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Accessible Europe: ICT for ALL

ICT Accessibility: The Key to Inclusive Communications

23-25 March 2021 | Virtual Event

Tuesday, 23 March 2021

10:00 – 10:45	Opening ceremony Keynote address of Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU H.E. Alexandra Leitão, Minister of the Modernization of State and Public Administration of Portugal, Bio Opening remarks Ms. Doreen Bogdan, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU, Bio Ms. Helena Dalli, Commissioner for Equality, European Commission, Bio Ms. Catherine Naughton, Director, European Disability Forum, Bio Special address H.E. Ana Brnabić, Prime Minister of Serbia, Bio Setting the regional context Mr. Jaroslaw K. Ponder, Head of ITU Office for Europe, ITU, Bio, Presentation
10:45 – 11:45	Session 1: International, Europe region and European Union vision: Policies and strategies, targets, and key resources to advance ICTs Accessibility Focus: The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and The UN Disability Inclusion Strategy on the accessibility of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs); ITU actions and challenges; European Accessibility Act; European Commission actions and regional challenges. Moderator Mr. Jaroslaw K. Ponder, Head of ITU Office for Europe, ITU, Bio Interactive discussion Ms. Roxana Widmer-Iliescu, Senior Coordinator - Digital Inclusion, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU, Bio Ms. Inmaculada Placencia-Porrero, Senior Expert, Disability and Inclusion Unit, DG for Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion, European Commission, Bio Mr. László Lovászy, Senior Research Fellow, University of Public Service, Hungary (Former Elected Member of the CRPD), Bio
11:45 – 11:50	Special video messages Ms. Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on Disability and Accessibility, Bio
12:00 – 13:00	Session 2: Regional review of enabling environments ensuring accessible telecommunications and ICTs for Persons with Disabilities in the Europe region Focus: Current implementation status on ICTs Accessibility regulations, policies and strategies; Sharing of best practices and recommendations for ICTs Accessibility implementations. Moderator Mr. Dušan Caf, ITU Consultant, ITU, Bio Interactive discussion Mr. Bengt G Mölleryd, Expert, Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), Bio Mr. Mark Wheatley, Executive Director, European Union of the Deaf, Bio Ms. Polonca Blaznik, Director of the Information Society Office, Ministry of Public Administration, Slovenia, Bio Mr. Seth Bravin, Director of Strategic Alliances, T-Mobile, Bio
13:00 – 13:05	Special video messages H.E. Pedro Nuno Santos, Minister for Infrastructure and Housing of Portugal, Bio
14:00 – 15:00	Session 3: Digital Accessibility for response and recovery of the pandemic Focus: Stakeholders responses to challenges arise from the pandemic; Ensuring inclusive access to vital products and services, including health and care services, e-banking, e-commerce; Challenges and opportunities arise from the future of employment; Ensuring a disability-inclusive workplace in a Post-Covid world. Moderator Ms. Amela Odobašić, Director of Broadcasting at Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Vice-Chair of ITU-D Study Group 1, Bio Interactive discussion Ms. Akiko Ito, Chief of Programme on Disability, Secretariat for the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD, UNDESA/DISD, Bio Ms. Roxana Widmer-Iliescu, Senior Coordinator - Digital Inclusion, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU, Bio Mr. Humberto Insolera, Executive Committee, European Disability Forum, Bio Ms. Marina Van Zeller, Vice President, National Institute for Rehabilitation, Portugal, Bio
15:00 – 15:05	Special video messages Ms. Maria de Fátima Fonseca, Secretary of State of the Innovation and Administrative Modernization of Portugal, Bio H.E. Ana Mendes Godinho, Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security of Portugal, Bio
15:15 – 17:00	Awards Ceremony for Regional Competition on Innovative Digital Solutions for an Accessible Europe 2021 Focus: Importance of strengthening the ICT-centric innovation ecosystem for an Accessible Europe; Pitching session of Finalists and handing of Awards of the regional competition, Presentation Special address Mr. João Cadete de Matos, Chairman of the Board, ANACOM, Portugal, Bio Pitching presentation of all finalists 1. SignLab 2. Visualfy 3. World in Sign 4. RemmedVR 5. Project Ray 6. Feelif 7. Voiceitt 8. App Sec Network 9. Pictogram 10. Capito 11. ClaroRead 12. EasyReading 13. Magicview 14. Travaxy 15. WheelSim VR Announcement of Winners

