NewWorkTech kickoff seminar 24 Jan 2025: Innovating for Inclusion

A significant number of people experience functional disabilities and restrictions at some point in their lives.  An estimated one-fifth of the global population lives with a long-term impairment or disability. A new EU-project called NewWorkTech has received €3 million in funding to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities and critically examine assistive technologies.

NewWorkTech will focus on knowledge work and the service sector. The project will generate new insights into the world of work, such as workplace practices and interactions, and discover new competences in the people currently experiencing functional restrictions. NewWorkTech partners will leverage access technologies to break down employment barriers and to define innovative practices of technology use for all.

We are keen on working together with different stakeholder groups in the context of the three-year project and invite anyone interested to participate in the kickoff event onsite or online! The kickoff event is aimed at stakeholders and the general public to learn about our upcoming research and practical innovations.

The registration is open via this link or the event page.

The event consists of the following topics, and the preliminary program is below:

• NewWorkTech in a nutshell
• Project partner introductions
• Coffee break
• Plenaries from stakeholder group representatives 

Program

Part 1, 10-11.30 o’clock

1. From the margins to the masses: Standard practices and innovative uses of technology in augmenting different abilities of people in the world of work – introducing the project NewWorkTech

Maija Hirvonen, professor, scientific coordinator

2. NewWorkTech visions – the project partners presenting the impact of NewWorkTech Tampere University

University of Oulu

University of Copenhagen

National Research Council of Italy

Italian Association of People with Down Syndrome

The Danish Institute for Visual Impairment

Autism Foundation Finland

Be My Eyes Aps

University of Warwick 

European Platform for Rehabilitation

Coffee break, 11.30-12.30 o’clock

Part 2, 12.30-14.30 o’clock

3. NewWorkTech discussions – stakeholders presenting their visions related to the project

Invited speakers are:

Marko Jääskeläinen, Accessia Consulting: How to build a diverse workplace and draw on the different competences

Heta Pukki, Autistic Spectrum Finland: Future of neurodiversity in employment and workplaces

Elina Tapio and Jarkko Keränen from Raami training & development services: New tech competence: Deaf coaches leading the general workforce to improve the quality of video-mediated interaction

Arie Riekhoff, researcher at the Finnish Centre for Pensions, Tampere University and the SusAgeable project: NewWorkTech’s impact from the perspective of the (Finnish) labour market and pension system

Roberta Lulli, Project Officer at European Disability Forum: “European Research on Digital Skills, Accommodation and Technological Assistance for Employment (DATA)”

Monika Chaba, Policy Officer at European Commission, Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion: The EU Disability Employment Package

4. NewWorkTech discussions – general discussion

The floor is open for questions and comments from the audience.

5. Closing words (Maija Hirvonen)

Accessibility

The venue can be accessed with wheelchair, it has an audio induction loop. Onsite, speech-to-text interpreting and sign-language interpreting are provided.