Over 150 people – technology innovators, social entrepreneurs, employers, educators, and NGOs, came together at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) today to share solutions which have played a critical role in the employability and employment of persons with a disability.

Their platform was the Assistive Solutions Showcase, hosted by IIMB along with EnAble India, which put the spotlight on barriers to societal inclusion, faced by persons with disabilities, some of which can be reduced via assistive solutions.

This event was aligned with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which is December 3.

Professor Mukta Kulkarni, Mphasis Chair for Digital Accessibility and Inclusion at IIMB, said: “Health conditions and disabilities need not always pose roadblocks. In many cases, there are assistive technology solutions which can enable all of us to perform better in many spheres of life. Through such events we hope to not only highlight solutions but also co-create and disseminate such solutions.”

Panel discussants included corporate representatives who shared their experiences of disability-related inclusion, and social entrepreneurs who shared their journey from conceptualization and incubation, to running ventures.

“The event is a socialization of various stakeholders working in the space of assistive technology for persons with disability to collaborate on a common platform,” said Dipesh Sutariya, CEO and Co-founder, EnAble India.

The event also featured an innovation showcase by Bosch. Bosch shared the journey of the development and design of their solution – The Splitter Box. The Splitter Box channels audio output from multiple devices into a single audio output. This solution was developed by volunteers from different departments at Bosch, in collaboration with educational institutions and EnAble India.

The Solutions Coffee Table Book, launched at the event, features a variety of solutions designed, developed, and adapted to enable persons with a disability. Some solutions highlighted how a student with vison impairment can learn how light travels using a Light Probe; a person who has a lower limb disability can use ‘Rise Legs’ to aspire to participate in athletics; a person who is deaf can dream to have a career in a customer-facing role with a Communication Board.

The event concluded with the creation of a network aimed at sharing and building solutions for the employability and employment of persons with disability.