H.E. Dr. Hangchuon Naron received his Doctor of Philosophy in International Economics from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), Russia. He also earned a Master of Laws through a joint program between the Royal University of Law and Economics (Cambodia) and Lumière University Lyon 2 (France), and later completed a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

He served as Secretary of State at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, where he played a key role in economic and financial policy development. He has also contributed to academia as a lecturer and researcher in the fields of economics, law, and public administration.

Prior to his current position, he was deeply involved in national reforms and policy coordination within the government. Since 2013, Dr. Hangchuon Naron has been the Minister of Education, Youth and Sport, where he has led comprehensive reforms to improve the quality, governance, and integrity of the education system. In 2023, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Currently, he continues to oversee national education reform, youth development, and sports advancement, promoting quality, transparency, and modernization within Cambodia’s education sector.

H.E. Dr. Chea Vandeth earned a PhD in Economics from Russia in 1997, after completing a Master’s degree in Economics there in 1994. He later obtained an Executive MBA from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

He has over two decades of public service. Early in his career, after finishing his PhD, he worked closely with H.E. Sok An in the Office of the Council of Ministers, serving as assistant, then as office chief in the economy office, and later as Deputy Director of the Department of International Relations. In 2004, he was appointed Director of the Cabinet of the Minister in charge of the OCM, and by 2008 he became advisor to the Minister-in-charge and a board member of Telecom Cambodia.

From 2013 to 2017, he served as an advisor to the Royal Government of Cambodia. He then entered the National Assembly as a Member of Parliament representing Takeo province and chaired the Parliamentary Commission on Planning, Investment, Rural Development, Environment and Water Resources. In April 2020, he was appointed Minister of Post and Telecommunications.

As minister, he has been instrumental in driving Cambodia’s digital transformation: he has overseen reforms such as the Digital Government Policy, and helped develop key laws including a draft Cybersecurity Law. He has also championed digital infrastructure expansion and digital skills training, while engaging with the tech startup community to spur innovation.

H.E. Dr. Sann Vathana earned an MSc in Tropical Agriculture and a PhD in International Agriculture from the Georg-August University of Göttingen, Germany.

He has served as Under-Secretary of State at Cambodia’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, overseeing higher education, research, and innovation. Earlier in his career (2008–2016), he worked as Deputy Secretary-General of the Council for Agricultural and Rural Development, managing social protection coordination. He was also deeply involved in national social protection policy, helping develop Cambodia’s first National Social Protection Strategy and serving on the National Social Protection Council.

Currently, he is the President of Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology (CADT), a research and education institution specialized in digital technology, which is transformed and expanded from former NIPTICT.

Currently, he is a Secretary of State at Cambodia’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Within the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, he leads the Centre for Digital & Distance Education (CDDE) and manages the Research, Creativity & Innovation Fund (RCI-Fund). Outside government, he also founded and led the GoGoCambodia youth movement, which promotes national unity and youth engagement; under his leadership, GoGoCambodia set a Guinness World Record for the longest hand-woven scarf in 2018.

H.E. Dr. Seng Sopheap graduated master’s degree of engineering from Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC) and master’s degree of science from Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. He get Ph.D from Grenoble University, France in Computer Science.

He was an engineer and database specialist at the National Space Center of France. He was lecturer and senior researcher at ITC and MICA Research Institute, Hanoi University of Science. Prior to current position, he was the Head of department of computer science at ITC. Sopheap is the founding president of the National Institute of Post, Telecommunications, and ICT (NIPTICT).

Currently, he is the President of Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology (CADT), a research and education institution specialized in digital technology, which is transformed and expanded from former NIPTICT.

H.E. Dr. Chea Ratha is the Director of the Management Committee (Director) of the Battambang Teacher Education College (BTEC). He earned a Master of Engineering in Hydrology from the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse (INPT), France, in 2012, and completed a PhD in Ecology and Environment from the University of Toulouse III — Paul Sabatier, France, in 2016.

His research focuses on freshwater ecology, water quality, and the ecology of freshwater fish. He has led and coordinated several international and capacity-building projects (such as Erasmus+ CBHE), working with governmental institutions, NGOs, and universities. Under his leadership at BTEC, he supports teacher training for the “21st-century skills,” including digital literacy, critical thinking, and pedagogical innovation.

