NDLI: Improving assistive technology economics for people with disabilities: Harnessing the voluntary and education sectors

Content Provider	IEEE Xplore Digital Library
Author	Li, W. Sellers, C.
Copyright Year	2009
Description	Author affiliation: History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, University of King's College, 6350 Coburg Road, Halifax, Canada (Sellers, C.) \|\| Technology and Policy Program, Engineering Systems Division, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Avenue, Cambridge, USA (Li, W.)
Abstract	Assistive technology (AT) describes any device or other solution that is used by people with disabilities to assist in performing tasks or activities. While potentially useful, the availability of appropriate AT for people with disabilities can be problematic due to high costs, limited funding sources, and a lack of expertise on what solutions might exist for their needs. This paper explores the potential power of technical volunteers in collaboration with the education sector to address the problem of high AT costs for certain classes of assistive devices by providing a volunteer force of skilled engineers, designers, and other technicians who donate their time and goodwill to building appropriate, low-cost assistive devices. It presents a number of case studies on AT-related volunteer organizations and postsecondary educational initiatives, and discusses the possible growth of such initiatives. We propose a path forward to build a social movement of volunteers, modeled after the success of organizations such as Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Canada, Teach for America, and CanAssist at the University of Victoria to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities.
Starting Page	789
Ending Page	794
File Size	495396
Page Count	6
File Format	PDF
ISBN	9781424438778
DOI	10.1109/TIC-STH.2009.5444391
Language	English
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Publisher Date	2009-09-26
Publisher Place	Canada
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Rights Holder	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subject Keyword	Availability Economics Educational programs Costs Assistive technology Educational technology Power generation economics Service learning Environmental economics Engineering Volunteerism Wheelchairs USA Councils Education Systems engineering and theory Systems engineering education
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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