ICT for Persons with Disabilities
The ICT for Persons with Disabilities initiative arose out of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union’s (CTU) belief that Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) are for all and that they can enrich the lives of Persons with Disabilities, in particular.
Background
The CTU’s efforts began in June of 2013 with its attendance at the Washington-based m-Enabling Summit (for Mobile Enabling), organised by the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICT (G3ICT), in cooperation with the International Telecommunication Union and the Federal Communications Commission. The Summit (https://g3ict.org/what-we-do/m-enabling-summit) facilitates the interaction between app developers, technology providers, operators, advocates, government, accessibility experts and services providers to further promote innovations in accessibility for persons with disabilities.
Following this, the CTU began holding ICTs for Persons with Disabilities Workshops regionally. The first was a policy and high-level issues workshop in collaboration with G3ict (the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs), held in Montego Bay, Jamaica in December of 2013. A decision was then made that the CTU could make an impact by reaching out directly to persons with disabilities and demonstrating the possibilities that ICT opened up for them in a hands on manner. And do so in a cost-effective manner, the workshops are generally held at the same time that the CTU holds its Statutory Meetings in March and September.
Workshops
ICT for Persons with Disabilities workshops are conducted in CTU member states at schools and organisations catering to Persons with Disabilities. Facilitators, one deaf and one blind, demonstrate the available technology and attendees are invited to engage with the devices in a hands-on manner.
A number of workshops for persons with disabilities (for both adults and children who are blind or deaf) have since been as follows:
- Suriname, April 2014
- St. Kitts and Nevis, September 2014
- Grenada, March 2015
- St. Lucia, March 2016
- Barbados, September 2016
- The Bahamas, December 2016
- Antigua and Barbuda, March 2017
- St. Vincent and the Grenadines, March 2018
- Guyana, July 2018
- St. Kitts and Nevis, September 2014
- Suriname, September 2019
Member states and facilitators are subsequently invited to continue the workshops.
Funding
ICT for Persons with Disabilities is funded by the CTU in partnership with Member States.
