Workshop Series in Kenya: How Can I Be Part of the Solution to an Accessible World – An Engineering Approach?

27 May, 2024

In course of the project Inclusion International (City of Vienna, MA23, 33-02), Sarah Langer, Martin Deinhofer and Alija Sabic were in Nairobi (Kenya) at the end of April and held several workshops on the topic “How can i be part of the solution to an accessible world – An engineering approach?“

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Workshop Series in Kenya: How Can I Be Part of the Solution to an Accessible World – An Engineering Approach?

The event was organized in cooperation with Senses Hub, a local co-working space (maker space, networking and innovation hub) that brings innovation and people with disabilities and caregivers together with experts and decision-makers in the field of assistive technology.

Several funded research projects have developed many low-cost open source tools and software applications that can be very helpful to people with disabilities in Kenya and other African countries. The aim of the workshop series was therefore to train the use and production of the tools in order to foster the provision of assistive devices for people with disabilities in Kenya. Sarah Langer, Martin Deinhofer and Alija Sabic from UAS Technikum Wien were in Kenya as part of the Inclusion International project (City of Vienna, MA23, 33-02).

The workshop program was as follows:

Day 1: Technologies for visually impaired and blind people
Day 2: AAC with AsTeRICS Grid and translation into Swahili
Day 3: Soldering and configuring the FABI button interface
Day 4: Hackathon with tasks for 3 personas: visually impaired, blind and motor impaired (see hackathon winner post)
Day 5: Panel discussion with participants from various interest groups, including the Ministry of Education and the National Council of Disabilities.

Exchange and cooperation

The workshop also provided a platform for exchange between developers and users. More than 50 developers and 30 people with disabilities took part and worked together to create and improve the technologies. This collaboration not only promotes understanding of the needs of users, but also strengthens the community of assistive technology developers in Kenya.

The workshop concluded with a panel discussion with representatives from various stakeholders. Participants included the Ministry of Education and the National Council of Disabilities. The discussion underlined the importance of the technologies developed and the need for further research and development work in this area. UAS Technikum Wien and Senses Hub drew a positive balance of the workshop and expressed their interest in future cooperation.

Visit to the Maasai village and academic cooperation

In addition to the workshop, participants also visited a Maasai village, where they presented UAS TW pens and writing pads to the Maasai schoolchildren. This visit provided a valuable opportunity to provide direct support and gain cultural experience.

On the last day of the visit, representatives from UAS Technikum Wien met with Emanuel Kweyu, Deputy Director and Head of eHealth Research at Strathmore University. During this meeting, opportunities for academic exchange and research cooperation in the fields of assistive technologies, IoT, eHealth, data science, cyber security and machine learning were discussed. Strathmore University showed great interest in collaboration, which opens up promising prospects for future projects.