SESSION 1 - INTRODUCTION TO THE ACCESSIBILITY
AGENDA
Overview of the Toolkit for Policy Makers on
e-Accessibility & Service Needs for Persons with
Disabilities
Ms. Susan Schorr,Head, a.i. Special Initiative Division (SIS),
ITU
Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT)
"Accessibility" in the Biwago Millenium Framework
for Action, the regional policy guideline on persons
with disabilities
Ms. Aiko Akiyama, Officer-in-Charge and
Social Affairs Officer,
Social Policy and Population Section, Social
Development Division, UNESCAP
Needs of ICT Accessibility: Challenges and Issues
from User Perspective
Mr. Sawang Srisom, Assistant Regional Development
Officer, Disabled Peoples' International
Asia-Pacific (DPI/AP) and
Ms. Nantanoot Suvarnawoot, Ph.D. Student, Indiana
University, USA
When we look up to the principles of the Universal Services Obligations (USO) and look at what has been happening in the real world,
we would realize problems in the provision of accessible and affordable solutions for people with disabilities who consume ICT.
The problems can be described as follows:
Availability: People with disabilities often find it difficult to seek ICT-related tools or services that are specific needs. For example,
persons with severe disabilities who cannot use their hands find it difficult to purchase domestic telephones that meet their needs
(operation without hands). In rural areas where people with disabilities have no access to relevant information and infrastructure,
this problem is more acute.
Accessibility: where there are provisions of ICT-related tools or services, there are still accessibility and usability problems that
may prohibit people with disabilities to fully make effective use of them. This is due to existing barriers in physical environments,
attitude of stakeholders, regulation/legislation /policy/culture/tradition and information which need to be removed.
Affordability: ICT-related tools or services are still expensive according to the rules of demand and supply. In many countries,
these have to be imported from outside. More importantly, people with disabilities in many countries are mostly poor. Even though
they have the needs of ICT to enhance their quality of lives, they cannot afford those tools or services. This creates a digital
divide amongst the haves and have-nots.
11:30 — 12:30
SESSION 2 - ROLE OF ICTs IN ACCESSIBILITY FOR
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) and
Legal Perspective for Persons with Disabilities
Mr. Monthian Buntan,
Senator, Government of
Kingdom of Thailand
Defining "Disability", "Accessibility", and ICT
under the CRPD
Axel Leblois,Executive Director,
G3ict
ICTs for Persons with Disabilities in Thailand
Professor Dr. Pairash Thajchayapong,Senior Advisor and Specialist, the National Science and Technology
Development Agency (NSTDA), Thailand
Overview of the Toolkit for Policy Makers on
e-Accessibility & Service Needs for Persons with
Disabilities
Ms. Susan Schorr,Head, a.i. Special Initiative Division (SIS),
ITU
Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT)
13:30 — 15:00
SESSION 3 - PUBLIC POLICIES AND SOCIAL AND
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF ICT ACCESSIBILITY FOR PERSONS
WITH DISABILITIES
Overview of Public Procurement in Promoting ICT
Accessibility
Cynthia D. Waddell,Executive
Director, International Center for Disability
Resources on the Internet (ICDRI)
Public procurement is the process used by public agencies to acquire goods, serviecs, works and other suppliers.
The procurement of accessible ICTs, as a social justice vehicle, is a modern development in government contract
agreements. Governments use public procurement policies to achieve socio-economic goals in at least five ways:
to stimulate national economic activity;
to protect against foreign competition;
to improve competition in certain economic sectors;
to remedy regional disparities; and,
to achieve specific social policy goals.
Three pre-requisites for Accessible ICTs:
Accessible Design - Accessibility has to be
built into mainstream prodcuts and services, preferably at inception
Availability - Accessble products and services must be
offered to users
Affordability - Price for access to prodcuts and
services cannot be prohibitive
Four steps in procurement process of accessible ICTs
Step 1 - Request for Tenders: Example of Tender Language for Accessible ICTs
Step 2 - Assessment of Vendors & Tenders: Tools for Evaluating Vendors & their Accessibility Solution
Step 3 - Product Development or Customization, Implementation and Evaluation: Example of User Testing Requirement
Step 4 - Ongoing Maintenance & Product upgrades for Accessibility: Example of Contract Language
Accessible ICT Mandates
World Summit on Information Society i.e. Geneva Plan of Action (2003) and Tunis Agenda (2005)
UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities i.e. Definitions and Articles 4, 9, 31, 32, & 35
National Laws & Policies
UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities - National Procurement Policies
Even if a State does not have procurement legislation for accessible ICTs, there are at least 10 public policy mechanisms that can be utilized:
Examples from Request for Tenders Process and Conditions for Delivery
Industry Accessible ICT Design Standards
Procurement Legislation:
Australia; Japan; United States; Hungary; Lithuania.
