The ongoing work on the INIT’s research study pertaining towards People with Disabilities (PWDs) enticed interest from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Which is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region and comprises of 53 Member States and 9 Associate Members, with a geographical scope that stretches from Turkey in the west to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in the east, and from the Russian Federation in the north to New Zealand in the south, the region is home to 4.1 billion people, or two thirds of the world’s population.

INIT and UNESCAP share a membership overlap of around 15-member states. Based on these common areas of interest meetings were held in December 2017, in Islamabad, Pakistan between Mr. Johnathan Wong, Mr. Tahir Naeem and Dr. Akber Gardezi. Different avenues of collaboration were discussed, and it was decided that INIT could facilitate in the formation of policies for the inclusion of the disabled.

Currently the subsequent discussions have led to the development of a background note to showcase policies and issues related to inclusive technology and innovation. The note developed by INIT links to UNESCAP’s work on inclusive technologies for people with disabilities to the regional commitments made under the regional Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific.

The focus is on Goal 3 of the Incheon strategy, which aims to “Enhance access to the physical environment, public transportation, knowledge, information and communication”, and has specific targets:

· Enhance the accessibility and usability of information and communications services

· Halve the proportion of persons with disabilities who need but do not have appropriate assistive devices or products

The mid-point review on the status of implementation of Goal 3 indicates that accessibility of knowledge, information and communications technology and associated services should be addressed more explicitly and comprehensively in policies and programmes. It also shows that persons with disabilities have limited access to assistive devices in their daily life.

The background note prepared by INIT based upon the data collected from the ongoing study would form a precursor for discussions in the forthcoming meeting of policy experts being organized by UNESCAP in August 2018

The ongoing work on the INIT’s research study pertaining towards People with Disabilities (PWDs) enticed interest from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) which is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region and comprises of 53 Member States and 9 Associate Members. With a geographical scope that stretches from Turkey in the west to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in the east, and from the Russian Federation in the north to New Zealand in the south, the region is home to 4.1 billion people, or two thirds of the world’s population.

INIT and UNESCAP share a membership overlap of around 15-member states. Based on these common areas of interest meetings were held in December 2017 in Islamabad, Pakistan between Mr. Johnathan Wong, Mr. Tahir Naeem and Dr. Akber Gardezi. Different avenues of collaboration were discussed, and it was decided that INIT could facilitate in the formation of policies for the inclusion of the disabled.

Currently the subsequent discussions have led to the development of a background note to showcase policies and issues related to inclusive technology and innovation. The note developed by INIT links to UNESCAP’s work on inclusive technologies for people with disabilities to the regional commitments made under the regional Incheon strategy to “Make the Right Real” for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific.

The focus is on Goal 3 of the Incheon strategy, which aims to “Enhance access to the physical environment, public transportation, knowledge, information and communication”, and has the following specific targets:

· Enhance the accessibility and usability of information and communications services; and

· Halve the proportion of persons with disabilities who need but do not have appropriate assistive devices or products.

The mid-point review on the status of implementation of Goal 3 indicates that accessibility of knowledge, information and communications technology and associated services should be addressed more explicitly and comprehensively in policies and programs. It also shows that persons with disabilities have limited access to assistive devices in their daily life.

The background note prepared by INIT based upon the data collected from the ongoing study was a precursor for discussions in the regional consultation on Inclusive Technology and Innovation Policies organized by UNESCAP on August 28 – 29, 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The INIT convened a consultative meeting on December 17, 2014, Serena Hotel, Islamabad with participation of a select group of ICT experts who had gathered at Islamabad for the said meeting and for another two events, stated below:

a) International Workshop on ‘Applications of ICTs in Education, Healthcare, and Agriculture’, Dec 15-16, 2014 - an event convened by the INIT, Islamabad.

b) International Conference on Frontiers of Information Technology, Dec. 17-19, 2014 – an event convened by the CIIT, Islamabad.

The meeting was chaired by Dr. S.M. Junaid Zaidi, President INIT. It was aimed at inviting suggestions to enhance the role and outreach of different programs of INIT.

The President INIT welcomed the participants and briefed about the background and perspective of the meeting. Engr. Tahir Naeem, Coordinator/Executive Director INIT, gave a detailed presentation and briefed the participants about the programs and activities of INIT. The participants appreciated the efforts of INIT in capacity building and in sensitizing the integration and diffusion of ICTs in the Islamic World. Several suggestions for new interventions and engagements by the INIT were brought forth.

In 2016, the INIT initiated a collaboration with UNESCO Chair in ICT for Development with the support of Prof. Tim Unwin, (Chairholder, UNESCO Chair on ICT4D) developed a 5 -Year Concept Note for People with Disabilities. Realizing and acknowledging INIT’s contribution in the area of ICTs, the UNESCO Chair joined hands with INIT under its program of ICT4D and INIT entered into this collaboration as an official partner organization with UNESCO Chair in ICT4D.

Under the above said collaborative initiative, the INIT launched research project entitled ‘Development of a Gap Analysis and Roadmap to Meet the Technology Needs of People with Disability and Special Needs in OIC Member States’. The research project was as an impetus to the already developed 5-year concept note in 2016. Mr. David Banes, a leading expert on assistive technologies and the person behind setting up the Mada Center for People with Disabilities in Doha, State of Qatar was also taken on board as a project consultant.

The devised study is based upon the commitments enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability (UNCRPD) which would provide a framework within which detailed analysis of the role of ICT’s could be completed. The study is aimed at defining the elements of an accessibility infrastructure and review the availability of such elements within and across OIC member states, identifying which states are taking concrete steps to deliver elements of the infrastructure, and how that experience could support emerging services and products in other states.

