What is the name of your organization?
Digital Divide Data
What is the name of your solution?
Employability Training
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Transforming the lives of underserved youth by paving their path towards quality education and employment.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Cambodia
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
As of 2023, the global youth unemployment rate hit a 15-year low at 13%, with 64.9 million young people aged 15-24 without jobs. In underserved countries like Cambodia, Laos, and Kenya, youth struggle to afford their basic living needs due to limited education and upskilling opportunities. In Kenya, only 10% of women and 13% of men pursue tertiary education as poverty often forces them to prioritize working over studying. Similar challenges exist in Cambodia and Laos, where educational outcomes remain alarmingly low. In Cambodia, only around 10% of college-aged youth attend university. In Laos, only 3% of children enrolled in primary school progress to upper secondary levels. Without a strong educational background, youth have limited opportunities to upskill as these usually require a certain level of foundational knowledge and educational attainment. This leads to their inability to access stable, competitive employment and consequently, economic instability.
What is your solution?
DDD’s Employability Training enables youth to develop essential and advanced tech skills, gain professional experience in a technology-related business, pursue higher education, and achieve financial stability. We offer recruits, whom we call Associates, training in business communication for global clients; culture, values and expected behaviors in work environments; basic digital tools such as Microsoft Office and Google Suite; and an introduction to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), including data labeling and annotation.
We utilize online learning management systems (LMS) such as Google Classroom, Edpuzzle, Mentimeter and Kahoot to deliver training to our Associates. After training, youth are given the opportunity to work as entry-level associates at DDD. They are able to gain hands-on experience serving clients with projects such as autonomous driving, machine learning and data extraction, further preparing them for employment in the tech space.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
DDD works with underserved youth, typically 18-25 years old, in Kenya, Cambodia, and Laos. We partner with organizations and universities to reach youth from low-income families, ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities.
The youth we serve possess talent and motivation but are trapped in the cycle of poverty due to lack of access to education and employment opportunities. Forced to work in the informal sector, they are deprived of the security of formal employment. The limited wages they earn are used to pay for basic living needs such as rent, food and electricity. This makes it difficult for them to pursue education and consequently, employment.
Employability Training provides an avenue for these youth to build their knowledge and skill set to become competitive workers. With a robust training curriculum and employment experience, it opens doors for a lifetime of employment opportunities and economic stability for underserved youth. They gain experience, for example, by working on advanced technology projects that also have social impact, developing AI for the public good. One such project is building Specialized Language Models (SLMs) for underrepresented languages in Asia and Africa. Through this, Associates gain experience with AI and also promote digital equality.
