Blog Posts
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Exploring the Frontiers of Assistive Technology: Takeaways from the ATScale`s Convening Event and Remarkable Tech Summit
International Disability Alliance, Nayem MollaOct. 25, 2023GlobalInternational Disability Alliance - Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub)’s Assistive Technology User Fellow, Nayem Molla, attended ATscale convening event on digital assistive technology and employment, and the Remarkable Tech Summit on inclusive innovation in San Diego, California from 2-5 October 2023. The events brought together diverse stakeholders from across sectors and geographies to drive progress and lead discussions to shape the future of assistive technology.
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AT2030 Inclusive Infrastructure Film: Six Cities, One Park!
Iain McKinnonOct. 19, 2023GlobalOn the 13th and 14th of September 2023, GDI Hub held its Disability Innovation Summit at our offices on the UCL East campus on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, east London. This international event provided the perfect moment for the AT2030 Inclusive Infrastructure team to bring representatives from the six cities they have been researching over the past 3 years together, in person, for the first time.
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Assistive technology in your pocket: the transformative potential of smartphones
Global Disability Innovation HubJune 2, 2023KenyaHow can smartphones and digital assistive technology positively change the lives of persons with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries? How do people with visual or communication impairments in low- and middle-income countries want to use electronic devices in their everyday lives? And what are the real-world implications of this technology to people in terms of cost, use, and effectiveness, particularly in settings with low data and bandwidths? These are just some of the research questions being explored in an exciting study taking place in Kenya, India and Brazil. Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub), ATscale and Google are collaborating on a two-year research project to gather evidence to support work to make smartphones more accessible, useful and empowering to persons with disabilities. The project is funded by UK Aid's AT2030 programme to test ‘what works’ to improve access to life-changing assistive technology for all.
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AT Storytelling Workshop with the International Disability Alliance and ATScale
Global Disability Innovation HubMay 31, 2023GlobalWe ran our first AT storytelling workshop as part of the Bridge CRPD-SDGs Training of Trainers Module A in Geneva, Switzerland, organised by the International Disability Alliance (IDA), the International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC) and supported by partners including the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office of the UK (FCDO).
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Assistive Technology and Healthy Ageing: A Global Review
Jamie DanemayerMarch 28, 2023Assistive technology (AT), like hearing aids, wheelchairs, and glasses, is critical to healthy ageing as it supports functioning and independence. As most countries are rapidly and dynamically ageing (or already aged), access to AT cannot be underestimated. Yet evidence on what AT is needed, where, and by whom is sparsely available in global health literature.
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Assistive technology access gets a boost thanks to £12 million investment from the LEGO Foundation, five years after AT2030 begins
Global Disability Innovation Hub, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Vicki Austin, Frederic SeghersMarch 2, 2023The partnership between GDI Hub and CHAI has been a great example of how complementary capabilities and experiences can fuel transformational change. In this blog we explore more on the history and future of collaboration, and how we are working together to drive access and impact of AT globally.
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What is Assistive Tech, who is it for, and what does it enable?
Global Disability Innovation HubFeb. 19, 2023BlogWhen we use the term Assistive Technology (AT), we usually think about products like wheelchairs and walking sticks, hearing aids and eye-glasses, prosthetics and digital or mobile devices. However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests a broad definition of assistive technology which emphasises services (diagnostics, fitting, ‘on-demand’ assistance), systems (infrastructure, processes), and products (eyeglasses, hearing aids, mobility aids).
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Opportunities and challenges for disability inclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic
Giulia Barbareschi, Mikaela PatrickFeb. 19, 2023BlogMeasures implemented by governments worldwide in response to the escalation of the COVID-19 global pandemic have had a significant impact on everyone. Lockdown and physical distancing policies have led many people to spend the majority of their time at home, only leaving the house for basic essentials and relying on digital infrastructure and delivery services for work, learning, socialising and receiving supplies more than ever before. However, many people with disabilities might be affected by some of these changes in unique and unexpected ways, both positively and negatively.
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Allied Health Profession Day
Global Disability Innovation Hub, Kate MattickOct. 14, 2022United KingdomIn this blog Kate Mattick, an Allied Health Professional (AHP) and GDI Hub team member, shares her reflections on working as a physiotherapist and the challenges when people who may need AT don't have access. Kate explains who AHPs are, their role in AT delivery and how the new Training in Assistive Products, to be launched by the WHO, is so promising in creating effective AT service models.
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Innovation Spotlight: Building a walking companion for the visually impaired.
Global Disability Innovation Hub, Harrison KamauOct. 13, 2022KenyaHope Tech Plus Limited is dedicated to developing innovative technologies and building tools and programs for empowerment that support inclusion in all sectors of society. They accomplish this by utilizing modern technology to produce tools that improve interaction with the physical environment and promote personal development. "The Fourth Eye" was the first product, a device that employs echolocation technology to image obstructions and warns the user via haptic feedback.