Prof. Angel M. Y. Lin is Chair Professor of Language, Literacy and Social Semiotics in Education at The Education University of Hong Kong and CoEditorinChief of Language Policy. Formerly the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Plurilingual and Intercultural Education at Simon Fraser University (2018–2024), she has, since the late 1990s, conducted classroom-based research in Hong Kong that has reshaped understandings of English language education in multilingual settings. Her scholarship spans discourse analysis; translanguaging and transsemiotizing; Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL); and critical media literacies. A leading voice on translanguaging, she has challenged monolingual biases and designed pedagogies that honor learners’ full linguistic and semiotic repertoires

Prof. Lin’s recent work advances AI in education, examining human–AI relationality and developing dynamic, adaptive assessment through a Bayesian lens. Leveraging AI dialogue systems, she explores innovative, personalized language-learning pathways in plurilingual contexts.

She has authored more than 200 publications, including nine research books, with 15,721 citations (hindex 60; i10 index 154). In 2023, 2024 and 2025, she was consistently named among Stanford University’s list of the world’s top 1% most widely cited scientists. Beyond her publications, Dr. Lin’s leadership and mentorship have shaped the trajectories of doctoral students and emerging scholars across Asia and Canada.

Dr. Nicol Pan is a leading expert in educational technology and digital transformation, currently a senior consultant for UNESCO across the Asia-Pacific region. She has worked with countries including Laos PDR, Mongolia, Afghanistan, and Cambodia to shape policies on teacher ICT competency standards, distance and online learning, and pedagogical innovation grounded in principles of inclusion and sustainability.

Previously, Dr. Pan served 20 years at the University of Hong Kong, driving institutional digital transformation as a researcher, instructional designer, and pedagogical innovator. She pioneered initiatives in online and blended learning, and immersive technologies such as virtual reality. In her final university role as Associate Director of the Common Core Curriculum, she oversaw interdisciplinary courses across ten faculties. She then took a 180° turn to head the Tsz Shan Institute, modernizing mindfulness practices for applications in well-being, leadership and creativity.

Throughout her career, she has collaborated widely across organizations and social sectors to transform learning experiences that empower learners and create lasting impacts.

Philosopher by training, Phinith Chanthalangsy (Lao PDR) is the Regional Advisor for the Social and Human Sciences, at the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok (Thailand). His fields of specialization are Comparative Philosophy, Ethics, and Cultural Studies. His work focuses on social sciences and humanities for sustainable development, ethics of science and technology, and human rights and inclusion. He is leading UNESCO’s programme on Advancing the Ethics of AI in Southeast Asia.

He joined UNESCO Headquarters in Paris (France) in 2007 under the Philosophy, Democracy and Human Security Programme. Before his current position, he served as Programme Specialist in the UNESCO Office for the Maghreb region in Rabat (Morocco), and Head of the Social and Human Sciences Unit in the UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa, Harare (Zimbabwe). Prior to joining UNESCO, he worked as a Research Fellow at the Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient and the National Library in Vientiane, Laos.

• Philosophy, a School of Freedom. Teaching Philosophy and Learning to Philosophize. Status and Prospects, Contributor, UNESCO, 2007.
• Human Security: Approaches and Challenges, Contributor, UNESCO, 2008.
• Politique et jeunes femmes vulnérables. Etude qualitative à Gafsa - Kasserine – Tozeur, Coordinator, UNESCO/CAWTAR, 2013.
• Philosophy Manual – A South-South Perspective, Co-Director, UNESCO, 2014.
• Manuel d’éducation à la citoyenneté et aux droits de l‘homme pour les jeunes au Maroc, Co-Director, UNESCO, 2015.
• Manuel d’éducation à la citoyenneté et aux droits de l’homme pour les jeunes en Mauritanie, Co-Director, UNESCO, 2015.
• MOOC « Radication et Terrorisme », Contributor, UNESCO/UVT/IADH, 2017.
• Études et formation sur le genre en Tunisie: état des lieux et perspectives, Co-Director, UNESCO, 2018.
• Études sur le genre et universités au Maroc: État des lieux et perspectives, Co-Director, UNESCO, 2018.
• Participation politique des organisations de jeunesse au Maroc, Coordinator, UNESCO/NET-MED Youth, 2019.
• Cartographie des compétences des organisations de jeunesse en Tunisie, Coordinator, UNESCO/NET-MED Youth, 2019.
• Ethical Considerations around COVID-19 Containment. Series of Orientation Videos, UNESCO, 2022.
• Landscape study of AI policies and use in Southern Africa: executive summary, UNESCO, 2022.

