It may not have seemed possible when we were children, but technology has grown up as quickly we have, especially in Phnom Penh. The landscape of the city is now filled with ATMs, Internet shops and cell phone stores.

Cell phones in particular have presented Cambodians with infinite possibilities in communications, business and access to information. It is for this reason we pay them homage on the back page of this week’s Technology issue.

Despite the fact that many universities do not have the financial ability to invest in internationally competitive information technology systems, individual students have endless possibilities for using computers and the Internet to their benefit.

While some of us cannot afford our own computer, access to the Web is quite cheap at Internet shops around the country, and even a few hours of research on the Internet can do a lot of good. The better schools in the country already have computers with the Internet available for student use in libraries and computer labs.

If you want to do more than surf the net, there are training schools such as CIST, the Institute of Technology or various private and public schools who are also trying to build up their capacity for teaching computer skills.

The possibilities in Cambodia’s job market are exciting, but in order to take advantage of them we must have the ability to work through a computer and online.

Help us celebrate the power of technology. Send your comments and opinion of this issue of Lift to [email protected] and we will print the best of the bunch in next week’s issue.

Our technology thoughts...

I think the internet is very important for my academics because some information that I want doesn’t exist in libraries, but it is online. I also need the internet to communicate with my friends and lecturers. I find it difficult to access my studies with no internet connection”

Rithy Cheatana, 22, senior at the Institute of Foreign Languages

I think my laptop is very important for my studies because I can bring it everywhere, especially when I go to school or an internet cafe. I use it to do research, complete assignments and store documents easily.”

Thy Rathanak, 20, junior at the Department of Media and Communication

Microsoft Encarta really helps my performance in school. Sometimes I don’t even have to go to the internet cafe because the information I want is already on the programme, which I set up on my personal computer. It contains a lot of information and multimedia such as pictures, slideshows and video.”

Tith Chandara, 21, senior at Norton University

e-mail your tourism thoughts and photograph to [email protected]