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The Infinity Park – An Inclusive Playspace

The Infinity Park – An Inclusive Playspace

An initiative to create Chennai’s first inclusive play space was inaugurated today via videoconferencing by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. A park for children of all hues A park that welcomes every child Play experiences for those who move on wheels … and for those who don’t. Swings and sand pit, slides and seesaws, Merry-go-rounds and climbers, basketball and…

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Accessibility and Inclusivity: Two Vital Elements of Mobility

Accessibility and Inclusivity: Two Vital Elements of Mobility

How many times in the past year have you heard someone say that the future of mobility is shared, electric, autonomous and connected? While this utopian view sounds like something we should strive for, we are missing two critical aspects of mobility, says Carol Schweiger, President of Schweiger Consulting and Chairperson of the New England Intelligent Transportation Society: accessibility and inclusivity. It…

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Ride-Hailing’s Long Road to Accessibility

Ride-Hailing’s Long Road to Accessibility

If you want to complain about your commute with Valerie Piro, chances are she’ll one-up your horror story. “Recently, there was an issue on an express bus with getting me off the bus and this loud alarm started blaring for, oh, a solid five minutes while the driver got me off,” said Piro, who’s working on her Ph.D in medieval…

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Amsterdam, New York, Barcelona Launch Cities Coalition for Digital Rights

Screenshot_2018-11-24 NYC, Barcelona and Amsterdam partner to protect digital rights

On Wednesday, November 14, 2018 — Amsterdam, Barcelona and New York City formally launched the Cities Coalition for Digital Rights, a joint initiative to promote and track progress in protecting residents’ and visitors’ digital rights. The Cities Coalition for Digital Rights builds upon five shared principles to create policies, tools and resources to promote and protect resident and visitor rights…

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Artificial Intelligence Must Serve Everyone

Screenshot_2018-11-23 Artificial Intelligence must serve everyone – event report European Disability Forum

Tech companies and persons with disabilities gathered on the 16th November in Vienna to debate how not to leave persons with disabilities behind technological breakthroughs.  The purpose of the event was to take the opportunity to discuss how new technologies embrace human diversity, and how technological solutions can be designed for all, including for persons with disabilities.    It is an…

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Video: Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff at CityLab Detroit

Screenshot_2018-11-17 Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff at CityLab Detroit – YouTube

Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff at CityLab Detroit Sidewalk Labs is building a prototype for the urban future on Toronto’s Eastern Waterfront. This project asks us to re-think relationships between governments, the private sector, and residents. Dan Doctoroff, Founder and CEO, Sidewalk Labs joins Jennifer Bradley, The Aspen Institute at CityLab Detroit. Timed Transcript: Please see video option. Transcript: (Archived…

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In the Smart City Apps Can Help and Hinder Disability

In the City, Apps Help and Hinder Disability – The Atlantic

A Smart City Is an Accessible City. A new breed of accessibility apps can make life easier for people with disabilities. They can also make it harder. A group gathers on a Nashville street corner, some rolling in wheelchairs and others walking. They have arrived holding their smartphones and make friendly chatter while a coordinator helps them log in to…

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Building An Inclusive Smart City Is Not The Same As Building For Everyone

Building An Inclusive Smart City Is Not The Same As Building For Everyone

Inclusive ‘smart city’ development doesn’t necessarily mean we should ‘build for everyone’. Many desire to design products and services ‘for everyone’ — the wider we cast our net, the more fish we’ll catch. This is not necessarily true. It’s far too easy to make assumptions about how ‘everyone’ fits into our ideal ‘smart’ environment. It is easier still to assume…

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The Promise and Peril of Smart Cities

The Promise and Peril of “Smart” Cities: Technology can help us govern better, but at what price to urban life? | City Journal

The Promise and Peril of “Smart” Cities Technology can help us govern better, but at what price to urban life? Technology can help us govern better, but at what price to urban life actual article chapter content Last year, American newspapers published more than 800 stories about “smart” cities. Readers could learn how municipal governments are deploying sophisticated technology to…

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Designing Accessible Government Websites

