ITU will facilitate a Special
Session on “Fostering Digital Innovation Ecosystem for
Accessible Europe”, which will be held virtually as a co-conferencing
session (Channel 3) of the Zero Project Conference 2021, on 10 February 2021 from 17:00 to 18:00 CET. This session is held within the framework of the Accessible Europe initiative, more precisely its work stream on
fostering of the ICT centric innovation ecosystem and “Regional
Competition for Innovative Digital Solutions for an Accessible Europe 2021”.
ICTs have a
vital role for ALL people's empowerment and represent an enabler for inclusion
in society. For persons with disabilities (PwDs), accessible,
innovative digital solutions remove barriers and assist this community in
gaining independence in their daily life.
The current pandemic reveals the pre-existing inequalities
faced by persons with disabilities (PwDs) and highlights the increasing
importance of ICTs accessibility as barrier removers which help PwDs live an
independent life, participate in cultural events or political processes,
benefit from education or entertainment, or obtain a job.
Six European innovators will present their innovative solutions and will join
this interactive panel discussion
to explore what is
needed to further
strengthen the ecosystem supporting the development
of the ICT accessibility innovations. It will also explore and cover the
types of issues, solutions and challenges these organizations faced when
starting up, adhering to this year’s conference theme of ICT & Employment
to provide a deeper understanding
of the challenges and opportunities faced in developing Accessible ICT
solutions.
Please note that this event will benefit from
International Sign Language interpretation and live captioning.