Roadmap for Procurement Legislation
If you have no procurement policies or legislation, we will look at 15 steps in the Roadmap for Procurement Legislation Steps can be adjusted
due to the unique legal, governmental and institutional structures in your State.
Best Pratices - Accessible Procurement Toolkits:Canada; Irelan; United States
Procurers of Accessible ICT Benefit from the Use of Procurement Toolkits
Toolkits help procurers to understand accessibility and write effective Requests for Tenders
Toolkits assist in meeting legislation and/or public policy requirements and
Toolkits help procurers to set accessibility requirements for products and services
Resources
Workshop Bibliography includes
ITU/G3ict Policy Maker Toolkit on eAccessibility & Service Needs for Persons with Disabilities
Economic Imperative of Social Inclusion
Mr. Gerard Ellis,
Special Advisor to the
Universal Access Committee of the European
Disability Forum (EDF)
The generally accepted figure is that at least 10% of the population of the world have a recognisable disability. As the population greys,
this percentage is likely to increase. In the past, people with disabilities were told that it would cost too much and be too much trouble
for organisations to adapt their products and services to accomodate the needs of a small number of potential customers. This presentation
will investigate, from the point of view of a disabled user of ICTs, the economic benefit of including the needs of people with disabilities
in technological products and services. It will do so in relation to ICT designers, developers and managers. A special emphasis will be given
to eGovernment products and services.
The conclusion is that people with disabilities and older people gain disproportionately from such inclusion, but that all the stakeholders
investigated benefit. More than this, all of society benefits. The incorporation of Universal Design early in the development process is the
key.
Policies and Activities on Increasing ICT
Accessibility in Korea
Mr. Joon-Ho Hyun,
Korea Agency for Digital
Opportunity and Promotion (KADO), Republic of
Korea
Promoting Vocational Training and Employment for
Persons with Disabilities
Dr. Ow Chee Chung,Executive Director, Society
for the Physically Disabled (SPD), Singapore
15:30 — 17:00
SESSION 4 - PROMOTING ACCESSIBLE
TELECOMMUNICATIONS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
ICT Standards in Promoting Accessibility
Dr. Alexandra Gaspari,
ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector
NTTdocomo's Mobile Phones for Persons with
Disabilities
Mr. Ryuji Nagata,
Manager of Product Department,
NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan
In his presentation, Mr Nagata will speak about: (1)
Japanese cell phone market; (2) Universal deisgn
approach in NTTdocomo; (3)What is Raku-Raku phone?;
(4) New features of Raku-Raku phone; (5) Bone
condyction receiver "Sound Leaf".
Co-regulatory Codes on Accessibility in the
Telecommunications Sector
Mr. Alan Chalmers,
Manager, Consumer Interests,
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)
The regulation of telecommunications disability equipment in Australia has been a difficult issue. Most of the work has taken place in
the self-regulatory area and involved requiring the provision of information to consumers.
Recent developments have led to a considerable improvement in the type and quality of information available to consumers. These improvements
have been largely generated by the internationalisation of the equipment supplier industry’s response in response to the efforts of
representatives of people with disabilities.
Broadcasting Technologies for Persons with
Disabilties: Current Services and Research
Activities in Japan
Dr. Tohru Takagi,
Senior Research Engineer, Science and Technology Research
Laboratories, NHK, Japan
Broadcasting is very popular media for everyone to get information, knowledge, fun and so on. Broadcasters have a responsibility for
transmitting their programs to viewers independently not only from “regional difference” but also from “individual difference”.
This presentation discusses topics of current services and the technologies.
(1)Closed-captions for hearing impaired person;
(2) Audio description for visually impaired person;
(3)Speech rate conversion (SRC) for the elderly and visually impaired
person
Off-line closed-captions have been accomplished for almost all canned programs such as drama, documentary and entertainment. On-line
live captions for news, sports, etc. are important for further expansion of closed-captions. To do this, automatic speech recognition
is very effective, especially in Japanese.
