Kirirom Institute of Technology (Location: Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia, Chairman: Takeshi Izuka), a university that aims to produce global leaders from emerging countries, announced 10 key events that took place in 2021.
Despite the global COVID situtation, the activities of current students in entrepreneurial competitions and hackathons were clearly visible. In addition, Kirirom Institute of Technology was able to establish a foundation for deeper industrial colleboration, and it was an remarkable year with signs of additional initiatives to come.

Kirirom Institute of Technology 2021 Top 10 positive events

1. Kirirom Institute of Technology’s third startup “QUADUSK” accepts and incorporates angel investors.

Kirirom Institute of Technology has an on-campus startup support center, Kirirom Incubation Centre. It houses around 30 virtual companies that focuses on specific industrial and technological fields. Its aim is to develop these virtual companies’ businesses as startups. In 2020, there was also the incorporation of two other companies, and with QUADUSK being incorporated in 2021, it reflects continuity and positivity for the university. QUADUSK has established a corporation in Singapore with the vision of accelerating the transition to 3D drone technology around the world and innovating traditional technologies and workflows.

2. Kirirom Institute of Technology is the first higher education institution to conclude an MOU (Agreement) with the National Institute of Science, Technology & Innovation of the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology & Innovation.

The news of the MOU with the National Institute of Science, Technology & Innovation was a hot topic in the Cambodian education community. The MOU was an agreement that promotes collaboration in staff exchange and capacity development, joint research and development of digital technology, promotion of SMEs, and establishment and strengthening of the ecosystem of science and technology innovation in Cambodia. Kirirom Institute of Technology will serve as one of the key instruments that contributes to Cambodia’s digital transformation.

3. Kirirom’s Institute of Technology’s first Japanese students receive a job offer from MAAMA

Kirirom Institute of Technology was established in 2014, and its first batch of students from Japan enrolled in April 2018. A student from the first batch received a job offer by a huge IT company in the United States. The student was commended for his leadership and experience, studying IT in English, as well as working on projects with foreign companies. Kirirom Institute of Technology was one of the key factors that help the student establish this experience, which resulted in these exciting events to occur in such quick succession.

4. Kirirom Institute of Technology resumes intake of foreign students to Kirirom Campus in Cambodia

Due to the impact of COVID, Kirirom had stopped accepting foreign students. But with the situation stabilizing, Kirirom has resumed the enrollment of foreign students in April 2021. It was an important event for us in 2021, when Kirirom Institute of Technology decided to actively welcome high school students and examinees who has the desire to challenge themselves overseas at a time when the possibilities of studying abroad was limiting due to COVID.

5. Up-and-coming designer, Eisuke Tachikawa of NOSIGNER, has been appointed as director for Kirirom Institute of Technology.

Besides the many positive events that are student-related, we are also proud to announce that Kirirom Institute of Technology has appointed Mr. Eisuke Tachikawa, CEO of NOSIGNER, as a director of Kirirom Institute of Technology. Mr. Eisuke Tachikawa who is a design specialist and evolutionary thinker, will be an important personnel who can contribute greatly to the organization, especially with the launch of our new Faculty of Architecture.

6. Kirirom Institute of Technology’s student entrepreneur received Presidential Special Award at GSEA (Global Student Entrepreneur Award), EO of Global Entrepreneurs Organization

A student of Kirirom Institute of Technology received the President’s Special Award. Seavpor managed to top 38 other competitors around the globe, and walked away with the President’s Special Award. This achievement was not only for Kirirom Institute of Technology, but also for Cambodia as a whole. The award-winning Seavpor Teng is a student entrepreneur who runs Fixh.me, a matching platform for home repairs. This was one of the most significant achievement since its incorporation in 2020 with investments from angel investors.

7. Kirirom Institute of Technology’s student team came in 1st and 2nd for “AWS Build on Hackathon”

“AWS Build on Hackathon” was held jointly by AWS and two Cambodian banks for the purpose of technological innovation for the banking industry and revitalization of the engineer community. The event saw forty teams of 170 people from different institutes devising technical initiative for the Cambodian banking industry. The student who came in first started the first business in Cambodia to handle AWS support service. In August 2021, an investment from stock company, Future Spirits, made an agreement to invest in the business, for it to be incorporated in Cambodia.

8. Kirirom Institute of Technology signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) and the Cambodian Association of Finance and Technology (CAFT) for Fintech HR development.

In Cambodia, a significant amount of money is being invested in the financial industry to support digital transformation. Kirirom Institute of Technology has signed a MOU with the aim of enhancing collaboration with industry, improving the quality of education, and cooperating in human resource development for the fintech industry. In the current COVID situation, efforts to establish the foundation for industry-academia collaboration were news event in the Cambodian media.

9. Runner-up position in the ASEAN Data Science Explores 2021

In order to show potential and societal impacts for any country in Southeast Asia, the ASEAN Data Science explorer competition was developed in cooperation with the ASEAN Foundation and SAP. The SAP Analytics Cloud was organized to boost their digital skills from 16,000 students and 370 higher educational institutions from 10 ASEAN countries (SAC). Students from Kirirom Institute of Technology came in 2nd place, which left a result comparable not only to Cambodia, but to the ASEAN region as well.

10. Kirirom Institute of Technology wins the Cambodian Tournament for the second consecutive year in the Student Entrepreneurship Contest of the Global Entrepreneurs Organization EO

In a student entrepreneurship contest for EO, a global entrepreneurial group, a student from Kirirom Institute of Technology won the Cambodian tournament, continuing our winning streak from 2020. In addition to this, four out of the five students who remained in the final selection were students of Kirirom Institute of Technology.

[University Overview]
In cooperation with the digital service provider and incubation center of Cambodia, we will actively promote digital transformation in Cambodia and actively develop and incorporate businesses as startups in Cambodia and abroad.