Dr. Ng Tek Ming, who earned his PhD from the National University of Singapore, has over 20 years of teaching experience at NUS and Republic Polytechnic (RP) of Singapore. His passion in education earned him RP’s Teaching Excellence Award (2019), Outstanding Mentor Award (2007), and numerous mentoring and innovation accolades.

Since joining the American University of Phnom Penh (AUPP) in 2021, he has expanded the School of Digital Technologies from 68 to 800 students, modernized IT curricula, launched four new single-degree programs (2023), two dual-degree programs with Fort Hays State University (2024), and a master’s dual-degree program (2025), while introducing online internships with firms in Singapore and Malaysia.

Dr. Dona VALY received his PhD in Engineering Science and Technology from Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium. He is currently the head of Mechatronics and Information Technology Research Unit at the Institute of Technology of Cambodia. His research interests span on Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing. He has been in Academia since 2011 and has more than 10 years of experience in teaching and conducting research.

Dr. Ly Rottana earned his Engineer’s Degree in Computer Science from the Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC) in 2014, followed by a Master’s degree in Software Development from the University of Paul Sabatier, France, in 2017. He completed his PhD in Computer Science at the University of Grenoble Alpes, France, in 2023.

He has been a lecturer and researcher in computer science since 2017, specializing in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision.

He currently serves as Director of Research & Development at the Institute of Digital Research & Innovation (IDRI) under the Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology (CADT), where he leads applied research and innovation in digital technology for socio-economic development.

Dr. Va Hongly is a senior lecturer and researcher at the Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology. He holds a PhD in Software Convergence from Soonchunhyang University, South Korea, completed in 2024.

He earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Information Technology Engineering from the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) in 2019.

At Institute of Digital Research & Innovation, his research focuses on computer graphics, virtual reality (VR), parallel computing, and physically-based simulation. He has authored several papers, including work on real-time physics simulation for XR applications, cloth simulation using deep learning, and GPU-based deformable object simulation.

Dr. Chuor Porchourng holds a PhD from the University of Liège, Belgium, where his dissertation focused on transforming unstructured text into structured representations using machine learning, deep learning, and large language models.

Dr. Chuor Porchourng is a senior researcher and lecturer in artificial intelligence and natural language processing (NLP). He has contributed to key Cambodian research, including work on Khmer OCR and part-of-speech tagging for the Khmer language.

He is affiliated with the Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology — working to develop capacity in digital technology, R&D, and innovation in Cambodia.

Ms. Esther McFarlane is currently the Officer in Charge and the Chief of the Education Unit at UNESCO Phnom Penh in Cambodia. With extensive international experience in the education sector, she has been overseeing UNESCO’s work in institutional capacity development through sector-wide education policy advice, planning and coordination of national education frameworks. This includes support to teacher training and reform, early-grade learning, quality flexible learning pathways, skills development, adult literacy and climate resilience of the Cambodian education system. Esther currently oversees UNESCO’s work across its areas of comparative advantage, including Science, Culture, Communication and Information.

She has worked with multiple UNESCO offices, including the Myanmar office where she managed UNESCO’s Capacity Development for Education program focusing on sector-wide policy and planning. Before moving to Myanmar, Esther worked with the UNESCO office in New York supporting the UN Secretary General’s Global Education First Initiative and participating in key negotiations in the lead-up to the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG4. Esther’s experience in education policy, planning and management is complimented by her first-hand experience in the classroom, where she served as a high school mathematics and languages teacher in her home country, South Africa.

Esther holds a master's degree in international and Comparative Education from Columbia University in New York.

Mr. Taing Bunhong is the Director of Policy & Legal Affairs at the General Secretariat of the Digital Government Committee, under the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPTC) in Cambodia. He also serves as Vice-Chair of the AI & Data Science R&D Working Group at MPTC.

• He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law from the American University of Phnom Penh (AUPP) (graduated in 2017).
• He was awarded a Chevening Scholarship and completed a Master’s (LL.M) in Drafting Legislation, Regulation, and Policy at the School of Advanced Study, University of London.
• Before joining his current office, he worked as an officer at the Office of the Council of Ministers (OCM).
• As Director of Policy & Legal Affairs, he is directly involved in shaping digital government policy in Cambodia.
• He has participated in high-level forums, such as being a speaker in events on Cambodia’s national AI strategy development.
• He was part of the deep-dive workshop on Cambodia’s draft National AI Strategy, indicating his role in policy-making for AI.
• On the international level, he’s represented Cambodia: for example, at the 81st session of the UN-ESCAP Commission, as Director of Policy and Legal Affairs for the Digital Government Committee.