Aging Society is progressing rapidly in Japan. Everyone’s audibility degrades due to aging. SRC can slow down the speech in program
for the elderly who find it too rapidly. TV and radio receiver equipped with SRC have manufactured. Website service of radio news
with SRC also has been provided. NHK’s SRC can speed up the speech more intelligibly than conventional speeding-up method for visually
impaired persons who hope quick listening to get voice information.
Further research and development are necessary to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities. NHK Labs have various research
activities for future services. Cost and manpower are important issues to broadcasters, therefore the technologies are required to
reduce them. It is expected that accessibility will be enriched by collaboration of broadcasting and telecommunication.
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
09:00 — 10:30
SESSION 5 - PROMOTING ACCESSIBLE
TELECOMMUNICATIONS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES -
COUNTRY EXPERIENCES
Australia's National Relay Service (NRS)
Ms. Silvia Superina,
Manager, Service Access and
Management, Australian Communications and Media
Authority (ACMA)
The National Relay Service (NRS) allows people who are Deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment to use the telephone. The Australian
NRS is a national telephone service available to everyone at no additional cost to consumers.
If you are Deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment and/or you use a telephone teletypewriter (TTY) or a computer with a modem, you
can access anyone in the wider telephone network through the NRS. The NRS also enables anyone in the community to communicate with people
who are Deaf, hearing or speech impaired. Essentially, the NRS operates as a communication bridge for Deaf, hearing impaired and speech
impaired people in the community when using the standard telephone service. The NRS offer several types of relay services and a Relay
Officer will assist to convey a telephone call.
Every Tool in My Pocket: In-Class Use of Mobile
Phones for Children with Disabilities
Professor Kenryu Nakamura,
Professor, University
of Tokyo, Japan
Although a good number of assistive technologies (AT) have been developed for special education, they are not widely used.
This is due to the following reasons: (i) AT products are relatively expensive; (ii) PC-based system is bulky on the desk.
(iii) Many students and parents are reluctant to use special devices. Present mobile phones are powerful and functional
enough as a useful tool for children with disabilities and can overcome the demerit described above. However not many people
realize the usefulness of mobile phones. Our collaborative team is currently creating a textbook about the good use of mobile
phones for special education and is going to hold seminars for teachers and parents.
Universal Service Obligation for Persons with
Disabilities
Mr. Wares Borvonsin, Director, USO Project & Pilot
Project Division,
National Telecommunications Commission of
Thailand
Universal Service Fund (USF) Pakistan's Special Project on ICT for Persons with
Disabilities Ms. Noshin Masud, Manager-Communications, Universal Service
Fund, Pakistan
Universal Service Fund was established by the Government of Pakistan (Ministry of Information Technology) to spread the benefits of
the telecom revolution to all corners of Pakistan. USF promotes the development of telecommunication services in un-served and
under-served areas throughout the length and breadth of the country.
This presentation is about the two special projects of Universal Service Fund-Pakistan on ‘ICT for persons with disabilities’. The
commencement of these projects was announced at an event organized by Ministry of Information Technology which was presided by the
Prime Minister of Pakistan, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to mark the World Telecommunications Day 2008.
The desired objectives to be achieved through this programme were assisting persons with disabilities to compete on even basis with
their non-disabled peers, creating job opportunities for such people and creating an environment for them to get educated. These projects
are being run with Al-Shifa Eye Trust Hospital and Pakistan Foundation Fighting Blindness and this presentation will cover the ICT
facilities being provided to persons with low vision and visual disability.