Designing Accessible Government Websites

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 56.7 million people — nearly one in five Americans — have a disability, such as vision loss, hearing loss or mobility impairments. People with disabilities face many challenges when websites are not accessible. For example, individuals who are blind may not be able to navigate a website using a screen reader if the website…

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The Future of More Accessible and Inclusive Smart Cities

The Future of More Accessible and Inclusive Smart Cities

Watch the Video!   In our third public talk, author and community organizer Jane Farrow will moderate a conversation with three accessibility experts who are challenging cities to incorporate principles for inclusive design and ensure accessibility for all: Luke Anderson – Founder & Executive Director – StopGap Foundation; Consultant – AccessAbility Advantage Darren Bates – Founder – Smart Cities Library™;…

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Smart Cities Aren’t About Sensors – They’re about Private Public People Participation:

Smart Cities Aren’t About Sensors – They’re about Private Public People Participation:

“Smart cities are all about PPPP – Private Public People Participation,” said Professor Yasser Helmy, head of Smart + Connected Communities, APAC region, Cisco, adding that in order to deliver a better city for the citizens, costs to run cities need to be brought down and cities need to attract FDI to create jobs and improve the quality of social…

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Smart Cities May Now Be Rated On Infrastructure Offered To Differently-Abled

Smart cities may now be rated on infrastructure offered to differently-abled

After launching the Ease of Living Index and the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry plans to rank the 100 smart cities on their accessibility quotient for the differently-abled people or ‘divyang.’ “We need to do some sort of a survekshan – swachh survekshan, ease of living index, a garbage-free index and now an accessibility index across the…

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Inside Melbourne’s High-Tech Vision and Smart City

Inside Melbourne’s High-Tech Vision and Smart City

Take a walk down one of the trendy little laneways in the heart of Melbourne, flat white in hand, and imagine: What will the city look like in five years? “The thing that people love about Melbourne is Melbourne as a place and an experience”, says Ben Rimmer, Chief Executive of the City of Melbourne. We are sitting in his…

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How Friendly Are Public Places in India For People With Visual Disabilities?

How friendly are public places in city for the visually-impaired?- The New Indian Express

How friendly are public places in Hyderabad for the visually-impaired? Here is a  visually impaired guy’s two cents of the accessibility off the places which he visit frequently in the twin cities. Being able to move on one’s own is a great achievement for visually impaired people (EPS | Vinay Mavdapu) Express News Service HYDERABAD: Being able to move on one’s own…

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Helsinki Ranked Fifth Worldwide In Terms Of Smart City Governance

Helsinki Ranked Fifth Worldwide In Terms Of Smart City Governance

The top-10 was rounded out by Montreal (6th), Boston (7th), Melbourne (8th), Barcelona (9th) and Shanghai (10th). A total of 140 cities of all sizes from around the world were evaluated based on existing smart city rankings, news articles and online resources to measure their commitment to building a smart city. Each city was then given a score of one…

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6 Organizations Making a Big Impact on Smart Cities

6 Organizations Making a Big Impact on Smart Cities

For city governments, getting the most out of their digital transformations requires planning, engagement with residents and the ability to measure the impact of their investments. But because of limited resources and the demands of their day-to-day work, sometimes cities can be reactive to grant announcements or vendor pilot projects, leading to disjointed efforts. Several nonprofit foundations and academic centers…

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Reinventing Obsolete Urban Spaces As Smart Cities Of The Future: Key Steps To Succes

Screenshot_2018-08-30 Reinventing obsolete urban spaces as smart cities of the future key steps to success

A renewal of public spaces is underway and underpinning this is new technology. Throughout history, public spaces have enjoyed many different roles in social, political and economic life, changing to suit the needs of the time. We know the ancient Greek agora and Roman Forum as the primary political centres of the city and the spatial cradle of democracy. In…

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Zach Anner ’s Quest For The Rainbow Bagel Shed’s Light On Accessibility

Zach Anner ’s Quest For The Rainbow Bagel Shed’s Light On Accessibility

Zach Anner ’s quest to get a rainbow bagel in Brooklyn sheds light on New York City’s accessibility issues.  

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