Members of the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D were delighted to work with colleagues from UN ESCAP and INIT (The Inter-Islamic Network on IT) to moderate an expert meeting  on inclusion and technology on 30th August 2018 on the margins of the ESCAP Regional Consultation on Inclusive Technology and Innovation Policies (28-29 August) which was held in the run-up to the ESCAP Committee on Information and Communications Technology and Science, Technology and Innovation, Second Session (29-31 August) in Bangkok.  This provided a valuable forum for participants to discuss the main impediments preventing persons with disabilities in Asia and the Pacific from being empowered through technologies, and to identify priority policy actions to overcome these.  It included a small number of short presentations, but most of the time was spend by participants in co-creating mind-maps around three key questions which are summarised below:

Main outputs co-created by participants

• What practical issues do persons with disabilities face in accessing and using technologies in our region?
• What public policy actions at the national level can help solve these challenges?
• How can we promote the development and implementation of these priority public policy actions?

Presentations

• Tim Unwin’s opening scene setting remarks on Practical issues and challenges faced by people with disabilities in the ESCAP region in accessing and using new ICTS