Urban Voice is whatever you want it to be! A source of information, a site for civic engagement, an analytical tool, a mapping tool… Urban Voice is for the people, by the people. You can highlight an issue, event or location important to you! Submit reports, create maps by layering different categories, browse the Reports and Statistics page to find out more information… Phnom Penh is developing at an alarming rate – can you keep up? Urban Voice is resource for the citizens of Phnom Penh to develop however they see fit. Through the use of Open Data, Crowdsourcing and Crowd Mapping Urban Voice is able to track and visualize the many different interests of the citizens of Phnom Penh.

• What is Open Data?

  Open Data, according to Wikipedia is, “the idea that certain data should be freely available to everyone to use and republish as they wish, without restrictions from copyright, patents or other mechanisms of control.

• What is Crowdsourcing?

  Crowdscourcing is the decentralization of sourcing information. Whereas traditionally one specific person or agent is asked to research or provide information, crowdsourcing opens up the sourcing of information to the crowd – the public. In our case, rather than have individuals research specific development issues in Phnom Penh, we want the citizens of Phnom Penh to tell us what is important to them, what they are affected by and care about. This way the people of Phnom Penh can become more involved in the development of their environment and take ownership of their city!

• Who is the Crowd?

  The Crowd is anyone and everyone. If you live, work, play or are merely traveling through Phnom Penh then you’re part of the Crowd and we want to hear from you. You can contribute as much or as little as you like, but it’s through the help of people like you that Urban Voice has come to be a reality.

• Are you only in Phnom Penh, or do you cover others areas of Cambodia?

  Currently Urban Voice only monitors the Phnom Penh. Cambodia is large enough that at the moment Urban Voice needs to focus on the issues concerning the capital first.

• Will to expand to other cities in Phnom Penh?

  It’s a very distinct possibility and one that Urban Voice is always considering. However, as Urban Voice is a relatively new project we want to make sure that it’s up in running in Phnom Penh first. Not to mention that we have plans for further development of Urban Voice and the site.

Urban Voice is about empowering those living, working or playing in, not to mention traveling through Phnom Penh to take part in the development of the city. Even if you only have business interests in the capital of Cambodia, Urban Voice will be of interest and use to you.

• What if I only work in Phnom Penh, but live elsewhere?

  Urban Voice is still relevant to you, because you travel, eat and work in Phnom Penh. If traffic becomes particularly bad on your commute, your office is experiencing blackouts, you’re trying to find a new location for an office or shop and so much more then Urban Voice is of use.

• What if I’m only visiting Phnom Penh?

  Whether a tourist or merely someone passing through the development of Phnom Penh will impact upon your travels. Knowing where the worst traffic is, where construction is occurring, even where a park is for a brief respite can be important to aiding your transition through the city.

You can find out more about the team behind Urban Voice here.

• Can I join the Urban Voice team?

  As Urban Voice grows so will its team, so please refer to our jobs page for future updates. In the meantime be sure to contribute by submitting reports, participating in Campaigns and coming to any mapping meet-ups that Urban Voice hosts.

Anyone any everyone can and should use Urban Voice. If you’ve got a computer with an internet connection or access to one, or a smartphone then you can use Urban Voice.

• Who is Urban Voice for?

  This project is about giving a voice to those who inhabit, work in, or are otherwise involved in Phnom Penh. The development of the city affects many, and they deserve to participate in that development. Urban Voice is for you.

• Is Urban Voice only in English?

  No, Urban Voice is also in Khmer, because Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia. The official language and the most spoken in the country is Khmer. Thus, in order for Urban Voice to truly represent the population of Phnom Penh the site is in Khmer. You can submit reports in Khmer and we are striving to ensure that all the pages of the site are in both Khmer and English. We cannot, however, guarantee that all posts or reports will be in both languages.

• Who can use the data?

  The data on Urban Voice is free and available to anyone. We only ask that any data you acquire from us you provide for free as well, as Urban Voice is a firm believer in Open Data.

• Why is the data free?

