SAMLOT DISTRICT - Udaya Technology, a Phnom Penh-based ICT company specialized in industrial tech and digital solutions, has marked its 13th anniversary with the signing of a partnership agreement with local resort Kino Farm to launch an R&D center, with a focus on emerging HospitaliTech.

The anniversary took the form of a week-long retreat, where all the 70-strong team of staff and management spent time at the R&D center based at Kino Farm in Samlot district, Battambang province.

Keo Reasmey, Managing Director of Udaya Technology, said when the co-founders started the company 13 years ago, the country was in an early stage of digitalization adoption. This gave the company a wide range of opportunities to learn and develop as the market was relatively large back then.

“Back then, competition was not very high, and clients’ expectations were also not high. That gave us the room and opportunity to learn and develop our company’s capabilities and those of our staff,” said Reasmey, reflecting on the early years of Udaya Technology.

“I am also glad that many people have used our systems for many years, and that we have remarkably contributed to building a local digital society and technology modernization,” he added.

Management and staff cut a 'birthday' cake to mark Udaya Technology's 13th anniversary Feb 15, 2023. Kiripost/Siv Channa

Kino Farm is a five-hectare facility within the entire farm’s 20 hectares. A river runs through it and it is powered by solar, in addition to state electricity. The farm consists of a huge meeting and working room, five bungalows and a paved area for camping on the riverside.

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Plumbing and electric work on the farm were carried out by Udaya engineers and it is used as a lab for studying, researching and developing "HospitaliTech '' products to be used in the tourism and hospitality industries.

What the company has achieved during the last decade, according to Reasmey, have enabled it to think, develop and innovate more tech-based products to support the country’s potential industries, such as real estate, tourism, and technology.

HospitaliTech for Cambodia’s tourism and hospitality sectors

When asked what is next for Udaya Technology, the founder and CEO said the company is now focusing on research for the development of new products for the emerging ‘HospitaliTech’ sector, such as hotels and guesthouses or bungalow management systems, automated vending machines and others.

Managing Director Keo Reasmey leads a series of management training sessions for his management staff. Kiripost/Siv Channa

The company, according to the CEO, has also worked with partners from various industries, including transport, health and logistics, to facilitate an ecosystem for HospitaliTech in a way that new generations, aka Gen Z, can benefit.

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Generation Z, more commonly known as Gen Z, is the demographic group of people succeeding millennials and preceding Generation Alpha.

“Technology use for industrial purposes is not unusual, but it might sound a bit weird when we say we use technology for the hospitality sector. People may want to spend time resting with nature and don’t want to see technology,” Reasmey said.

“So, it is a big challenge for us trying to introduce technology to the hospitality industry and harmonize them. But, there’s really a high potential for HospitaliTech,” he added.

According to Reasmey, technology use has so far been limited to online bookings in the tourism industry, and Udaya Technology wanted to do more than this to help the sector.

As part of the retreat, Udaya Technology management and staff visit a primary school in Samlot district, Battambang province. Kiripost via Udaya Technology

For hotel owners or tour operators, for example, he said, adaptive technology will be needed, meaning that it must neither be too advanced nor too lagging, and all these will be addressed in the ongoing R&D work of the company.

“So, at Udaya Technology, we set up a center at the ‘Kino Farm’ to be used by our R&D team to study and develop potential HospitaliTech products,” Reasmey said.

“I do believe that HospitaliTech, when well developed and used, will contribute to improving the efficiency of the tourism industry in Cambodia,” he added.

Udaya Technology was founded in 2010 with just 12 staff, and the company offers services including advanced digital management systems to offer businesses in various sectors such as healthcare, logistics, accounting, education, hospitality, as well as industrial automations and batching plant management systems.

Currently, UDAYA Technology has expanded its operations to employ more than 70 staff in a mid-size office located in Teok La’ak 1, Toul Kork District. [Partnership Content]