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A short talk given in the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

Difficulties experienced by children who are wheelchair users, both in use of the wheelchair and also in wider society are briefly described. The set up, and some of the associated issues in the set up,  of an organisation to teach wheelchair skills and life skills to wheelchair users is outlined. 

An introduction is given by Dr Tigmanshu Bhatnagar entitled "Innovation: are ecosystems ready to scale for success?"

A short talk given in the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

The story of the progress in the development and of issues with the roll out of Earswitch is briefly outlined. The particular advantages for people with communication difficulties owing to cerebral palsy, motor neurone disease and locked in syndrome and also the advantages for the general population are highlighted.  Work is being carried out on eye tracking. Difficulties in transitioning to market are discussed.

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

Outcomes of the first 5 years of the AT2030 project are summarised including: 15 AT country capacity surveys; 11 new assistive technologies; 31 AT ventures brought to sustainability and 70 journal papers. Funding thus far and for the future is also discussed.

Work to supply hearing aids to those with hearing loss in the global south, particularly in South Africa is outlined. Areas highlighted include: work with suppliers; work to ignite innovation and provide products at scale; work with UNICEF and the procurement catalogue; work with HEARX to provide screening and aid fine tuning via a phone app to enable community health AT service.

Questions from the audience highlight issues surrounding acquiring AT in the emergency/humanitarian setting  

The most important part of innovation in systems change is the lived experience.

The successful campaign to eliminate car park charges for people with disabilities at NHS hospitals in the UK is outlined. (Charges from over 200 hospitals are now dismissed).

The ongoing campaign to exempt all people with disabilities who are "Blue badge" holders from charges associated with ULEZ (ultra low emission zones) or the equivalent in cities in the UK is also described. The importance of integrating climate action and disability rights is highlighted.  

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

Challenges in the development and bringing to market of functional, affordable, high quality AT devices are outlined. The development of the manual standing wheelchair and the lessons learnt in taking it from prototype to market (using the GRID model) are introduced. The challenges of affordability and of awareness of AT including by professionals is highlighted. The work of the National Centre for Assistive Health Technologies (NCAHT at AIIMS, New Delhi) including experience zones of architectural barriers where people can try wheelchars on different surfaces and realise that disability is imposed by the environment is briefly described. Wheelchair skills training and community outings are part of the centre. Other topics mentioned include: the need to normalise disability; the need for collaborations; funders; scalability; fragmented markets and the need to access global markets 

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

The importance of access to financial services and the challenges and work towards solutions are briefly overviewed with particular reference to innovation in the Nationwide Building Society in the UK.

Priorities identified for long term decision making concerned with services for people with disabilities were people with learning disabilities/neurodivergence/dementia, deaf people and the customer experience. The Nationwide introduced British Sgn Language (BSL) virtual interpretation for deaf people using a third party interpreter to enable independent banking. Difficulties encountered concerning risk and governance are highlighted.  Lessons learned and other progress e.g. provision of letters in BSL are briefly mentioned.

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

Three short talks on future technologies and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). All three emphasise the importance of co-creation with people with disabilities. 

Topics in the first talk include: contributions of the use of AI to SDGs; problems with regulation; improved holistic understanding of non-communicable diseases; street route optimisation for peope with visual impairment; speach to text apps; storytelling for people with dementia; self care biosensors; improvements in the information seeking journey (example motor neurone disease)

The second relates to experiences in Ghana with people with cerebral palsy/speach and language issues and a speach recognition technology project carried out with Google. Issues with measurement of success are raised.

The third introduces work being carried out on mobility solutions for people with visual difficulties in Kenya and Hope Tech.

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

A short presentation highlighting the difficulties of people with communication difficulties and the role and importance of speach and language therapists and of Google's Project Relate app. The app leverages machine learning to aid individuals with non standard speach in real time. The importance of local language and cultural diversity is stressed.  

Prepared by the Global Disability Innovation Hub and partners for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

This case study, funded through UK aid AT2030 programme, explores the current situation of inclusive and accessible environments for people with disabilities living in Nairobi. The research findings detailed in this report describe the current challenges and opportunities for embedding inclusive design in Nairobi’s future, providing priority recommendations and forward-thinking next steps.

The research took place in three phases between July 2021 and January 2022, combining both virtual and face to face approaches. Phase 1 focused on understanding the current state of accessibility through desk research and interviews, phase 2 captured the lived experience of people with disabilities utilising interviews, photo diaries and co-design activities. Phase 3 then synthesised findings, running multiple workshops to create actions towards inclusive environments. Thematic analysis was applied to understand the research data, identifying key themes across three different stakeholder groups of People, Policy, and Practice.

The themes identified span across daily life, poverty, transport, housing, sanitation, public spaces and recreational activities. Quotes from participants are interwoven into this report, and strengthen the concluding actions towards inclusion.