  The data is available for free because Urban Voice is a firm believer in Open Data. To find out more about Open Data please refer to questions on the top.

You can use Urban Voice as a source of information, a database of the development of information, and a community of citizen participators. Whether you’re running a business in Phnom Penh, live work or play here, Urban Voice can be of use. It may be as simple as being the news site you turn to in order to find out about what’s going on in the city. Or it may help you in determining where in the city you want to live.

• How can I contribute?

  Submitting a report, providing information to, taking part in a discussion, joining a campaign, attending a meetup or simply referring more people to Urban Voice are all ways in which you can contribute to Urban Voice.

• How do I submit a report?

  Go to the homepage and click on the ‘SUBMIT A REPORT’ page on the top tool bar or theyellow ‘SUBMIT REPORT’ button above the map!
  Give your report a title and a description.
  Find its location on the map, and draw a point, line or area to describe the location. You can do this by clicking on the point, line or area buttons at the bottom of the map.
  Areas: click on the button on the far left below the map. Click around the area on the map. You will see that is covered over as you click. Double click to finish. You can put many areas, just click again.
  Lines: click on the button next to the area button below the map. Click along the line on the map. You will see a line is drawn on the map. Double click to finish. You can put many lines, just click again.
  Points: click on the pencil button next to the line button below the map. Click on the point on the map. You will see a red diamond appear. You can put many points, just click again.
  Editing: if you made a mistake, just click on the button below the map that looks like a hand. Then select any of the things you have drawn on the map. Then you can delete it by clicking ‘DELETE SELECTED’.
  Choose an appropriate category. Click on the “+” signs of the parent categories to view the children. Tick the appropriate box
  Add any links, photos or videos
  And if you want to, you can add your personal details. Your personal details will not be made public, but they will allow you to request edits or deletion of your report.
  Then click submit!

• Can I submit a report in Khmer?

  Yes! You can submit a report in Khmer the same way you can submit a report in English. Simply follow the steps above.

• Can I submit a report with my phone?

  If you have smart phone or phone with internet access, you can access the Urban Voice website on your phone! From here you can submit a report in the same way as if you were on a computer. You can also submit a report by SMS. Simply text a message to: +855 (0) 972 640 056. Be sure to include in the message, the category of your report as well as the street and cross-street location (address). Please do not just include the district or Khan, we need more specific information than that.

• What if I want to submit a report but there is no clear category for it?

  If you would like to submit a report but are unsure of which category is suitable for your information, or the category does not exist, please email our Administrator on admin@urbanvoicecambodia.net and they will be happy to either advise you on which category is most suitable, or create a new category for you!

• Can I edit or delete a report I submitted?

  No. Reports that have been submitted can only be edited by the Administrator. If you submitted a report by mistake, would like to edit one of your reports or delete your report, you can email the Administrator with any edits or details at admin@urbanvoicecambodia.net . However! You must provide evidence that the report you want to edit is YOUR report. This is most easily done by including your personal details when you submit a report and using this email to contact the administrator. You cannot request to edit or delete a report that you did not submit.

• Can I edit or delete a report someone else submitted?

  No, but you can only request to edit your own reports. If however, you feel the content or accuracy of a report is questionable or inappropriate, we would encourage you to please contact the Administrator as soon as possible on admin@urbanvoicecambodia.net. Urban Voice takes every care and precaution to keep urbanvoicecambodia.net spam free and free of inappropriate content. You can also submit your own report, or use the up/down arrows on someone else’s report to indicate its credibility.

• How can I upload photos or videos?

  Submitting a photo or video with your report is very simple: photos can be uploaded directly from your computer! Just click on the ‘BROWSE’ button under ‘UPLOAD PHOTOS’ and locate the file on your computer. Videos however must first be hosted (uploaded onto) on a website such as YouTube.com, Vimeo, or Google videos. Once you have a hosted video, simply copy and paste the link into the ‘VIDEO LINK’ section of the report. Fill in the rest of your report details and location and click ‘SUBMIT’… Done!

