Project description
Boosting work abilities for people with disabilities
People with disabilities have the potential to engage with advanced technology. However, it is essential to identify the elements that successfully enable individuals with disabilities to interact with technology. With this context, the EU-funded NewWorkTech project enhances the work-related capacities of both individuals with disabilities and the general workforce, focusing on technology-mediated tasks and interactions. It involves empirical research on how people with disabilities (who often lead in technology use) perform functions at work, alongside theoretical innovations related to technology and socio-material assemblages. The project will provide policy recommendations, develop new tech solutions and actively engage people with disabilities, adhering to the principle of ‘nothing about us without us.’
Objective
NewWorkTech engages in research-based enhancement of the work-related capacities of a) people with disabilities and b) the general workforce, with particular focus on technologically mediated tasks and interaction. The project covers the entire arc of development from empirical research into how people with disabilities – as forerunners of technology use – perform tasks and interact at work, to theoretical innovation regarding the nature of socio-material assemblages as well as what constitutes technology, to policy recommendations, and to the development of new technological solutions, including AI-based technologies. We consider people with disabilities to be experts in using technical systems to improve their work performance, and through an analysis of a variety of use cases, will identify elements of successful use as well as factors that cause problems for interaction or the performance of tasks. Empirical results will also be generated by surveys and co-creation activities. People with disabilities will be engaged in NewWorkTech in line with the principle “nothing about us without us”. NGO partners will be actively involved as facilitators in the empirical research and as drivers of application and dissemination. Through our own technological development effort, attention to the ethical use of technologies, and the dissemination of the knowledge we generate, the results will feed into improved usage methods and functionality of work-related technologies, as well as knowledge about the required skills. The smart use of technology thus achieved will help create employment opportunities for people with disabilities, improving their quality of life and reducing inequalities while also helping alleviate the current shortage of labour in Europe, and open possibilities for more efficient and creative use of technology by everyone, whether they have physical or cognitive limitations or not.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- social sciencespolitical sciencespolitical policiescivil societynongovernmental organizations
- social sciencessociologysocial issuessocial inequalities
- social sciencessociologyanthropologyscience and technology studies
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementemployment
You need to log in or register to use this function
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
33100 Tampere
Finland