DEUTSCHE VERSION

DÜSSELDORF, Germany (October 23, 2019) -- The 2nd M-Enabling Forum Europe took place on September 19, 2019 at the Congress Center of Messe Düsseldorf. The conference demonstrated the importance of promoting digital inclusion and accessible and assistive technology for persons with disabilities and senior citizens. Organized by G3ict (Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies) and E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc., the M-Enabling Forum Europe is the leading European venue where IT industry executives, persons with disabilities, advocates, app developers, innovators, policy makers and academia shape the future of inclusive digital environments. 

With close to 200 participants, exhibitors, sponsors and individual attendees from 25 countries, the numbers showed a substantial increase over the last edition with an expanded international audience. Attendees took advantage of the conference breaks for intensive networking and of the showcase to learn about the latest technologies presented by exhibitors. Fundación ONCE from Spain and Aktion Mensch from Germany were the lead sponsors of the M-Enabling Forum Europe 2019 edition. 

Inmaculada Placencia-Porrero, Senior Expert, Disability & Inclusion, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission delivered the opening keynote, giving a comprehensive update on the latest European legislation and its ongoing implementation by Member States. She pointed out that, because technology is advancing at a fast pace, the European Commission is trying to look ahead and anticipate possible challenges of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Robotics etc. She also provided details on how the European Commission has initiated the implementation of several accessibility standards. These include the accessibility standard for public procurement EN 301 549 as well as the recently finalized standard for Design for All, EN 17161.
After her keynote address, experts from different countries reported about the experience in their respective regions. The following plenary session showed an exciting and lively exchange about the latest advances in technology and their impact on user experience, chaired by Christoph Jo. Müller, Board President BEH Association of Manufacturers and Retailers of Assistive Technology in Germany. 

In the afternoon, conference attendees actively participated in three parallel sessions: Solutions for Senior Living in the City and at Home, Leveraging Technologies for Accessible Workplaces and Inclusive Digital Environments in Education. 

After only two years in existence, M-Enabling Forum Europe was described by its participants as a “must-attend” event on the European accessibility calendar. 

Alejandro Moledo, Policy Coordinator, European Disability Forum (EDF) summarized the event, “M-Enabling Europe was a great opportunity to gather the front-runners of accessibility in Europe in very exciting times for our region as we expect accessibility to increasingly grow and be more present thanks to all the policy achievements promoting equal access for persons with disabilities.” 

In his closing remarks of the M-Enabling Forum, Axel Leblois, President, G3ict, underlined how encouraging it is to see the number of legislative and civil society initiatives at national and European level to advance accessibility, which demonstrates a big change in attitude as compared to a few years back. “Throughout the discussions during the M-Enabling Forum, it became clear that prioritizing human factors is crucial to successfully design and produce inclusive technologies that are adopted and actually used by persons with disabilities. This can only be achieved by creating even more collaborations, more partnerships, bringing-in more stakeholders and working on making the world accessible together,” highlighted Axel Leblois. 

The 2nd M-Enabling Forum Europe ran parallel to REHACARE. Organized by Messe Düsseldorf, REHACARE is the largest trade show for innovations focusing on rehabilitation, care and independent living with 38,600 visitors and 751 exhibitors. The next edition of M-Enabling Forum Europe will take place September 24, 2020.

G3ict – the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies – is an advocacy initiative launched in December 2006 in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at UNDESA. Its mission is to facilitate and support the implementation of the dispositions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) promoting digital accessibility and Assistive Technologies. Participating organizations include industry, academia, the public sector and organizations representing persons with disabilities. Through its division IAAP, the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, G3ict offers professional development, training and certification to more than 2,000 members in 45 countries. For more information please visit www.g3ict.org

E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc. (EJK):  For more than 30 years, E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc. (EJK) has been a worldwide leader in exhibition and conference management. EJK is one of the largest privately held exhibition management companies in the world, with offices on three continents. EJK produces a growing portfolio of over 40 events, serving 14 different industries. EJK excels in creating global brand leading events, bringing companies together to network and generate business. For more information please visit www.ejkrause.com 

DEUTSCHE VERSION

Düsseldorf, June 14, 2019 - The second edition of the M-Enabling Forum Europe 2019 will take place on September 19, 2019 in the Congress Center of Messe Düsseldorf parallel to REHACARE.

