Asian IT social enterprise expands into Oxford

An online data storage social enterprise that employs disadvantaged young people in Cambodia and Laos has just launched a European office in Oxford - and has plans to triple its social impact within three years.

Digital Divide Data opened in Phnom Penh in July 2001 with 18 employees. It now employs 470 disadvantaged staff across three south-east Asian offices. It seeks out people with a variety of disadvantages and from the poorest neighbourhoods.

According to the new account manager for Europe Ed McLean, the new focus on sales to the European market should create enough work to help increase the number of Asian staff to 1,500 in three years - thereby tripling its social impact.

'During the last five years we have averaged staggering growth of 30 per cent per annum,' said McLean.

'During the economic downturn we expect reduced growth, with a worse case scenario of growth a few per cent above zero. Once the economic crisis is over we are aiming to grow to 1,500 operators. At our previous growth rate of 30 per cent this could be achieved within three years as a best case scenario.'

Digital Divide Data digitises raw data creating searchable databases, particularly useful for converting large quantities of printed information into a more user-friendly version. Its clients include large and small, private and non-profit companies, NGOs and universities. It also works with would-be competitors with some larger data storage organisations employing Digital Divide Data to take on work that they are too busy to do themselves.

In the process, it provides IT training to some of the most disadvantaged young people in south-east Asia. They receive more money than they would working in manual labour and they work a flexible week with enough time off to attend further studies with half their tuition fees paid by Digital Divide Data.

In the last five years 240 young people have graduated from Digital Divide Data. All of them have gone on to secure high paying jobs that will support themselves and their families. On average, a DDD graduate will earn in one month what most people in their country will earn in a year.

'We have sales operations in the US, Cambodia and Laos,' said McLean. 'Without a sales team we already receive 30 per cent of our work from Europe while the US is the biggest market at 50 per cent. With this new office I have a goal to make the European sales at least equal to the sales in the US.'

Find out more at www.digitaldividedata.org