Overview
Conservative estimates calculate the number of people with disabilities at 650 million worldwide1. While other disability organizations cite the actual number as closer to 1 billion2, people with disabilities still represent the world's single largest minority group3. As social, economic, technological and legislative factors change and converge globally, cultivating a more digitally inclusive society is becoming critical, particularly in countries like India, which must find innovative solutions to address three very different issues — citizens with disabilities, a large rural population, and a burgeoning technology services and software development industry that touches people all over the world.
According to the World Bank, between 40 and 80 million people in India live with some form of disability4. As a result, accessibility has become a major issue as India faces the monumental task of establishing a culture of accommodation for both its citizens and the global customers it serves. To help support and facilitate India's progression toward creating an inclusive society, IBM launched the IBM India Human Ability and Accessibility Center on November 30, 2007.
Located in New Delhi at the IBM India Research Lab, the new center's mission is to enable human capability through innovation, so everyone can reach their potential, regardless of age or ability. The center will deliver innovative accessibility solutions to empower IBM's customers and partners working on solving the industry-wide problem of making information accessible to a greater number of people, including the aging population, those with sensory, mobility, and cognitive differences, and many more.
IBM understands that its vision for India cannot be accomplished by a single enterprise or initiative and plans to leverage the Human Ability and Accessibility Center in India to cultivate strategic relationships to foster collaboration with key government bodies on accessibility-related policy and standards in India, and work to address the diverse requirements of accessibility stakeholders, such as non-government organizations (NGOs), academia, advocacy groups, and others, throughout the country and worldwide.
"I believe this will be the beginning of a significant partnership between the public and private sectors that will have a profound impact on accessibility initiatives throughout India and around the world", said Frances West, Director, IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center.
The Human Ability and Accessibility Center in India represents a significant addition to IBM's accessibility focus, which includes nine other centers strategically located in North and South America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Situated in a country that is still largely rural but developing at a rapid rate due to its leadership in delivery services on a global basis, the Human Ability and Accessibility Center in India is in a unique position to help local, regional, national and international businesses and government entities build and shape a truly open and digitally inclusive society. And while many developed countries must often begin accessibility integration at the legislative level, India has the resources, potential, and opportunity to bypass accessibility as a legislative compliance issue and progress directly toward the goal of realizing accessibility in society as a whole.
According to Mr. Shanker Annaswamy, IBM Managing Director, India and South Asia, "India faces a growing need for inclusive development that fundamentally depends on addressing social, economic, and physical disadvantages and creates opportunities for every individual to realize the potential of his or her abilities. Globally, and in India, IBM champions accessibility needs by bringing technologies and innovations that empower people with disabilities and socially disadvantaged through initiatives such as the Human Ability and Accessibility Center."
India has a rich environment for accessibility adoption:
- Accessibility can help India to address the needs of many of its citizens. For example, there is a need to reach large rural populations and provide services to support people with low literacy levels—these needs can be addressed, in part, by accessible technology.
- Accessible solutions can help unleash the value of the untapped talent pool of people with disabilities, place more people over time into the job market contributing to India's long term economic development.
- India is a software development superpower that, by embracing the idea of creating accessible technology and tools, can accelerate the adoption of accessibility and touch the lives of customers all around the world.
Ms. West summed up the launch by commenting, "India is a technology leader with the opportunity to be a catalyst for great change in the area of accessibility. Together, we have a unique opportunity—an opportunity to begin constructing a new vision of India that is fully networked with the world... an India that has the technology to develop and benefit from the skills, talents, and expertise of all its citizens... an India without barriers. Today we have the opportunity to envision and build a new tomorrow."
For more information, please contact:
Felicity Spowart
IBM Research Program Director - Human Ability & Accessibility Center
Strategy & Planning Marketing Manager
frawlins@us.ibm.com
Anil U. Joshi
IBM Sales & Distribution, Financial Services Sector and Human Ability and Accessibility Center, India
anijoshi@in.ibm.com