• Can I embed a map from Urban Voice on my site/blog?

  No, you cannot embed the map at this time.

• How can I contact Urban Voice?

  To contact the Administrator: admin@urbanvoicecambodia.net For more information about Urban Voice or if you would like to volunteer with us, please contact info@urbanvoicecambodia.net You can also contact Urban Voice via Twitter: @UrbanVoiceCam or on our Facebook page:www.facebook.com/UrbanVoiceCam

Urban Voice collects data pertaining to the development of Urban Issues.

• What are Urban Development Issues?

  Anything and everything that is happening in Phnom Penh! Big or small, regular or irregular, we want to know about it. e.g. A new high rise appears on the riverside; your Khan or Sangkat experiences regular blackouts; Your street floods during the rainy season; An election is taking place; The location of all the public buildings in Phnom Penh; Evictions taking place; Demonstrations happening in the city.

• Why these categories?

  We’ve identified these categories as representing some of the most important, concrete and pressing issues facing Phnom Penh and those who live there.

• Will you add new categories?

  Yes, as new issues arise and new campaigns are hosted Urban Voice will add additional categories. Of course you’re always welcome to make suggestions of new categories, just email us.

• How do you verify the data?

  Urban Voice verifies the data in three ways. 1) If there was a large amount of data that was uploaded by a known organization that data is assumed to be correct. 2) If the Urban Voice team has personally experienced the issue reported then it will be verified. 3) If multiple reports from different authors are submitted on the same issue and place, then the reports are verified.

• How can I contribute data?

  You can contribute by submitting a report, texting in via SMS a report or emailing us large datasets. See question 6. f. for instructions on how to provide large datasets.

• What if I, or my organization, have a large amount of data to upload?

  You can contribute by submitting a report, texting in via SMS a report or emailing us large datasets. See question 6. f. for instructions on how to provide large datasets.

• What if I, or my organization, have a large amount of data to upload?

  Please send an email to info@urbanvoicecambodia.net. We will send you a template spreadsheet and an instruction video for entering your data into the template. You can then send the data back to us in the format of our template. Alternatively, we can help you put the data into the template if you send it to us in a spreadsheet with instructions. Please include a description of each field or column in the spreadsheet. Additionally, please tell us:
  i. When the data was created,
  ii. who created it, and
  iii. what purpose it was created for
  iv. If it contains spatial information, please advise us of the precision. For example, if it was collected with a handheld GPS it will have 10m precision. We are also happy to meet with you to discuss further collaboration.

• I am concerned about my security when using Urban Voice, how can I address this?

  First, you will see that you are accessing this site via HTTPS. This means the site has a secure socket layer (SSL) certificate. Due to this, the digital exchanges between your computer and the Urban Voice website are encrypted. Others are, however, still able to see that your computer has accessed the Urban Voice website. The HTTPS connection just means they cannot see what goes between your computer and the website. If you want to avoid others knowing that your computer has accessed the Urban Voice website, one solution is to download Tor (https://www.torproject.org/). Once it is installed, start a Tor browsing session and when you access the Urban Voice website others will not be able to detect that your computer has done this.

The Map is a graphical representation of Phnom Penh over which data is laid to demonstrate the datapoints in a geospatial means.

• Does the map show the hottest clubs and best cafes?

  No, as those are a matter of personal preference and not Urban Development Issues.

• What does the Map show?

  What it does show is the streets and layout of the city, along with major public buildings.

• Why a map?

  A map is the ideal means to graphically represent the data due to the fact that it has a geospatial character. The map helps people to understand the impact of the urban development of Phnom Penh on their lives. By representing the data in a visual medium people are able to make more sense.

• Can I view the map in full screen mode?

  Yes! Simply click on ‘FULL SCREEN MAP’ above the top left hand corner of the map. To exit the full screen map, click the ‘x’ in the top right hand corner.

