IGF 2015

Mobile telephony, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are being harnessed in increasingly innovative ways to enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities, expand their access to the Internet, and enhance their participation in the Internet governance ecosystem. In coming years, ever-growing portions of the estimated one billion people (15 % of the world’s population) living with a disability potentially will have the technological means to avail themselves of the richness of the Internet and make important, productive contributions to the digital economy. 

The potential for greater inclusiveness provided by mobile and IoT is all the more compelling for emerging economies, which according to the World Health Organization, are home to 80 % of the world’s disabled. Yet, many of these economies have yet to tap the enormous potential of these technologies owing to challenges related to infrastructure and networks, capacity building, Internet governance, privacy and security policies. 

This Roundtable discussion will enable speakers to share best practices and strategies for deploying mobile, IoT, and other emerging technologies to increase accessibility support and services for those disabilities. The speakers also will examine infrastructural and technical requirements and consider what needs to be done – in terms of financial support, policy and regulatory frameworks -- to enable emerging economies to more effectively engaged the under-utilized talents of important population minority.