11:00 — 12:30
SESSION 6 - PROMOTING ACCESSIBLE WEBSITES AND
INTERNET ACCESS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
The Impact of the CRPD on the Internet and
Websites
Ms. Cynthia Waddell,
Executive Director,
International Center for Disability Resources on
the Internet (ICDRI
Overview - Impact of UNCRPD
UNCRPD Background
Equal Access to the Internet
Accessible Web Design and Implementation
Best Practices in Government and Procurement
Resources Available
UNCRPD - Background
UN Convention on Righs of Persons with
Disabilities Adopted by General Assembly 13 December 2006
Number of Signatories on Opening Day 30 March 2007
Highest in History
Treaty entered into Legal Force on 3 May 2008
UNCRPD - Today
142 signatories to the Convetion
85 signatories to the Optional Protocol
64 ratifications of the Convention
42 ratifications of the Optional Protocol
Equal
Access to the Internet:
States Parties shall ensure Internet Access for
Persons with Disabilities, on an equal basis with
others, by
Implementing Minimum Standards & Guidelines for Accessibility of Services Article 9(2a)
Ensuring that Private Entities offering services to the public take into account accessibility Article 9(2b)
Providing training to stakeholders on accessibility issues Article 9(2c)
Promoting access to new ICT and systems, including the Internet Article 9(2g)
Promoting accessible ICT or web to minimize cost at early stage in Design, Development, Production and Distribution Article 9(2h)
Accessible Web Design:
States Parties under General Obligations of Treaty (Article 4) are Required to:
Promote Universal Design in Development of Standards & Guidelines
Promote Assistive Technologies in Research, Development, Availability and Affordability
Provide Accessible Information about new technologies and support services
Promote Training on the Convention
Accessible Web Implementation
Statistical & Data Collection Collect Statistical & Research Data to Assess Convention Implementation & to
Identify Barriers; Data Itself to be Accessible Article 31
International Cooperation Facilitate Research & Access to Scientific & Technical Knowledge; Provide Technical &
Economic Assistance; Technology Transfer - Article 32
Best Practices for Government
Mainstreaming Disability Issues for Sustainable Development
Resource:
Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance
By Jim Thatcher, Cynthia Waddell et al; Published by Apress 2006
ISBN: 1-59059-638-2; Published in Japanese 2007;
ISBN: 978-4-8399-2220-7
Involving People with Disabilities in the Standardisation Process by Dr. John Gill, Chief Scientist, Royal National Institute of Blind People
Universal Design and CEN Standards for IT
Professionals
Mr. Gerard Ellis,
Special Advisor to the
Universal Access Committee of the European
Disability Forum (EDF)
CEN is one of the 3 official European Standards organisations. Apart from standards, they also produce what are called CEN Workshop
Agreements (CWAs). These are similar to standards but are more frequently used in the area of ICTs as they can be developed more
quickly. This presentation will describe a CEN Workshop Agreement that is currently being developed to specify the contents for a
curriculum for training ICT Professionals in the use of Universal Design. It will describe the contents of the draft CWA and will
show Forum participants how they can engage in the public consultation that is on-going until October 4th, 2009. The presentation
will also highlight the importance of the use of Universal Design in the ddevelopment of technological products and services.
Policy Formulation for Internet and Electronic
Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities
Ms. Nirmita Narasimhan,
Programme Manager,
Centre for Internet and Society, India
This presentation covers the topic of policy formulation for the internet and ICT for persons with disabilities. It deals with questions
such as the need for policies, the types of policy frameworks which are available to countries to use for disability, the detailed steps
involved in policy formulation, implementation and review, all or most of which would be applicable in countries around the world, the
importance of research and advocacy, special considerations for the disability sector and concludes with some useful observations for
persons involved in policy making.
Since the speaker is engaged in the policy formulation process in India, many of the examples and observations made in the presentation
would be from the experience of the speaker and from a developing country’s perspective. It is hoped that this presentation will serve
to create awareness and inform on various dimensions of the policy making process.
11:00 — 12:30
SESSION 7 - PROMOTING ASSISTIVE SOLUTIONS
FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
Mainstreaming Accessible Content through DAISY
Mr. Tat Leong
Chew,
Microsoft Singapore Mr Norrizwan Rasip
Training Executive (Multimedia Services)
Society for the Physically Disabled
Tat Leong will cover the technical aspects of DAISY book conversion and share how currently available Microsoft’s technologies can facilitate
this process. To eradicate the publics’ perception that DAISY book production is a time consuming and costly process, Tat Leong will take
the audience through a conversion of a text document to its final form as a DAISY formatted book. Technical issues and problems encountered
during the development of these books will be touched on as well.
Norrizwan will share SPD’s experience in working with visually handicapped student in the development and evaluation of DAISY books as part
of the pilot project with Microsoft. The presentation will also cover challenges faced and future plans to convert more DAISY books. SPD plans
to make DAISY content widely accepted and used in Singapore.
