Impact Hub– a social enterprise for aspiring young entrepreneurs and innovators – has hosted a 48-hour virtual hackathon to find tech-based solutions to support Cambodia in its fight against the Covid-19 outbreak.

The “HacKH the Crisis” event saw more than 200 participants join forces, yielding more than 35 possible solutions to issues ranging from agriculture, SME support to healthcare and access to education.

Olivia Hough, managing director of Impact Hub Phnom Penh, described the event was “just the beginning”.

“We used this hackathon format to facilitate collaboration, connections and inspiration to build things – but of course, plenty of people have already got started,” said Hough.

Pisethneat Pich, Slash Foundry tech talent and community manager said: “Cambodia currently is considered a frontier market in terms of tech talent, and despite it being a small market, many local tech entrepreneurs are emerging and contributing well to the ecosystem — the way we live our lives, from transportation to food delivery to cashless payments.”

Among the most inspiring ideas to be developed was by Happj, a collective of four people, including just two programmers.

Its project leader, Henry Nguyen, said he was inspired to create the Happj Farm app because of his family’s difficulties amid the outbreak.

His family, of Kampuchea Krom descent, grows avocados, cocoa and bananas outside Ho Chi Minh City. Since the outbreak, Nguyen said, his family has been forced to drastically reduce the price of their crops.

The Happj project aims to resolve that. The app allows farmers to post their crops and the price, allowing customers to find nearby farms using Google Maps to purchase goods.

“I love to code because it helps me make an impact on the world, and hackathons help me follow my passion.

“I am from Vietnam so it will be helpful to have Cambodians join my team so that we can roll the app out there,” Nguyen told The Post from Soc Trang in Vietnam.

Another project, MeetDoctor Cambodia, was developed by Khmer Health. It allows patients to consult with doctors via smartphone.

MeetDoctor Cambodia allows users to choose a doctor by viewing their profile online and then sharing their symptoms with them. After the consultation, the app will allow the doctor to understand the patient’s condition and recommend treatment to them.

Its team leader, Buontongi Nit, told The Post that his team of six, which includes three medical students, developed the app in part to address the disparity in healthcare between rural and urban populations.

The team – with members in Phnom Penh, Kandal and Preah Sihanouk provinces, as well as the US – was split into shifts and tackled different tasks.

The resulting application is still in the prototype stage.

“Telehealth will be beneficial to both the healthcare workforce and the general population during this Covid-19 situation because it will help prevent doctors from contracting the infection as they won’t have to go to the hospital.

“It will also save personal protective equipment [PPE] during this time, as we know there is a PPE shortage in the world for healthcare workers,” Nit said.

Slash Foundry’s Pich said: “The future of our current primary sectors, agriculture and manufacturing are at risk, due to competition in the regional and global markets, as well as automation.

“Covid-19 or not, the Cambodian economy is going digital, with the direction and support of the government via policy and incentives providing alternative ways for it to grow.”

Pich said he anticipated the post-outbreak economy to be a “Low Touch Economy”, ­which will see consumers change their habits to have less interaction with people.

“In the face of the Covid-19 crisis, a Low Touch Economy is to be expected. Practical digital solutions developed by tech entrepreneurs will be needed more than ever,” Pich stressed.