Mr. David Banes is a Director of David Banes Access and Inclusion Services and co-founder of Global symbols, having previously led assistive technology services in Europe and the Middle East He now works across the globe including projects in Africa and South Asia to support access infrastructure from policy to practice. He has a special interest in emerging technologies and the impact upon people with a disability including the use of AI to augment communication, emerging technologies and mobility and the use of innovation to build resilient AT and AAC services during the pandemic. David writes regularly on the tools and techniques and recent publications include emerging technologies and the impact on universal design for learning, economic return on investment in AT, and the potential impact of frugal innovation on provision of assistive products. He can be contacted via a range of social media including Twitter @davebanesaccess , Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/davebanesaccess/ , Facebook www.facebook.com/accessandinclusion , Pinterest https://uk.pinterest.com/Davebanesaccess/ , YouTube www.youtube.com/davebanesaccess , Medium https://davebanesaccess.medium.com/
Mr. Michael Fembek, Director of Zero Project, Essl Foundation. After graduating from the Vienna University of Economics, Michael Fembek (born 1961) joined GEWINN, an Austrian business magazine, serving between 2000 and 2007 as editor-in-chief. In 2009 he initiated “Sinnstifter", a project by Austrian philanthropists, and launched the annual Austrian CSR-Guide on corporate responsibility. In 2010 he joined the Essl Foundation as Programme Manager and – until 2014 - the bauMax group as its Head of Social Affairs. Since 2011 he is the Director of the Zero Project, a project of the Essl Foundation, and organizes the annual Zero Project Conference in the UN Headquarters in Vienna. In 2014, he co-initiated the Verband für Gemeinnütziges Stiften, the Austrian philanthropic association, where he serves as Vice President. In 2015, he became the Chair of the Thematic Group on Disabilities within the European Foundation Centre (EFC), in 2016 he co-initiated the Haus der Philanthropie in Vienna, and in 2019 he co-initiated the Sinnnbildungsstiftung, a foundation focusing on innovations in education, and now serves as a board member.
Ms. Sabina Lobato Lobato, Director of Training and Employment, Operations and Transformation, Fundación ONCE. Sabina comes from Spain. She has over 20 years of experience in the disability sector linked to the ONCE Foundation. She started at the Projects Department of Fundosa Group, the ONCE Foundation's business division, which she later led. In 2003 she went on to be the Head of Grants, Partnerships and Quality at the ONCE Foundation. Since 2010 she is the Director of Training, Employment and Operations of the ONCE Foundation and Director General of INSERTA (ONCE Foundation's Employment Services). In 2019 Transformation was added to her responsibilities. Throughout her career she has promoted and launched many successful projects related to training and employment of people with disabilities and she is considered an expert in that field. She has been the main promoter of an Observatory which offers updated statistics on the situation of people with disabilities in Spain as regards to the labour market, with the support of the Spanish Government. She's Member of the Plenary of the Spanish High Council on Statistics and Vice President of the European Platform for Rehabilitation (EPR).
Ms. Sabine Lobnig, Communication Director, Mobile & Wireless Forum (MWF). Sabine is the MWF's Communications Director. The MWF is the international association of companies with an interest in mobile and wireless communications including the evolution to 5G and the Internet of Things. One of the MWF's main projects is the Global Accessibility Reporting Initiative (www.gari.info). GARI's mission is to inform consumers about existing accessibility solutions in the market today and help them identify devices with features that best help their individual needs. This includes mobile phones with built-in screen readers, “simple access" for persons who find today's user interfaces overwhelming, Wearables with haptic feedback, Smart TVs that allow voice recognition for accessing features, or mobile apps that have been developed specifically to help overcome a barrier in daily life like finding accessible locations.
Mr. Jaroslaw K. Ponder, Head of the Office for Europe, International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Mr. Ponder represents the ITU in Europe by directing actions, projects, initiatives and expert groups targeting 46 countries of the Europe Region. His portfolio includes set of Regional Initiatives for Europe, designed by the European Member States and focusing on the ICT Infrastructure, Digitization, Digital Inclusion, Accessibility, Innovation and Cybersecurity. Along the professional career, Mr. Ponder held official positions in the public sector and was a contributor to the legislative projects having the impact on the public policy. Since 2014 Mr. Ponder has been working for ITU holding diverse positions in the General Secretariat, Telecommunication Development Bureau, and Regional Presence, addressing complexity of information society development and digital transformation at national, regional, international level, including United Nations level. For several years he has managed ITU's work on the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process, leading towards the establishment of the annual WSIS Forum, WSIS Prizes, WSIS Stocktaking, others.
Mr. Alberto Prierto, Sales Manager of Visualfy, and Winner of Accessible Europe Competition 2021. Alberto Prieto - Visualfy Sales Manager: Specialist in Business Management, with more than 5 years of international experience. Experience in multinational companies such as HP as well as experience as Country Manager in other startups and social organizations.
Ms. Roxana Widmer-Iliescu, Senior Coordinator - Digital Inclusion, Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Roxana WIDMER-ILIESCU has been working in the Development Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for over 23 years, contributing through her work in achieving the overarching goal of Digital Inclusion, by promoting empowerment of all people through ICTs, regardless of age, gender, ability or location. In her capacity as Senior Coordinator for Digital Inclusion and ITU-D Focal Point for ICT accessibility, she focuses on providing policy and strategy advice to ITU members and stakeholders aiming at supporting their in-country and regional efforts in addressing related requirements. Passionate about trends and predictions for deploying strategic actions to foster digital inclusion globally, she is leading the development of key ITU-D resources aimed at strengthening capacity of ITU members and stakeholders engaged in building an accessible, inclusive and age-friendly socio-economic environment and ensuring full and effective participation of all people in the digital society and economy. Considering that COVID-19 has given irrefutable evidence about the urgent need to ensure that ICTs are available, affordable and accessible to everyone, Roxana is advocating that “by ensuring that technology is people centered and ICT/digital accessibility is at the top of the global policy makers' agenda, jointly with appropriate partnership and collaboration we can make the change to ensure that no one is left behind in the digital age and build the digitally inclusive world we want".
