A visit to the ONCE Foundation’s technological research laboratory, EspacIA, evokes the motto of this institution’s performance: ‘Innovation with Impact: Empowering capabilities, Transforming lives’. Progress is underway that, through strategies and projects aimed at creating public-private collaborative networks, ratify the entity’s status as a European reference in terms of accessibility. As Jesús Hernández-Galán, director of Accessibility and Innovation, highlights, “we are promoting investment in social impact through an accelerator for startups whose goods or services improve the quality of life of people with disabilities. In this sense, we already have more than twenty startups accelerated and 12 million euros raised.
This environment, inaugurated in 2019, hosts work and joint creation workshops intended, as the institution highlights, “for researchers, experts in the entity’s accessibility and technicians from other companies interested in advancing the design of products and services that take into account the needs of all people. Activity that is complemented with training courses aimed at improving the technological skills of people with disabilities, as well as training in accessibility for professionals without disabilities.
EspacIA has developed guide robots (managed via app, in the ‘AccessRobots’ project) that help people in spaces such as airports, hospitals and train stations, in addition to continuous activity in 3D printing, with the aim of creating various ‘advertised’ products. hoc’.
It is part of a work that, as Hernández-Galán highlights: «It has made us a European reference in accessibility. For example, the European Commission has entrusted us, as leaders of a working group, with the implementation and promotion of the European Accessibility Center (AccessibleEU), which is one of the most relevant commitments of the European disability strategy. In fact, this very week they participated, within the framework of this initiative at Fitur, in the workshop ‘Taking advantage of the benefits of inclusive destinations for companies and people’ organized in collaboration with UN Tourism, ENAT (European Network for Accessible Tourism) and Ilunion Accessibility.
In the case of tourism, Fundación ONCE has agreements with the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization) and the standardization entity UNE and ISO (International Organization for Standardization) so that there is a standard that refers to accessibility in the same terms throughout. the world. And this has happened, on the ground, with the project for the Camino de Santiago (with Microsoft and Geko Navsat), so that, thanks to binaural sounds and ‘tracking’ through virtual beacons, people with disabilities can know where they are direction they should take a turn, if there is a fountain nearby, which church they are passing, etc. A development that can be extended to areas such as greenways or natural parks.
‘Technoinclusion’
The Atech seal, based on its own methodology based on European regulations, is, for its part, a certification to prepare studies and carry out studies for third parties (“we value the work that the big brands are doing so that their electronic products, such as mobile phones, televisions, and household appliances can be used by all people. “A whole task for the benefit of society… a lot of work to do: 15% of the world’s population, more than 1,000 million people, live with some type of of disability.
More initiatives: Includes studies on disability awareness through augmented reality; Alexa allows you to analyze the psychological state and recommends audios aimed at minimizing feelings of anxiety; Iana (voice cloning); Pulse, which allows you to call the elevator using your mobile phone, or Gossa, which evaluates the ‘soft skills’ of people with intellectual disabilities through AI. Walkerpisa facilitates the transit of people with disabilities within large urban spaces; Intelidata, on accessibility; Accessmeet, a videoconferencing platform to ensure that the different communication platforms that were born as a result of the pandemic are fully accessible and guarantee the labor participation of people with disabilities, etc.
In the field of entrepreneurship, Fundación ONCE also promotes the growth of startups with social impact, with PwC as a strategic partner, and with a regular presence in forums such as South Summit, Startup Ole and Social Foundation Nest, in which it presents the evolution of projects like those mentioned. And as a projection in training, they have, within the framework of the ‘For Digital Talent’ program, the ‘XTD training kit’, offered to the main technology companies operating in Spain.
One more step for artificial intelligence to contribute to reducing barriers: according to the conclusions of the ‘Employability and Digital Talent Study 2024’ of the VASS Foundation, “the implementation of inclusion programs has increased the productivity of companies by 15 % and 20%».
Another initiative worth highlighting is the institution’s next event, on January 29, in the presentation of the collaboration agreement between the Ellis Foundation and ONCE Foundation ‘For an ethical, accessible, diverse and bias-free AI’, a joint action “to work together on Artificial Intelligence, Accessibility and Diversity.
José Luís Martínez Donoso, general director of ONCE Foundation; Nuria Oliver, director of the ELLIS Alicante Foundation, and the director of Accessibility and Innovation of the ONCE Foundation, have confirmed their presence in this declaration of intent so that technology and innovation increasingly contribute to a more inclusive, fairer society.
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