Creating a global public inclusive infrastructure

Abstract

As we move more to a digital economy and integrate technology every more completely in all aspects of life there is a looming crisis for a growing number of increasingly marginalized individuals. The accessibility technologies we have are meeting the needs of only some, at high cost - and will not work with many new technologies. In addition, the pace and path of technological change predestines these approaches to fail in the very near future. At the same time, the incidence of disabilities is increasing as our population ages. The same technical advances however hold the key for a radical paradigm shift in our approach to accessibility that can harness the pace of innovation and have it work for us rather than against us. Proposed is the development of a Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII) that can tap the unprecedented ability to pool resources and match demand with supply enabled by the Cloud to deliver accessibility to every individual where they need it, when they need it and in a way that matches their unique requirements; automatically so that they do not need to negotiate, explain, qualify or justify. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.