Research and Development in Assistive
Technologies and ICT Accessibility for Persons with
Disabilities
Director,
National Electronics and Computer Technology
Center (NECTEC), Thailand
Very Affordable and Easy to Use Internet for
Everyone using any Phone: Ensuring Social Inclusion
for People with Disabilities Dr. Emdad Khan, Found, Presdient and CEO
In this Information Age, everyone should have access to the Internet. In fact, Internet access should be a "right" for all world citizen.
Unfortunately, only a small fraction of the market is served today mainly because of: (a) Lack of computer or computer skills; (b) Access
through a personal device is difficult, visual, expensive and not usable by many people who do not know how to read or write.
Voice/Audio Internet makes Internet available to everyone by using the most natural user interface, voice and the most ubiquitous
device, a simple phone without using a computer. One can surf any website, search any word(s), send /receive email and conduct
e-commerce and more. In addition, voice portal features, such as news, weather, horoscopes and directions can be accessed. Voice
Internet also supports streaming audio, thus allowing anyone to listen to Internet radios and on-line music. Voice Internet has
been proven to be very useful to many elderly, visually impaired, blind, dyslexic (and other types of disabilities), Digital
Divide and highly.
The key technical problem that is solved in Voice Internet is "how to efficiently render visual Internet content into short,
precise, easily navigable, meaningful and pleasant to listen to audio content". The rendering problem is a very complex problem
as the Internet sites were designed with visual access in mind and the information is laid out in a manner that is attractive
to our eyes but not to our ears. The key business problem solved in Voice Internet is the affordability as there is no need to
buy any special phone or equipment. Besides, Voice Internet is very easy to use and easy to learn.
In this paper we will discuss the key technologies used for Voice Internet, how an Intelligent Agent is used to solve the
"rendering" problem using Artificial Intelligence techniques and the key features on a webpage itself, how Voice Internet
effectively bridges the Digital & Language Divides, how it makes the Internet accessible to everyone including people with
disabilities, current status and future directions for both technology and potential business using core "Voice Internet rendering"
technology.
15:30 — 17:00
SESSION 8 - PROMOTING ASSISTIVE SOLUTIONS FOR
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES - COUNTRY EXPERIENCES
Technology Training and Employability for Persons
with Disabilities: Comparative Experiences from Four
Latin American Countries
Dr. Joyojeet Pal,
University of Washington,
Seattle, USA
Much recent work has looked at the various ways in which access to computing has impacted empowerment for people with disabilities,
though such research has primarily focused on conditions in the global North. In discussing primary research among technology training
centers for people with disabilities in Mexico, Ecuador, and Venezuela we seek to understand the extent and nature of empowerment at
technology training centers for people with disabilities. We find that although employment-generation has been slow through such
training centers, a number of users cite the need of basic technology training as a threshold minimum for employment and other benefits
including a strengthening sense of community and a positive impact on self esteem.
Supporting past work on ICTs and aspiration, our
research finds that technology, especially when adapted to the specifications of disabled people, can increase both external aspirational
horizons and internalized measures of self-worth and capacity. With the growing interest in telecenters for people with disabilities in
several parts of the Asia Pacific region, these cases from Latin America offer a useful insight into the potentials and pitfalls of such
programs.
The Implementation Status of Thailand’s National Social Equality in ICT Master Plan
Asst. Professor Dr. Proadpran Punyabukkana,Associate Dean, Faculty of Engineering,
Chulalongkorn University (on behalf of the
Ministry of Information and Communication
Technology Thailand)
The National Social Equality in Information and Communication Technology Master Plan provides a three-year
road map for bridging the digital divide, supporting the use of assistive technology and promoting the
creation of an assistive technology industry so that the disabled in Thailand will be able to afford the acquisition
of the assistive technology. After the first year of implementation, 42% of the Year 1 projects have been implemented,
with satisfactory results. The main output has been the training of 150 web designers who can handle the redesign of
government websites to conform to the WCAG 1.0 standard at an AA conformance level. Three government websites have been
transformed to attain AA conformance as initial pilot projects.
ICTs for Children with Mental Challenges
Professor Dr. Arun Mehta,President, Bidirectional Access Promotion Society (BAPSI),
India
For people whose primary handicap is in communications, ICTs have potentially lots to offer. Once the mentally challenged can get onto the
Internet, they have a far more level communications playing field. A portable, intelligent communications device can compensate for the
disabilities, and take advantage of the abilities of each person.
