TECH VENTURES TO BE RECOGNISED AT DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY INNOVATION AWARD

TECH VENTURES TO BE RECOGNISED AT DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY INNOVATION AWARD

By Ednah Kiarie

Advances in technology has improved internet

and digital innovations in Africa resulting in

new accessibility innovations and solutions by

African start-ups and tech giants. On 9th of

October, 2020, nonprofit inABLE.org will present

the inaugural digital Accessibility Innovation

Awards to recognize the best inclusive African

innovations, at the closing ceremony of the

Virtual Inclusive Africa Conference 2020, taking

place on 8th and 9th October, from 9 – 11:30 am

East Africa Time.

“inABLE has created the Digital Accessibility

Innovation Award to celebrate the significance

of accessible innovation solutions that improve

the lives of everyone”, explains the inABLE

Executive Director Irene Mbari-Kirika. “This new

awards program shines the light on the

potential for accessible technologies that help

everyone without excluding people with

disabilities.”

Even as Africa experiences a digital revolution

with a growth of over 400 tech hubs in cities,

including Nairobi, Lagos and Cape Town. it is

important—now more than ever— for Africa to

digitally include the over 80 million Africans

with some form of disability. GSMA predicts

that the global rate of mobile Internet will be

61% of the population in 2025, versus the 43%

that it was in 2017. This means a jump from 3.3

billion users in 2017, to 5.5 billion in 2025. We

need to view digital inclusion as a vital human

right.

Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, people

with disabilities have been disproportionally

digital disconnected, at a time when there was

a necessitated elevation in reliance on digital

infrastructure and connectivity. For example,

according to World Economic Forum, there has

been a 70% growth of global internet usage, a

doubling of mobile application use, and triple

for voice calls.

“This escalated pandemic-driven digital

migration provides new opportunities to bridge

the long existing gaps in technology that have

for a long-time excluded people with

disabilities,” encourages Mbari-Kirika.

InABLE a world where every individual has

all-inclusive access to the same educational,

technological, and employment opportunities.

inABLE.org is a nonprofit organization based in

Nairobi, Kenya and Washington, DC with a

mission to empower the blind and visually

impaired through computer assistive

technology.