I just wrapped the two-day Zero Projects India 2024 conference (popular as ZeroConIndia) hosted by Youth4Jobs as its Master of Ceremonies. So, what’s new here, you may be wondering. For starters, it was probably the first ever conference in India which had a person with multiple disabilities as its host – I, a wheelchair user and a deaf individual. The theme of this second edition of the conference was Building Bridges Between Global Networks and Innovations.  

What made this possible is the entire story. Let me begin at the start.  

I was a participant in previous year’s conference and then was requested by Meera Shenoy (Founder & CEO, Youth4Jobs) to conduct the interview of Saiyami Kher, lead actor of Ghoomer on the stage. It happened just like that, and this year was invited to host it. I have no affiliations with any of these organizations. Yet, it did not take a moment’s hesitation on the part of the organizers to hand me the mic.  

It’s beside the point that I have experience in theatre, moderating and emceeing. The point here is that none of them were aware of my capabilities. I was surprised to hear Shenoy calm the last-minute jitters of some young organisers saying, “Oh! She will manage everything. Don’t worry.” Her confidence in me gave me the assurance to anchor the show without a glitch.  

That’s the confidence they have in every person with disability. At this conference, no person with disability was left out true to the spirit of “nothing about me without me”. The disability community was well represented, and every disabled person felt included because of the inclusivity woven into each aspect of the forum. The stage was accessible with a gently sloping ramp and had handlebars. Closed captioning was enabled on the screens and there were sign language interpreters in different languages to cater to the international disabled community. 

The conference epitomised innovation. The exhibit area was designed to be accessible and was a microcosm of India’s innovation hub for assistive technology. A total of 26 startups for and by people with disabilities – had exhibited a range of assistive devices and advanced assistive technology using AI. Each stall was made totally inclusive to both the sighted and the visually impaired and blind through Spacefelt, a unique smartphone app that provided audio descriptions. You just had to scan the QR code located at the right corner of each stall’s table and pronto, you could get descriptions of the innovations and contact details of the exhibitor. The app is a product of Grailmaker Innovations, a startup co-founded by Aishwarya T V Pillai, a Blind 3D Artist. In a classic example of how accessibility innovations benefit a larger group, the app became a boon for even the sighted visitors who were seen scanning with their smartphones.

I will write about the innovations and the innovators in my next articles. For now, suffice to say that the range of assistive tech on display was astounding, and mind you, these were just a selected few. 

Coming back to the conference, let me summarise my own learnings vis-à-vis the thoughtfully curated panel discussions.  

For one, disability is universal, and while how we experience a disability individually may be different dependent upon a number of factors from type, age, socio-economic conditions, family, upbringing, society, education and a plethora of other factors, by and large, there is a thread of similarity among all our experiences. What is noteworthy and a cause for concern is the institutionalised neglect of people with disabilities across all geographies. People with disabilities in low-income countries have similar challenges and are the worst off. Education of people with disabilities is imperative for their empowerment and this is true across the globe. Education and financial empowerment of women with disabilities is even more critical, as across the world the biases against them are aggravated by their gender.  

Early diagnosis and intervention are key to ensuring the development and independence of children with disabilities into empowered individuals, for which we need a large pool of qualified medical and rehabilitation professionals.  

Shoots of change are visible across the world with powerful voices for the inclusion of people with disabilities gaining traction. The challenge is huge and given the history of marginalization of people with disabilities, pushing them into the mainstream and their inclusion in society requires mammoth efforts. But it must be done if we want this section that holds the key to up to 7% of GDP to transition from dependents to economy drivers.    

Hearteningly, inclusion of people with disabilities despite the huge challenges is happening – thanks to an enabling ecosystem of cross-border collaborations, investments and innovations. Add the power of technology, specifically AI, to this mix and you can see magic happen.  

Precisely what Zero Project India, started by The Essl Foundation, Austria, in 2023 in partnership with Youth4Jobs and EnAble India to power assistive tech innovation, is making possible – scaling up and scaling out India’s frugal innovations in the assistive technology space. 

There is no need to reinvent the wheel. We just need to join hands to create this enabling system for the inclusion of people with disabilities across the world. The collaborative approach to disability inclusion also promises to be economically viable. 

India’s jugaad and frugal innovation system has just found another plank – global disability inclusion. We are witnessing the emergence of another startup and innovation hub – the assistive-techpreneurs with a shared goal – to create one world, one people with disabilities. 

Kudos to Zero Project India for providing the impetus!

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