A Q and A interview with Rebecca Stankowski, Web Essentials HR and communications manager

What does Web Essentials do?

We provide services in the following areas: design, web development, outsourcing, social media and create fully-functional professional websites and web-applications and we also provide ethical outsourcing services to web companies worldwide working with the Content Management System TYPO3.

We strive to revolutionize web development services through innovation, imagination and inspiration.

How do you see the future of the ICT sector in Cambodia?

We envision the Cambodian ICT market to prosper with a continuous strong market growth. IT service providers will be facilitated with the growing number of IT equipment within businesses. Also, the popularity of smart mobiles should extend beyond the major cities in Cambodia, allowing for an even greater Internet penetration. We also foresee an increase in the use of open source software and operating systems, with cloud computing and mobile web applications remaining as the core drivers of this industry.

How many employees do you have and who are some of your clients?

Currently, we have 47 employees, six of which are expatriates, including myself and Dominik as the owners of the company). Expats usually come in for a couple of months and advise in a department  like Web Development, Graphic Design or non-technical such as communications. They work alongside the Cambodian staff and focus on capacity building. We have an internship program for web developers, with currently 7 interns.

Approximately two-thirds of our clients are European web companies, especially Germany and Switzerland, which are the top 2 countries utilizing TYPO3. A majority of which are long standing partners who provide us outsourcing projects, mostly dealing with the technical aspects of programming. Our remaining clients are local businesses, NGOs and others, such as www.shift360.ch or www.timpaton.info

What would you like the public to know about what you do?

Web Essentials is committed to providing professional web development services tailored to our clients needs. As a social business, we believe that business and society are interdependent. We are dedicated to developing the next generation of groundbreaking TYPO3 web developers in Cambodia.

Are you a business or a social enterprise?  What’s the objective?

Web Essentials is a social business. While making profit is what keeps the company running, it is insufficient to keep the company burning with passionate people. At our company, the people are our priority. We value our staff’s health in particular, as well provide them with an excellent working environment. We are passionate about developing the next generation of (TYPO3) developers through internship programs, expatriate advisers and regular training sessions. We want to contribute to Cambodia’s IT sector by promoting the utilization of open source software and establishing a community within the IT sector beyond our business.

What are some of Cambodia’s capabilities with regard to harnessing the Internet and putting people to work?

With websites, e-commerce and business software as the top 3 applications developed in Cambodia, which has had the foresight to tap into the Internet’s power of pervasiveness and global outreach to drive the start up of enterprises, online and offline.