HELD in Karachi this week, one session at the International Conference on Computing and Related Technologies highlighted an oft-ignored area where our nascent but booming IT sector can be a game changer in uplifting millions of lives: assistive technology. AT encompasses all forms of assistive, adaptive and rehabilitative devices — prosthetic limbs for physical impairments, hearing aids for auditory impairments, screen-reading software for visual impairments, etc — to improve people with disabilities’ daily functional capabilities and participation as active members of society. Given the likely high prevalence of disability in Pakistan — exacerbated by disease, consanguineous marriages, poor health and safety standards, violence and terrorism — it is imperative that we enable PWDs to lead independent lives to the greatest extent possible and strive to remove barriers in accessing the same opportunities as the able-bodied population, particularly in education and employment.

The operating systems of our everyday devices increasingly feature AT, and parents of children with special needs can now find a wide range of devices and apps (some developed by local coders) to support learning. With the cost of 3D printing falling, at least one local start-up is working on customised, low-cost prosthetics. And both multinational and local firms have begun to recruit, train and provide reasonable accommodations to PWDs as part of diversity initiatives. This wouldn’t have been possible even a decade ago were it not for tech innovations — but for most PWDs even simple devices still remain out of reach. For this to change, we need a multi-sectoral approach to implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with the IT ministry spearheading an initiative for developing home-grown AT interventions. We have the main ingredients to do so: creative and talented IT professionals, success stories from other developing countries, international donors for whom disability is a priority and an altruistic public. “I have created opportunities for myself and will create opportunities for others,” said one disabled speaker at the conference. This is the spirit we must adopt going forward.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2017