The data collection tools were developed from June 2017 to September 2017, and the formal data collection and field research was initiated in October 2017 continuing till April 2018. The study is in the process of conducting a gap analysis of the current state of policy across five pilot OIC Member states namely Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Malaysia, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, State of Qatar, and Republic of Tunisia. Policy, resources and initiatives that support the use of ICT by people with a disability in the areas of public policy, awareness and communications, advice and assessment, training and professional development, provision of assistive technologies, technical support availability, e-accessibility and access to digital content, research and development, and innovation.

The INIT Team comprising of Prof. Tim Unwin, Mr. David Banes, Mr. Tahir Naeem, Dr. Akber Gardezi and Mr. Muhammad Atiq-ur-Rehman is involved in the project. Field visits were conducted for a series of semi-structured individual/focus group interviews to assess the current capabilities of the identified stake holders from October 2017 to April 2018. The last visit to the outskirts of Sousse was conducted to revalidate the data collected earlier in November 2017.

The INIT was invited to participate in the Regional Consultation on Technology and Innovation Policies by UNESCAP. The event was conducted on the sidelines of the 2nd Session of the Committee on ICT and STI to which INIT was also invited.

The aim was to facilitate the UNESCAP’s new Inclusive Technology and Innovation Policies program that will support governments across the region to design and implement inclusive innovation policies by conducting policy research, building policy making capacities and supporting knowledge exchange.

A total of 42 participants, including government officials of 18 member states, academics, the regional civil society organizations and practitioners from international organizations were part of the consultation. The Regional Consultation on Inclusive Technology and Innovation Policy mainly focused on the following:

· Sharing experiences and lessons learnt regarding inclusive innovation policy;

· Identifying emerging challenges and opportunities to encourage, enable and emulate more inclusive innovation; and

· dentifying inclusive innovation policy issues that require further exploration.

The outcomes of the regional consultation were presented at the 2nd session of the Committee on Information and Communications Technology, Science, Technology and Innovation. The presentation given by INIT at the regional consultation focused on the use of technology by the disabled.

The INIT was approached by Department of International Development (DFID), Pakistan in pursuit of developing a five-year Country Development Strategy for Pakistan. The aim was to conduct a diagnostic looking at Pakistan’s current digital priorities and future. The INIT team comprising of Mr. Tahir Naeem and Dr. Akber Gardezi visited the DFID Pakistan office and briefed the executive management of DFID on the digital priorities of Pakistan and the support required for the next five years.

The INIT team appreciated the DFID’s focus on technology as a way through which Pakistan’s development can be enhanced. The INIT further suggested an approach focusing primarily on some of the most marginalized groups i.e. people with disabilities, women and girls, those living in rural areas, and refugees. As in many countries there have been ICT initiatives that focused on education or health, but rarely an integrated and holistic approach was adopted for the needs of the marginalized communities. Hence, it was suggested to focus on a holistic digital approach for the needs of these communities as being part of the upcoming strategy.

Whilst discussions entailed, it was also suggested that DFID could make a significant impact in Pakistan in helping the government address the needs of vast numbers of people with disabilities in the country through the use of digital technologies.

INIT also expressed concerns about many of the ways in which ICTs have been used in development issues on the past in the field of education. One of the concerns discussed in detail was the lack of credible data and it was proposed that the new DFID’s ICT-education hub could be used to gather evidence. As the real concern about the lack of reliable evidence about what works in ICT for development leads to downgrading the quality of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) in the sector.

The remarks by INIT were appreciated by the attending members of the DFID team and triggered an interactive Question and Answer session at the end.

The INIT also participated in the 2nd Vice Chancellors Forum 2013 held on September 23 – 24, 2013 at Islamabad Pakistan. The 2-Day Vice Chancellor’s Forum was convened on the theme of “Universities in the Islamic World: Challenges of Internationalization”. The event was jointly organized by the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology; the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO); Higher Education Commission, Pakistan and the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of Pakistan.

Taking cognizance of the interest of the participants of the 1st VC Forum held in 2012, the INIT actively predicated in the special exhibition of VC Forum 2013 wherein programs and activities of higher education institutions, S&T/R&D organizations in Pakistan were presented. The INIT participated in the two day event and presented / briefed about its programs and activities to the VC Forum participants arrived from over 300 higher education institutions in the Islamic world. A dedicated exhibition stall maintained by the INIT provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the activities it performed during the preceding years as well as also briefed the participants about the opportunities available under its different programs

The INIT also participated in the 3rd Vice Chancellors Forum 2015 held on February 23 – 24, 2015 at Islamabad Pakistan. The 2-Day Vice Chancellor’s Forum was convened on the theme of “Universities in the Islamic World: Facing Global Challenges”. The event was jointly organized by the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad; the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of Pakistan; the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) and the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW), Morocco.

Taking cognizance of the interest of the participants of the 1st VC Forum held in 2012, and the 2nd VC Forum held in 2013, the INIT actively predicated in the special exhibition of VC Forum 2015 wherein programs and activities of higher education institutions, Science and Technology/Research and Development organizations in Pakistan were presented. The INIT participated in the two day event and presented / briefed about its programs and activities to the VC Forum participants arrived from over 150 higher education institutions in the Islamic world. A dedicated exhibition stall maintained by the INIT provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the activities it performed during the preceding years as well as also briefed the participants about the opportunities available under its different programs.