First, click on ‘MAP’ and allow the page to load. On the right side you will find a column which lists ‘Categories’. You may select one category, at this time, to display all the data we have under that section. The map will then display all the relevant reports, according to the category selected. From that point you can examine each report, by clicking on it. When you do a little box will pop up with the basic information about the report and a link to more information. You can also download the data displayed on the map by clicking ‘DOWNLOAD REPORTS’.

• What are Categories?

  Categories are how we organize label datasets. They correspond to reports about the same or similar topics, such as blackouts, sports & leisure facilities, schools, internet cafes, construction, etc.

• What are Reports?

  Reports are individual data points that are part of a data set, also known as a Category. Each report is information about an issue occurring at a particular location in Phnom Penh. Reports come from individuals, campaigns and organizations.

• What are Alerts?

  Alerts are emails that are sent to you automatically when new reports have been added to a particular Category or categories or simply about where you live or work.

• How do I create an Alert?

  Click ‘GET ALERTS’ and then follow the steps from there.

• How can I access the data?

  You can access the data either by viewing the Map and selecting categories or by downloading the data by clicking ‘DOWNLOAD REPORTS’.

Urban Voice has the Map (of course), its blog, the resources page, photos, videos and news items all about Phnom Penh its urban development. Don’t forget that we also offer a community to participate in and with whom you can discussion urban issues. Don’t forget Facebook and Twitter, as Urban Voice is also about creating a discussion with the community.

• What do you put on your blog?

  We put news items, photos, videos, blog posts, campaign reports and more. Through the blog we hope to offer some analysis of the Map and news items. We also use the blog to announce new campaigns and developments within Urban Voice.

• Can I contribute to your blog?

  We do welcome guest blog posts, so if you have a suggestion please don’t hesitate to contact us. Just remember that we retain the right to edit and remove content as we see fit, for any reason.

• What do you have on the Resources page?

  Think of the Resources as a wiki. There we will have summaries of various topics relating to Urban Voice, such as Urbanisation, Mapping, and more. The Resources are where you can turn to and easily find out more about a particular issue. We will include links, pictures and reference material for further reading.

• Where can I find you on Twitter or Facebook?

  Yes! And we’d love you to follow us or be our friend! Twitter: @UrbanVoiceCam and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UrbanVoiceCam

Campaigns are particular issues that Urban Voice is highlighting and asking people to focus their reports on. Examples include the Save the Internet Cafes Campaign and the Blackout Campaign. In both examples citizens of Phnom Penh were asked to submit reports about any internet cafes they find around the city or blackouts they experience. To find out more about campaigns click on ‘Campaigns’ in the menu bar.

• Can I participate in campaigns?

  Yes, anyone and everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate in our campaigns.

• How many campaigns have you run before?

  Urban Voice has run a total of four campaigns thus far.

• Can I propose new campaigns?

  Of course, please submit any ideas you may have for campaigns, categories or other ideas in writing by email. We’re always looking for new ideas.

Urban Voice makes use of Ushahidi for its crowdmapping and crowdsourcing needs, Open Street map for the map, and WordPress to run the site.

• What is Ushahidi?

  Ushahidi is a non-profit, open source Tech Company that develops free software for information collection, visualisation and interactive mapping. Developed in Nairobi, Kenya to map election violence, it has also been used as crowdmapping tool in a slum area of Nairobi known as Kibera (see www.voiceofkibera.org), as well as for crisis mapping in Libya, to map the recent floods in Bangkok, to map crime in Atlanta, Georgia and now – to map urban developments in Phnom Penh! For more information check out www.ushahidi.com

• Can I use Ushahidi?

  Yes, anyone can use Ushahidi. Just check out the website.

• What is Open Street Map?

  Open Street Map is a free wiki world map, which users are free to edit and develop as our world changes.

• Can I use Open Street Map?

  Yes, of course. It’s a free map available to anyone and open for use in any manner you deem fit.

• What is WordPress?

  WordPress is a freely available content management system (CMS) that organizes and controls the content of a website or blog.

• Can I use WordPress?

  Yes, you can download or use WordPress for free at http://www.wordpress.org