Background: Economic and Social Development Challenges Related to Disabilities

About 18% of people worldwide live with some kind of disability, including those related to aging; 10% - more than 600 million people - live with life-altering disabilities, two thirds of which are in developing countries. As prominently recognized at the World Summit on the Information Society, these demographic circumstances present considerable challenges on the one hand, and enormous opportunities on the other, for the increasingly important role of ICTs. While new ICTs can worsen the exclusion experienced by disabled persons in terms of their access to information and full participation to society, they can also provide extraordinary assistive solutions to empower them. New, proven technologies can enhance the lives of people with disabilities and support their rights as citizens and participants in their communities' social and economic activities - but only if these solutions are affordable.

Addressing this challenge is at the very core of the mission of the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) which "will be to respond to the need and demand for an inclusive global forum and platform for cross-sectorial policy dialogue, conducted in an open, multi-stakeholder and transparent manner, on the use of ICT for enhancing the achievement of internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs, notably reduction of poverty" ('Principles and Elements of a Global Alliance for ICT and Development (Multi-stakeholder Forum)', 2 March 2006).

Also included in the GAID mission is the requirement that: "The Alliance should help identify and focus attention on priority issues related to ICT4D that are not adequately addressed, or where an 'intellectual vacuum' persists, with a view to triggering action by relevant stakeholders and fostering problem-solving partnerships."

Supporting the new United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities

Since the mid-1990s, the perspective of the United Nations and its affiliated organizations has evolved from one based on charity and economic and social development to one based on human rights. On 4 December 2006, the United Nations will officially launch the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol to be adopted simultaneously with the Convention. This milestone in the United Nations achievements in protecting Human Rights will foster a transformation and enhance Member States' legislations and regulations over the next few years. However, economic hurdles will likely continue to inhibit the actual implementation of legislative and regulatory advances as they relate to mandated ICT solutions for persons living with disabilities.

Objectives

The purpose of this initiative is to simultaneously:

1. Promote ICT solutions for people with disabilities and related best policy practices among governments in the context of this new United Nations Convention and expanded Member States' legislations and regulations.
2. Accelerate the development by industry and civil society of the scientific, industrial, standardization and economic conditions to make such solutions affordable worldwide.

The fundamental assumption made for this program is that, similar to many emerging technology markets, accessible and assistive ICT solutions and products can proliferate only through standardization, economies of scale, and reduced production costs. While major ICT vendors realize that people with disabilities represent a significant market opportunity and understand the societal need, progress is slow when measured against current potential. Efforts among industry, government and civil society have been fragmented, and communication between disabled-people representatives and global ICT leaders has been limited. A well-conceived exploratory analysis and discussions with the goal of establishing consensual guidelines can lead to major opportunities. In fact, while only 39 UN member states have adopted non-discrimination or equal-opportunity legislations in the context of disability (prior to the new Convention), even fewer have put in place any guidelines or regulatory frameworks to promote assistive and accessible ICTs. Meanwhile, major ICT vendors trying to promote better solutions find little opportunity to discuss options with appropriate counterparts at a global level. Normalization of such initiatives has the potential to dramatically reduce the costs of inclusive products and technologies while generating wide economic and social benefits.

Deliverables

The Global Initiative for Inclusive Technologies, organized in collaboration with the Global Alliance, seeks the broadest possible involvement of the world's leading ICT firms, on the model of the Wireless Internet Opportunity for Developing Countries program launched in 2003 with the UNICT Task Force. It intends to bring together civil society organizations (notably those representing disabled persons) UN Enable, ILO, UNESCO, UNICEF and other UN-affiliated institutions as well as national and local government organizations, academia and the private sector, all of whom are contributing to exploring and developing solutions and recommendations in the context of their respective mandates. A Program Steering Committee will be constituted with key constituents chosen in coordination with the Global Alliance Secretariat. The Program term is two years and four months (December 2006 to March 2009).