Ms. Lay Sivhuang is the Managing Director of DICHI Academy, a Cambodian institution focused on ICT upskilling and digital education. She co-founded DICHI Academy in 2023 with the vision of bridging the gap between education and industry, offering hands-on, skill-based training in full-stack development, data science, software engineering, AI/machine learning, and other high-demand technology fields.

Before leading DICHI Academy, Lay Sivhuang held significant roles in both public and private sectors: she has served as an advisor to the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications in Cambodia. kh.linkedin.com She also worked part-time as a project consultant for GIZ Cambodia. She is active in the alumni community too: Lay Sivhuang is the President of the Erasmus Mundus Alumni Association in Cambodia.

Under her leadership, DICHI Academy has grown to be a prominent tech-education provider: their programs combine theory with real business problems, and the institution emphasizes human-centred learning.

Mr. Chanty Pisal is the Director of the Digital & Innovation Policy Research Center at the Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology. He also serves as Vice-Director of the ASEAN ICT Centre within the ASEAN Digital Sectoral Body (ADGMIN/ADGSOM).

Prior to joining CADT, he worked at Cambodia’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications as an international cooperation officer, overseeing ASEAN affairs, Mekong cooperation, WTO issues, and trade.

He holds a Master in Public Policy (specializing in Economic Policy & Policy Analysis) from the Australian National University, and a Master’s in International Law from the University of Paris 8. He is deeply involved in digital economy research and policy, including cybersecurity, ASEAN law and integration, internet policy, and digital skills development.

Mr. SAR Sophanak is Project Coordinator (EdTech, Digital and AI Literacy) at Kampuchea Action to Promote Education (KAPE).

Sophanak has 10 years of experience in ICT in education, specializing in digital and AI literacy, and 5 years in project management with institutions and international donors. He combines technical expertise with leadership to drive innovation and impactful education initiatives.

Ms. Te Sonita is a PhD candidate at the LIUM (Laboratoire d'Informatique de l'Université du Mans), France, where her research is funded by the France Excellence Scholarships (BFE). Her work in Learning Analytics focuses on developing and validating a method to generate student competency profiles from educational artifacts. This involves leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) to analyze student work against standardized competency frameworks, with the goal of providing students with valid, actionable feedback on their skills.

Mr. Born Seanghort is a PhD candidate at the LIUM (Laboratoire d'Informatique de l'Université du Mans), France, where his research is funded by the France Excellence Scholarships (BFE) focusing on Natural Language Processing (NLP).

He also completed his engineer’s and master’s studies in Computer Science at the Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC), where he worked on Khmer historical document recognition. His research interests include Khmer handwritten text recognition, spelling correction (especially homophones), and machine learning for under-resourced languages.

Sopheak Peou is a passionate educator and social entrepreneur. He has had extensive experience in higher education for more than a decade. He has taught business, language and public policies courses at several prestigious universities in Cambodia and in Finland.

He has also provided high-level training on strategy, business development and language to various types of corporations as well as local non-governmental organizations in Cambodia and has assumed leadership positions in several institutions.

Ms. Kimhuoy YANN completed her Computer Science B.E degree at Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC) in 2023 and is now pursuing a master's degree in computer science at Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology (CADT).

Ms. Yann Kimhuoy is an Assistant Lecturer-Researcher at the Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology (CADT) under its Institute of Digital Research & Innovation (IDRI). She is focused on studying Natural Language Processing and Computer Vision. She has also been recognized publicly for her work in accessibility technology: she was mentioned in a news story for her involvement in a Khmer-Braille translation project, which won at the Cambodia Digital Awards and ASEAN Digital Awards.

Nikhil is a Senior Industry Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS), specializing in Education across Asia Pacific and Japan. With expertise in GenAI, security, and compliance solutions, he helps educational institutions drive digital transformation and leverage emerging technologies for enhanced learning outcomes.

Nikhil brings cross-industry experience from regulated sectors including working with Financial Services in London and Education throughout APAC. A published author holding all AWS certifications, he serves as an AWS Certification Subject Matter Expert, contributing to global cloud education initiatives and empowering educators to harness the transformative power of cloud and AI technologies.

Mr. Ronan Ogor, Software Engineering Lecturer and Researcher at CADT

Software Engineering Lecturer and Researcher at CADT, specializing in computational thinking pedagogy, EdTech development, and software engineering curriculum design. Brings over 13 years of industry experience in France and Canada, combined with a strong background as a pedagogical adviser in higher education.