Smart Cities for All at a Glance

G3ict Partners with India’s National Institute for Urban Affairs to Promote More Inclusive Cities

G3ict has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), an apex think tank for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India (GoI). The two organizations will collaborate to advance the deployment of mainstream and emerging technologies and the use of data in support of more inclusive urban environments across the country. The agreement was signed at the 10th session of the United Nations World Urban Forum, held recently in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Read the complete press release for more details.

Side Event with World Blind Union at the 10th World Urban Forum

World Blind Union, GAP-PCGs Persons with Disabilities, Older Persons, and Business and Industry, the DIAUD network, CBM and OHANA Indonesia and G3ict came together to organize a side event on Inclusive and Accessible Cities for All to deliberate how can well-planned public spaces and smart city technologies bridge the inclusion gap for persons with disabilities and older persons. The speaker panel included Martine Abel-Wiliamson (World Blind Union), Ricardo Wagner (Accessibility Lead Canada, Microsoft), Danielle Grossenbacher (FIABCI and co-chair GAP Business & Industry PCG), Katherine Kline, Older Persons PCG and Risnawati Utami (OHANA Indonesia / UN-CRPD Committee). A number of best practices and learnings on participatory planning of accessible public spaces and innovative tools to benchmark and guide cities on digital accessibility were presented. A summary report that captures the discussion and realization levels of objectives, will be released later.  

Learn more about the latest work and achievements of our Smart City for All 
Country Representatives.

Regina Cohen, Brazil
A Brazilian architect, Regina Cohen has represented SC4A in the Smart City Expo Curitiba in Mexico in March 2019 and also participated in the Smart Cities and Disability Conference (SUDI) 2019. In 2020, Regina will be at the 27th World Congress of Architects UIA 2020 and she will also present the Keynote at SUDI 2020. As an expert in accessibility in the built environment, she has contributed to the Virtual Accessibility Guide App in Rio de Janeiro. As the Coordinator of the Accessibility Commission of the Architects Council, Regina continues to play a key role in promoting accessibility planning in homes.

Vashkar Bhattacharjee, Bangladesh
An accessibility expert, Vashkar Bhattacharjee is the National Consultant for Accessibility in the Access to Information (a2i) Program by the Government of Bangladesh. In January this year, Vashkar Bhattacharjee worked with Mayors and Councillors to focus on building an inclusive and accessible smart city for all during the Dhaka City Corporation Election. He has also supported a platform, 'Disability Insider', to help make it accessible for all. Vashkar is one of the 23 changemakers to be awarded the Acumen Fellowship for 2020.