“What happens when a nation of hackers suddenly gets connected to the rest of the world?” asks Yan Naung Oke, a technology professional. Myanmar has had to hack by necessity, making the most of what is available during years of economic stagnation and isolation from the world. In this amusing and insightful talk, Yan talks about Myanmar’s connectivity revolution and what that means for a country that is going through profound historic changes.

Yan Naung Oak is the Technology Program Manager for Phandeeyar, an ICT innovation hub located in downtown Yangon. Over the last two years, he has been working with the Phandeeyar team to bring the tech community together with others who are moving Myanmar forward to build the digital tools, platforms and content to accelerate Myanmar’s change and development. Prior to that, he had worked as an educator and a researcher. His main passion is in exploring the confluence of cultures, the mixing of lexicons, and the cross-fertilization of disciplines. Yan was born in Myanmar and grew up in several different countries. These days, he splits his time between between Myanmar and Singapore, working with tech startups and civic hackers in the former, and being a househusband in the latter. He received his bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College in Vermont, USA, where he double-majored in physics and economics. He also holds a master’s in economics from the National University of Singapore.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx