We had the privilege of taking part in the recent meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for assistive and accessible technologies (ATech), chaired by Sadik Al-Hassan MP.
CEO, Heather Cook, and Workplace & Education Lead, Sarah Todd, were invited to join the discussion exploring how we can drive effective innovation to harness digital technology for accessibility and inclusion.
In his keynote, Sir Stephen Timms MP, Minister for Social Security and Disability, welcomed the breath of representation at the meeting, with all sharing the goal that society should be more inclusive for everybody, and highlighted that barriers should be removed and that digital inclusion is a priority for the government.
Highlights of the insightful and productive discussions included:
- the need to ensure disabled people are more involved in the development of ATech
- the proposed establishment of a Centre for Assistive and Accessible Technology
- ATech R&D funding being more evenly distributed across employment and education, for example, not just health and social care
- tackling the barriers faced by disabled entrepreneurs, including lack of access to finance
Heather took the opportunity to advocate for a whole-system approach, with attention given to fragmented funding and recognition of cross-departmental benefits. She also emphasised the important role of employers in enabling early interventions with evidence-based digital support in the workplace.
Our thanks to Robert Mclaren, ATech APPG Director of Policy and Director of Policy at Policy Connect, for the invitation to contribute, and all the panellists and attendees for the rich conversations and practical insights. It is always productive to learn and contribute alongside so many dedicated individuals and organisations driving positive change.
Driving adoption of ATech, by boosting awareness, access to products, and support to use them is vital. Supporting innovation in ATech unlocks new tools and features that benefit all technology users and powers the UK’s globally renowned ATech industry. We are excited to continue working together with people with lived experience, parliamentarians, officials, industry and employers to realise the full potential of ATech, for individuals, society and the economy.
