Using technology to build an inclusive society at the Enable Makeathon

Engineers, innovators, students and people with disabilities came together as part of Enable Makeathon 2.0, to discuss the use of technology to build a more inclusive society.

This is an initiative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and its partners, and this year’s focus is on crowd-sourcing prototype products and solutions to address the challenges regarding accessibility and employability of people with different disabilities, ranging from vision, hearing and mobility.

Sixteen teams have made it to the co-creation camp, out of which four are from Bengaluru.
The idea was to work towards assessing the needs of the disabled living in remote and difficult to access areas. Once these challenges are identified, they will be put to the teams to find answers to.

Nearly a 100 teams from around the world took part in 2017 and 16 from India have been shortlisted. These teams will go through an intensive six-week workshop, where they will be given help and solutions in every way – financial, technical, logistics and NGO support. The products will then undergo further refinement and testing and the final three winners will get an incubator grant.

The Enable Makeathon co-creation camps will take place in Bengaluru, hosted by the ICRC and in London, hosted by the Global Disability Innovation Hub and University College London.

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