GDI Hub at the GREAT summit 2017

Great summit world health organisation
Last week the GDI Hub was privileged to contriubute to the World Health Organisations (WHO) GREAT summit on Assistive Technology. Exploring Global Research, Innovation, and Education in Assistive Technology (GREAT) the event brought together top global researchers, innovators and educators in assistive technology policy, products, personnel, provision and use.
 

GLOBAL DISABILITY INNOVATION MOVEMENT LAUNCHES IN EAST LONDON

  • Over 250 people from across the world attended the first Global Disability Innovation Summit, which will now become a bi-annual event
  • Global Disability Innovation Hub will play host to the International Committee of the Red Cross ‘Enable Makeathon 2’ in London, launching with a Parliamentary Reception on 4th December

Disability Innovation Summit; what a few days that turned out to be

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone the attended, spoke at or exhibited in the Disability Innovation Summit 2017; it was an incredibly inspiring event and we are so grateful for all the support and feedback we have received. 

Over the course of the summit we were privileged to hear from 70 brilliant speakers, each sharing their knowledge, experiences and stories. The range of topics blew us away, as did the level of engagement from guests and delegates. 

Digital Resistance: A Global Journey in Human Augmentation

Hosted by the Digital Anthropology Lab (DALab), London College of Fashion, UAL, Digital Resistance is a 1-day symposium conference bringing together artists, digital researchers, fashion designers, robotics experts, material science engineers, and global entrepreneurs to explore emerging themes of digital materiality and technology-augmented lived experiences.

London Tech Week and Beyond...

It has been a very busy few weeks for the Global Disability Innovation Hub team with lots of activity and exciting news about the new GDI Hub Board.
 

Unique initiative using technology and innovation to improve the lives of disabled people around the world

Today London Mayor Sadiq Khan joined Lord Holmes of Richmond MBE and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE to launch London Tech Week and announce Lord Holmes of Richmond MBE as Chair of the Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub) Board. 
 
Alongside Lord Holmes, the GDI Hub has recruited 16 board members from three continents. Over two-thirds of the board members are disabled, underlining the GDI Hub’s commitment to amplify the voices and talents of disabled people.
 

This Week

This is the weekly news update from the GDI Hub.

This Week

 

Hello and welcome to the weekly news update from the GDI Hub team!

 

This Week

 

This week has been a big week in the world of being disabled as Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has released a report which is based around six key areas of disabled people’s lives, they cover: Education, Work, Standard of living, Health and care, Justice and Detention and Participation and Identity.

The whole idea of the report was to make government aware to the problems disabled people face throughout their lives and how the ever changing laws and rules have a huge impact on them as well.

Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation

The Africa Prize encourages ambitious and talented sub-Saharan African engineers from all disciplines to apply their skills to develop scalable solutions to local challenges, highlighting the importance of engineering as an enabler of improved quality of life and economic development. Crucial commercialisation support is awarded to a shortlist of innovative applicants through a six-month period of training and mentoring.

Being Disabled In Britain

A report has been produced on ‘Being disabled in Britain’ by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (Being Disabled In Britain) on 03 April 2017; the report is based around six key areas of disabled people’s lives and are evidence based findings, they cover: Education, Work, Standard of living, Health and care, Justice and Detention and Participation and Identity.

Education

Exciting new Assistive Tech role

Leonard Cheshire Disability, one of our fantastic founding partners, is recruiting a new Director of Assistive Technology. 

We're excited to see this area develop and look forward to working together to create brilliant solutions that can have global reach! 

Role details below: 

Director of Assistive Technology

One in six people in the UK will have a disability in their lifetime and we want to make sure that they have the opportunity to live their lives to their full potential.

Grand Challenge Prize: Transformative Tech Opportunity

The GDI Hub are delighted to annonce a workshop and prize for our partner insitutions as part of the Grand Challanege into Transformative Technology. 

PhD students from UCL and Loughborough University and researchers and PhD students from London College of Fashion, can now apply to attend a two day Disability Innovation Prize Workshop on the 16th and 17th March 2017.

Summit: Call for Papers and Ideas now open

Our call for papers is now live. We're looking for papers, projects, ideas, experiences and innovations to feed into our Disability Innovation Summit. We particularly welcome submissions from disabled people, innovators, young people and collaborative groups.

Submissions will be used in the following ways:

-          The most pioneering, interesting or life changing submissions will be invited to present to the Summit

-          We will select panel members and break out leads from entries, with an emphasis on creating diverse inputs

THIS WEEK: PROSTHETICS, ACCESS AND A HACK - 26 JAN 17

There’s been a lot happening this week! The GDI Hub team went along to the Office for Disability Issues hack today, a great way to share ideas and learnings. We’ve also been planning for our first ever Disability Innovation Summit, coming in July. Watch this space for more information.

THIS WEEK: WHEELCHAIR BUS SPACES, A BRAILLE TABLET AND DISABILITY SPORT - 19th Jan 17

With disability access hitting the headlines this week, the importance of inclusive design has been in much discussion. Public transport is such an important part of everyday life and the more people that are able to access it the better.

As technology develops our transport networks, buildings and cities there is a huge opportunity to create a more inclusive society – not just for disabled people, but for everyone. We know innovation is central to this change and we’re excited about what comes next.

GDI Hub is recruiting a Digital Apprentice

You will be helping to develop the Hubs communication activities using its website, social media, marketing and analytics while providing general assistance to the team. This is an opportunity for someone who enjoys the digital space and is passionate about improving the lives of people with disabilities.

Disability Innovation Board: Recruitment of Chair and Members

Do you have a passion for innovation, design, diversity or development and want to disrupt the world of disability? 

We are looking for talented disabled people from different backgrounds with the experience, influence and ideas necessary to make a huge success of the Global Disability Innovation Hub, based at the new University College London (UCL) campus on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, UK.