional, and national level.
- The adoption of AI/ the application of AI in areas such as: agriculture, healthcare, rural development, education, business, manufacturing, fintech, SME, startups, and public services… etc.
- Authors are encouraged to address specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) challenges within Cambodia’s socio-economic development, integrating ethical considerations and feasibility analyses to formulate actionable policy recommendations.
- Case studies of application of AI in development in Cambodia, or case studies from other countries as a lesson learnt for Cambodia.
We are looking for*
- Cambodians and internationals interested in digital topics (tandems are accepted)
- Formats: proposal (max. 300 words), selected academic papers (max. 4000 words)
- Strict zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism – all submission must be original
- Co-authorship is allowed (max. 3 authors)
- Author(s) will be offered USD 400 (gross) compensation per published paper if they are chosen to develop the full article
Proposal Criteria
- Clear and interesting working title, topic, and research question
- Well-explained problem or issue the research will address
- Clear outline of the research method, including tools and approach
- Content that draws interest and is relevant to readers
- Proper use of academic language/tone
- Within the word limit of 300 words
- Clear summary of what the content will cover and how it is structured
Dates
- Open application: April 28, 2025
- Proposal submission by: May 28, 2025, 11:59 PM (Cambodia Time)
- Receive result by: June 4, 2025
- First draft submission by: August 4, 2025
- Final draft submission: October 3, 2025
- Publication: November 2025
How to submit?
Interested individuals shall send their proposals along with a CV (maximum 2 pages, PDF format) to KAS Cambodia and CADT team via email: mouying.sean@kas.de and pisal.chanty@cadt.edu.kh. Selected authors will be requested to expand their proposals into full papers. Best of luck!