Multi-stakeholders global and regional forums

• One awareness-raising initial global meeting at UN Headquarters (ECOSOC chambers), mid-March 2007 involving representatives from the public sector (one third), industry (one third), and civil society and local authorities (one third). Special attention will be given to attracting individuals with disabilities to the Steering Committee. The emphasis will be on successful case studies (via a prior call for papers) in view of creating a compendium of best practices for industry, government and civil society and identifying key areas of opportunities.
• Two annual follow-up meetings to be held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York or in Geneva in February 2008 and February 2009 with further steps defined based upon the Program Steering Committee recommendation.
• Five Regional Forums to help raise awareness among governments around the world, to be hosted in cooperation with volunteering national governments or regional organizations (First suggested venue will be OECD meeting in Istanbul, June 2007)

Multi-stakeholder working groups

The Program Steering Committee will subsequently establish working groups along several tracks in order to establish a structured global dialogue among relevant stakeholders. Expected deliverables from working groups will be to identify and promote:

• Core ICT opportunities for people living with disabilities -- defined as existing applicable technology hindered by lack of standardization (workgroup overseeing research to be conducted with civil society organizations - see below)
• Standardization priorities (with participation of institutions such as ITU, IEEE, W3C and WAG 2.0 commission etc.) and follow-up with proposals and timetables, coordination with regional member states and national or regional organizations.
• Industry-cooperative initiatives in support of mass production (components in particular, similarly to IEEE 802.11 broadband-wireless achievements in 2002-2004)
• R&D opportunities for public funding
• Best practices among national governments and local authorities in promoting advanced ICT solutions for people with disabilities with the participation of relevant international organizations (ILO, UN Enable, Human Rights Commission, Global Alliance)

Dissemination and actionable research tools

• Best practices compendium. The results of the first global meeting will be made available via web resources and a book to be published by June 2007 and serving as platform for the program. Proceedings from subsequent meetings will be made available as downloadable white papers.
• Web site designed to link resources from multiple stakeholders, post programs, make available downloadable research results and white papers, web-castings of meetings, resources for governments including best practices and benchmarks, Index and Awards. To be launched prior to the first Global Forum in February 2007. This web site itself will be designed with the most advanced techniques and standards addressing web accessibility challenges.
• Bi-monthly electronic update on the Initiative progress with bulletin boards linked to articles. To be started prior to the first global meeting concurrently to the web site.
• Research Program to identify most helpful and proven technologies that would benefit from standardization and mass production economies of scale, to be conducted with the support of NGOs from around the world throughout 2007.
• Digital Inclusion Index. W2i/World Times will produce with a leading international consulting firm a "Digital Inclusion Index" ranking the achievements of governments around the world as measured by specific metrics. This process will also help keep track of progress made among individual member states.
• Global Awards for Inclusive Technology, to be selected once a year to promote achievements from industry, civil society and governments
• Media relations and web-based media resource center.

Summary of Schedule and Program Deliverables

Program schedule and duration: two years and four months

• 2006
  1. December 4, 2006 - Kick-off Program Committee: UN Headquarters, NY - same day as new Convention release by UN Enable.
  2. Research program initiated with civil society and the private sector on priority areas for inclusive ICTs started by December 15
• 2007
  1. February 2007 - Web site release, media resource center on-line
  2. Mid-March 2007 - First global forum - ECOSOC Chamber, UN, NY - featuring leadership from private and public sector organizations with contributions to realizing the vision for inclusive technologies
  3. June 2007 -
     1. Book release (based on presentations from first global forum)
     2. First regional forum, OECD meeting, Istanbul
  4. October 2007 - Second Regional forum, China
• 2008
  1. Mid-March 2008 - Second global forum, featuring commitments from industry and international organizations to pursue specific standardization efforts - Geneva, Switzerland
  2. June 2008 - Third regional forum, Brazil
  3. October 2008 - Fourth regional forum, South Africa
  4. December 2008 - Fifth regional Forum, India
• 2009 - Mid-March 2009 - Third global forum and presentation of Initiative's global results - ECOSOC Chamber, UN, NY

Lead organization

Wireless Internet Institute and World Times, Inc.

Partners

1. Secretariat for the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
2. United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)