Digital Divide Data, a Phnom Penh-based NGO that gives Cambodians jobs doing data entry, celebrated its first year of business this month with the announcement of two grants to expand the business and a third to establish a program to hire and train victims of sex trafficking.
A grant from the World Bank and the George Soros Foundation of $48,000 ( about 192 million riel) and a second grant of $45,000 (about 180 million riel) from the US-based Global Catalyst foundation will allow Digital Divide to expand, adding nine more employees this week to its staff of 41 people.
A third grant of $143,000 from the Asia Foundation will fund a new program to hire and train 10 to 15 trafficking victims.
Digital Divide also plans to hire a salesperson in the US to increase its business, founder Jeremy Hockenstein said.
He said a successful sales operation in the US could lead to 50 to 100 more jobs at the company’s offices in Phnom Penh.
Digital Divide generates one-third of its business from local clients in Phnom Penh, including MobiTel and several NGOs; the remainder of its work comes largely from university libraries in the US, Hockenstein said.
The company, working in tandem with a similar organization in India, has finished its first major project—entering the archives of the newspaper of the US’ prestigious Harvard University.
in the US state of Massachusetts.
