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A recent exhibition-cum-seminar on 'IT solutions for disables' was a real
eye-opener in every sense. The fact that over 60 million people in India suffer
various types and degrees of disability, came as a big surprise to me. What was
even more astonishing was that there are lot of IT-based solutions available in
the world today that can bring a dramatic change in the lives of our disabled
brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, not many people including citizens and
policy makers are aware about this.
Practically, there is a solution for everything. People with visual and
hearing disabilities can read and listen to the text on the monitor; those with
severe limb disability can operate a PC; and those with speaking disability, can
send or receive e-mails. Also, there are digital talking books, IT training
material for disabled people, color identifiers and talking computers, to name a
few.
The most encouraging thing about the exhibition was the enthusiasm. The
government officials agreed that a lot need to be done to create an environment
where these products would be available to the deserving people at affordable
costs. They said that policies which encourage schools and colleges to adopt
these solutions, must be worked out. Most of the companies who were displaying
solutions informed that they would look at the possibility of special pricing
for the Indian market.
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Ibrahim Ahmad |
One point of these vendors that I also agree with is that the biggest
drivers of IT empowerment for disabled people would not be large IT companies or
enterprise users. It will include small enterprises, special schools,
entrepreneurs, and NGOs, and people with high incomes. For instance, there are
quite a few number of schools and hospitals that are coming up to provide
education and various therapies to disables.
I am not too sure how much interest would the large IT companies take in
addressing this market. This has to be taken up by solution providers, who know
this market better than anybody else. What better opportunity to serve as well
as make money.
Ibrahim Ahmad
ibrahima@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1
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