Doing something to mitigate challenges faced by the disabled? Read on

Working on finding solutions to challenges faced by the disabled in rural areas? Apply for the Enable Makeathon by Nov 15 for the opportunity to see your idea through to fruition.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is calling on engineers, designers, the scientific and innovation community, persons with disabilities, humanitarians, manufacturers, investors and entrepreneurs to join forces in the ‘Enable Makeathon’ to develop affordable solutions for challenges faced by persons with disabilities in rural areas.

Image source: Nihal Kashinath, IoTBLR

The Enable Makeathon is a 60-day programme taking place between November 2015 and January 2016. It consists of an ‘Online Track’ for teams from all around the world, and an ‘Onsite Track’ with a series of events in Bengaluru. Teams will work towards finding innovative solutions to nine challenges that would ultimately result in one or all of the following desired results:

  • Improving individual autonomy of persons with physical disabilities

  • Improving the access to and quality of physical rehabilitation services

  • Adapting and using new technologies in a more effective manner

The solutions developed will take the form of early prototypes that effectively illustrate the functionality and potential look of a product, proving that the theory behind the idea actually works.

To ensure that the early prototypes can make it to the next level, i.e. be developed further and mass produced for customers, the ICRC also invites companies, manufacturers and investors to be part of the process.

The nine Enable Challenges 

The challenges are aimed at supporting persons with physical disabilities who are not able to achieve full participation and equalisation of opportunities in their community and society.

Improving the individual autonomy of persons with physical disabilities

  • Challenge 1: Performing activities of daily living

  • Challenge 2: Mobility in and around the house

  • Challenge 3: Mobility within and beyond the community

  • Challenge 4: Accessing education and training

  • Challenge 5: Employability and self-employment

Improving the access to and quality of the physical rehabilitation services provided

  • Challenge 6: Remote access to physical rehabilitation services

  • Challenge 7: Remote follow-up and users-to-service provider interactions

  • Challenge 8: Data collection to improve the quality of services

The Open Challenge

  • Challenge 9: Adaptation and use of new technologies

Click here to know more about the challenges. 

The last date to send in applications to participate in the Enable Makeathon in November 14th 2015. For more info and to apply, visit: www.enablemakeathon.org.

Partners

This is a collaborative initiative of the ICRC and several partner institutions, including the Association of People with Disability India, Workbench Projects, Internet of Things (IoT) Bangalore, swissnex India, Dalberg Global Development Advisors, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, IKP EDEN and Intellecap.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Similar Story

Are Chennai streets safe for women? Here’s what they told us

85.9% of women in Chennai who responded to the survey think that CCTV cameras in public spaces make streets safer for women.

In view of Women's Day, observed on March 8, Citizen Matters conducted an online survey on women's safety in Chennai. As many as 171 women took part in this survey between the age group of 18 to 51 years. These women were from areas like Sholinganallur, Adyar, T Nagar, Kotturpuram, Thiruvanmiyur, Royapuram, Perambur, Madipakkam, Anna Nagar and other parts of Chennai. Though we circulated the survey across Chennai, many of the responses were from women in the Southern parts of Chennai, indicating the lack of access for women from areas of North Chennai to take part in such online surveys.…

Similar Story

The consequences of eviction: Women face the wrath of domestic violence

Why should evictions cause domestic violence? Our conversation with women in Chennai's resettlement areas brings out many harsh realities.

At 16, when Jency* got married to a man her family chose for her, she dreamt of a blissful life. Her husband, a carpenter, toiled to make ends meet, while she was a homemaker. Life was tough but they were content. "During weekends, he would take us to the beach and once in a while we went to the movies. Eating Delhi appalam and walking along the seashore at Marina Beach with my husband and my two kids is one of my favourite happy memories," she says. That was Jency's life in the past. The sole breadwinner of her family,…