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Innovation Spotlight: From recovery to innovation; the journey to create a revolutionary, low cost, all-terrain wheelchair, that can be manufactured with basic tools, using locally available materials and components.
Global Disability Innovation Hub, Harrison KamauOct. 5, 2022KenyaThe Safari seat, a revolutionary, low-cost, all-terrain wheelchair, was born—an easy-to-repair, customizable solution, that can be manufactured with basic tools, using locally available materials and components.
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Innovation Spotlight: Creating universal access to safe and appropriate sanitation, through innovating accessible toilets for people with disability.
Global Disability Innovation Hub, Harrison KamauSept. 29, 2022KenyaSyna Consultancy is a social enterprise committed to delivering fair and inclusive sanitation solutions. While their mandate has transformed over the years, their major objective is to ensure universal access to safe and appropriate water and sanitation, with special emphasis paid to the needs of underprivileged communities.
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Innovation Spotlight: Completing the communication cycle – how a mentoring experience began a journey into machine learning and avatars to create a new sign language interpretation tool.
Global Disability Innovation Hub, Harrison KamauSept. 23, 2022KenyaFrom the onset, Veezaviz set out to bridge communication barriers. Savatia and his team created a new generation of technology that enables two-way communication among deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing people. They make this possible by using machine learning-based sign language interpretation and automated avatar sign language generation.
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Regulations in AT, an entrepreneurial challenge [Part of our new blog series: AT, Entrepreneurship & Finance - with GDI Hub's Assistive Tech Impact Fund]
Dr Rhys WilliamsAug. 31, 2022Regulations, standards and certifications play an important role in any tech sector and for AT are often one of the most difficult aspects of entrepreneurship, especially in LMICs. In this blog, we explore why regulations can cause headaches for AT entrepreneurs, the different types of regulatory landscapes that people come across, and what founders can do in the face of regulations.
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Changing the investment landscape for AT [Part of our new blog series: AT, Entrepreneurship & Finance - with GDI Hub's Assistive Tech Impact Fund]
Global Disability Innovation Hub, Dr Rhys WilliamsAug. 22, 2022The AT hasn’t historically received investment from angel investors, venture capitalists or impact investors, but for any sector and support ecosystem to really grow, investment capital is needed. To try to understand why investment has been low, we interviewed investment professionals who work across Africa and share their perceptions of the assistive technology sector.
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Balancing Volatility - Emerging African Ecosystems [Part of our new blog series: AT, Entrepreneurship & Finance - with GDI Hub's Assistive Tech Impact Fund]
Global Disability Innovation Hub, Dr Rhys WilliamsAug. 15, 2022Speak to any entrepreneur from Lagos to Johannesburg and you’ll hear that African emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems can be tough. In this blog, we explore some of the trademarks of these ecosystems, and what they mean for ambitious founders in AT.
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Profit for impact in the Assistive Tech space [Part of our new blog series: AT, Entrepreneurship & Finance - with Assistive Tech Impact Fund]
Dr Rhys WilliamsJuly 28, 2022AT organisations need to embrace a ‘selling’ mindset in every part of the company to become sustainable. This may involve upskilling current employees, or even involve hiring new talent from commercial backgrounds. However it is achieved, financially sustainable AT companies offset unexpected and hard to mitigate risks caused by grant and philanthropic capital instability.
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Marketing matters [New blog series: AT, Entrepreneurship & Finance - with Assistive Tech Impact Fund]
Dr Rhys WilliamsJuly 21, 2022It’s time for AT companies to take marketing seriously. Even if companies are not in a position to hire marketing professionals, the founding team can upskill in this area to get their company and AT out into the world. it’s time to take marketing seriously. As we see individual companies grow through sales, we’ll also begin to see more and more ecosystem stakeholders wake up to the opportunities that this impactful sector has to offer.
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Validate to find customers in AT ventures [New blog series: AT, Entrepreneurship & Finance - from Assistive Tech Impact Fund]
Dr Rhys WilliamsJuly 14, 2022Any company that hopes to be successful in the long-term needs to find a customer base that can reliably pay for products and services. Companies that create Assistive Technology are no different, with many companies opting for a business-to-business (B2B) model. For AT companies that are providing goods and services in LMICs, these models can be challenging, because customers could be governments, hospitals and clinicians, non-government organisations, charities, and faith-based organisations.
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Regulations in Assistive Technology
Louisa CottonJuly 6, 2022When you speak to people in entrepreneurial ecosystems, regulations are rarely at the top of peoples lists of favourite things to think about. However, regulations, standards and certifications do however play an important role in any tech sector. They ensure that the products and services are safe, of acceptable quality, and provide ways for governments to keep companies accountable. In a sector like assistive technology, given the incredible potential to impact peoples lives in profound ways, regulations, standards and certifications are a good thing. That being said, they often are one of the most difficult aspects of entrepreneurship to crack, especially in LMICs. When it comes to regulations, there’s no avoiding that they can act as a barrier to growing startups, and when we spoke to AT entrepreneurs and investors that are active in Africa, regs came up in almost every interview we conducted.
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