Dale Smith of the NSRC Visits UC
On Monday, August 25th, 2014, Dale Smith of the Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC), based at the University of Oregon, and father of Ms. Samantha Smith, Director for the Office of the President at UC, visited the University of Cambodia to give a short lecture entitled, “Opportunities and Challenges of Networking in Developing Regions”. 15 students from the College of Science and Technology (CoST), in addition to Pen Bunnareak, a member of UC’s IT staff, and the Assosiate Dean for CoST, Mr. Teav Chhun Nan, attended the lecture.
Mr. Smith highlighted the importance of building a “critical mass” in each nation. This is essentially a group of skilled networking and IT professionals residing in a particular country who can build and maintain the internet networks. Without this critical mass, it is impossible for any country to further its networking capabilities.
Mr. Smith encouraged students to study hard, but also to gain real life experience in their desired fields. Internships or part time jobs, he noted, are great ways to gain job experience and to put theoretical skills learned in the classroom to use in real life scenarios. He emphasized self responsibility and accountability, saying, “The only person who can stand in your way is yourself.”
He discussed the ASEAN integration of 2015, and the wonderful opportunities that arise when one is easily able to obtain work permits to other ASEAN nations. He cited Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia as great places for students to spend a few years gaining skills and expertise in Networking and IT. However, Mr. Smith stressed the importance of returning home to Cambodia after working or studying abroad, in order to build the “critical mass” necessary to progress the Cambodian IT sector, and to become an IT leader in the region.
UC would like to thank Dale Smith for the inspirational lecture and would also like to encourage students to take initiative in achieving their goals.