Given the wide variety of combinations and severity of disabilities, the communications device must be highly customizable. Literacy is the
exception, not the rule in this segment. Hence, a very high degree of flexibility in the user interface, the ability to provide input and
receive output in a wide variety of ways, and an industry-standard scripting language with maximum access to the underlying hardware and
software are essential components of a successful communications device for the mentally challenged.
This undoubtedly challenging design effort holds the promise of allowing this highly neglected segment of society to get a modicum of
education, health and other services that the rest of us take for granted.
DAISY in Sri Lanka
Professor Dr. D.P.M. Weerakkody,
University
of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
The standard and technology of the DAISY digital talking book were introduced to Sri Lanka in 2003 by Mr. Hiroshi Kawamura, as a solution
to the dearth of Braille publications in the local languages and the unsuitability of the compact cassette as a medium for the talking
book. The DAISY Lanka Foundation (DLF) was set up in July 2004 as the third focal point of the DAISY-For-All Project.
Two focal point training workshops (one in August 2004 and the other in October 2006) were held at the University of Colombo School of
Computing. The computers and software donated by the DFA are now deployed in various production centres and are being used for recording
DTBs. On the 1st of March 2006, the DLF and ICTA signed a contract under the Partnership Assistance Programme, according to which ICTA
would grant the DLF a total of Rs.5,000,000/- and the DLF would use this amount to implement a six-point plan over a period of three
years. The contract has been performed to the satisfaction of both parties. The Foundation now has a library of 840 DTBs, far more than
what was required by the contract.
With the collaboration of the school of computing, university of Colombo, The DLF is producing Synchronized DTBs using the Sinhala Unicode
script. The prime beneficiaries of the DAISY technology are persons with print disabilities. Among them, the most important category
consists of those with vision impairments, in as much as they are dependent on specialized formats to meet their educational and informational
needs.
Procurement of premises of our own and salaried permanent staff, generous subsidizing of the extremely expensive playback equipment, as well
as some assistance in paying the annual membership fee of the DAISY Consortium, would greatly enhance our capacity to improve our services to
the print-disabled community of Sri Lanka.
Thursday, 27 August 2009
09:00 — 10:30
SESSION 9 - REGIONAL MECHANISM, INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION, AND WAYS FORWARDS
Development of Screen Readers for Minority
Languages
Dr. Mamoru Iwabuchi,
Associate Professor,
University of Tokyo, Japan
The purpose of our project is promoting the use of assistive technology including in countries where minority languages are used.
Nepali screen reader is currently under development as its pilot case. In our approach, an existing Hindi speech synthesizer was
incorporated into a free screen reader, namely, Thunder for Windows. This approach was taken as Nepali is closely related to Hindi
and the two languages are written in the same script. A field trial of the system and its adaptation to Nepali is described.
It is suggested that this approach could be applicable to the development of screen readers for other minority languages.
Experiences of Asia-Pacific Development Center on
Disability (APCD) Project
Ms. Kanitta Kamolwat,
Director, Asia-Pacific Development Center on
Disability (APCD) Mr. Ryuhei Sano,
JICA Expert on Networking & Collaboration on Knowledge Management,
APCD
Through the presentation, APCD’s south-south cooperation scheme will be addressed first. A successful case of the ICT accessibility
initiative in the Philippines will also be mentioned particularly from a perspective of Story-based Knowledge Management (SbKM).
Sri Lanka's eNABLE Programme
Mr. Jagath Ratnayake, Assistant Director,
Policy and International Relations, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission
of Sri Lanka (TRCSL)
The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) - the national regulatory agency for telecommunications in Sri Lanka
initiated a project called eNABLE in 2005. The project served as a critical enabler for socio-economic development and poverty reduction
through bridging the gap between ordinary people and marginalized people and/or people with disabilities in accessing to Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs), education by creating an equitable information society.
By implementing the project, ICTs were used for empowerment of disadvantaged citizens, marginalized communities in isolated villages with
special focus on women and children. Primarily, the intention was to provide basic telecommunication facilities to these groups of people
in remote villages.
Regional Cooperation and Ways Forwards
Mr. Wisit Atipayakoon, ICT Specialist, ITU Regional
Office for Asia and the Pacific