Wednesday, 24 March 2021

10:00 – 11:00	Session 4: Accessibility standards for products and services Focus: Global standards in place for accessible products and services; European standards in the context of the European Accessibility Act. Moderator Ms. Inmaculada Placencia-Porrero, Senior Expert, Disability and Inclusion Unit, DG for Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion, European Commission, Bio Interactive discussion Mr. Simão Campos, Counsellor, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU, Bio Mr. Fernando Machicado, Secretary of CEN-CENELEC-ETSI Joint Working Group on eAccessibility, Bio Mr. Shadi Abou-Zahra, Accessibility Strategy and Technology Specialist, W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), Bio Mr. Robin Christopherson, Head of Digital Inclusion, AbilityNet, United Kingdom, Bio
11:00 – 11:05	Special video messages Mr. Manuel Mendonça, Manager of the Homologation and Certification of POS and ATM terminals Unit, Portugal, Bio Ms. Fátima Resende, Member of the Regulatory Board, Media Regulatory Body of Portugal, Bio
11:15 – 12:15	Session 5: Covid Response & Recovery: Making the future of education inclusive of persons with disabilities Focus: How the pandemic highlights the importance of digital tools in education; The future of education in a Post-Covid world; Challenges and steps forward to build a disability-inclusive digital education in Europe. Moderator Mr. Ricardo Garcia Bahamonde, ITU Consultant, ITU, Bio Interactive discussion Mr. Manos Antoninis, Director of Global Education Monitoring Report, UNESCO, Bio Ms. Amanda Watkins, Assistant Director & Ms. Marta Presmanes, Project Manager, European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, Bio Ms. Stacy Scott, Bookshare and Strategic Publisher Relationships Manager, RNIB Bookshare, Royal National Institute of Blind People, Bio Mr. John M. Scott, Product Manager of Blackboard Ally, Blackboard, Bio
12:15 – 12:20	Special video messages Mr. João Costa, Deputy Minister for Education of Portugal, Bio Mr. Rui Fernandes, Coordinator of ICT Resources Center for the Special Education in Amadora and Lisbon (CRTIC), Ministry of Education of Portugal, Bio
13:00 – 14:00	Session 6: Building smart and accessible cities Focus: Defining smart and accessible cities; Tools and strategies needed to make a smart and accessible city; Examples of good practices making European cities more accessible. Moderator Ms. Cristina Bueti, Counsellor, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU, Bio Interactive discussion Ms. Tania Marcos, Vice-Chair, the UN initiative on United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC), Bio Ms. Monika Klenovec, Architect & Project Team leader of Expert Group of the European Commission Standardization Mandate M/420, Bio Mr. Federico Batista Poitier, Policy Officer, United Cities and Local Government (UCLG), Bio Ms. Rita Jacinto, Program Manager, Division for the Pedestrian Accessibility, Lisbon Municipality, Portugal, Bio
14:15 – 15:15	Session 7: Advancing implementation of ICTs Accessibility across Europe Focus: Concrete steps on what to do and how to achieve ICTs accessibility; Examples of good practices across the region; Challenges lie ahead in engaging private sector; Good examples of public/private partnership in the field of accessibility. Moderator Ms. Sabine Lobnig, Director of Communications, Mobile and Wireless Forum, Bio Interactive discussion Ms. Zuzanna Raszkowska, Deputy Director of the European Affairs and International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy, Poland, Bio Ms. Sara Carrasqueiro, Board of Directors, Administrative Modernization Agency, AMA Portugal, Bio Ms. Ljupka Mihajlovska, Chairwoman of the Serbian Alliance for Accessibility, Serbia, Bio Mr. Jesús Hernández Galán, Director of Universal Accessibility and Innovation, Fundación ONCE, Spain, Bio
15:15 – 16:00	Main Conclusion and Closing of the Forum Part of Accessible Europe High-Level Intervention and concluding remarks Mr. Jaroslaw K. Ponder, Head of ITU Office for Europe, ITU, Bio Ms. Inmaculada Placencia-Porrero, Senior Expert, Disability and Inclusion Unit, DG for Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion, European Commission, Bio Ms. Maria de Fátima Fonseca, Secretary of State of the Innovation and Administrative Modernization of Portugal, Bio Ms. Ana Sofia Antunes, Secretary of State of the Inclusion of the Persons with Disabilities of Portugal, Bio

Thursday, 25 March 2021

10:00 – 11:00

Knowledge Development for ICT Accessibility: ITU Academy Certification

Focus: Participants are offered to enroll in self-paced online courses available at ITU Academy, on which successful candidates will receive the certificate in electronic version upon the completion of the course, Presentation

11:00 – 12:30

PROJECT LABORATORY of the ITU Regional Initiative for Europe on Accessibility, Affordability, and Skills Development for All to Ensure Digital Inclusion and Sustainable Development

Focus: In follow up to Session 7, this session will provide the open space for in depth discussion on initiatives including:

1) Implementation and monitoring on “Regional Review on Enabling Environment Ensuring Accessible ICTs for Persons with Disabilities in Europe"

2) Curation Programme on “Strengthening the ICT-centric Innovation Ecosystem for Accessible Europe"

3) Other special projects/initiatives

12:30 – 13:00

Closing of Accessible Europe Event

Mr. Jaroslaw K. Ponder, Head of ITU Office for Europe, Bio