The event is dedicated to promoting accessible and assistive technology for people with disabilities and senior citizens. The M-Enabling Forum Europe is organized by E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc. and G3ict, the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technology. It is a crucial opportunity to link policy to practice through current and emerging technologies for all.

At the M-Enabling Forum representatives of disability associations, senior citizen organizations, policymakers, government agencies, private sector organizations and technology companies will discuss the accessibility and use of digital technologies. Further topics are solutions for senior living in the city and at home, technologies for accessible workplaces and inclusive digital environments in education

A Highlight this year is the Live-VR-Showcase of the Test-and Integration Center of T-Systems. Conference participants can experiment by simulation with reduced senses. With Virtual Reality glasses they can go into different scenarios and experience barriers themselves. Different visual impairments, blindness and a tremor as an example of motor impairments are simulated. This form of awareness training enables participants to define requirements for accessible applications and products by themselves and to integrate them into their own work and their solutions.

Conference attendees can experience the world’s first assistive mouse adapter, AMAneo BTi, for iPad and iPHone. Until now, people with severe physical disabilities, had very limited access to an iPad or iPhone. AMAneo BTi promises to make iOS devices accessible to all. CSS MicroSystems GmbH has launched this adapter and will present it at the M-Enabling Forum Europe.

Full captioning, German to English/English to German translation, and induction neck loops, ensure that all conference attendees can fully participate.

For additional information and options to participate as attendee, exhibitor or sponsor, please visit the website m-enabling-europe.com or contact E.J. Krause & Associates office in Germany.

Conference attendees are invited to register until June 30, 2019 to benefit from the early bird rate of 99 €.

About E.J. Krause & Associates: For more than 30 years, E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc. (EJK) has been a worldwide leader in exhibition and conference management. EJK is one of the largest privately held exhibition management companies in the world, with offices on three continents. EJK produces a growing portfolio of over 40 events, serving 14 different industries. EJK excels in creating global brand leading events, bringing companies together to network and generate business. For more information please visit www.ejkrause.com or www.ejkgermany.de.

About G3ict: G3ict – the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies – is an advocacy initiative launched in December 2006 in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at UNDESA. Its mission is to facilitate and support the implementation of the dispositions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) promoting digital accessibility and Assistive Technologies. Participating organizations include industry, academia, the public sector and organizations representing persons with disabilities. Through its division IAAP, the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, G3ict offers professional development, training and certification to more than 1,600 members in 42 countries. For more information, please visit www.g3ict.org

DEUTSCHE VERSION

Strong German Partners confirmed participation – LVR and Aktion Mensch 

2nd Edition of M-Enabling Forum Europe

Düsseldorf (May 14, 2019) The second edition of the M-Enabling Forum Europe 2019 will take place on September 19, 2019 in the Congress Center of Messe Düsseldorf parallel to REHACARE.

The event is dedicated to promoting accessible and assistive technology for people with disabilities and senior citizens. The M-Enabling Forum Europe is organized by E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc and G3ict, the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technology. It is a crucial opportunity to link policy to practice through current and emerging technologies for all.

A vibrant mix of panel discussions, practice-oriented workshops and case studies will illustrate the benefits and opportunities of inclusive employment. The Forum will address digital accessible workplaces and employment opportunities. The interactions between speaker and audience encourage exchange, creativity and a shared defining of targets and actions for the immediate future, giving the conference a sustainable character leading to measurable impact year on year.

The head inclusion office of North Rhine-Westphalia, Landschaftsverband Rheinland (LVR) will help to shape the conference session “Leveraging technologies for accessible workplaces and better employment opportunities”.  LVR is supporting the employment of disabled people in the state with more than 54 million Euro per year and is working intensely on the development of digitalization and innovations for today’s working environment. This will bring complete new chances of inclusion for people with disabilities.

Aktion Mensch is another cooperation partner of the event who consider M-Enabling Forum as a very important international platform. Aktion Mensch e.V. is the largest private funding organization in the social sector in Germany. The aim of Aktion Mensch is to promote social and digital innovations for more inclusion and  has initiated the first accessible Social Impact Lab in Bonn (Germany).

At the M-Enabling Forum representatives of disability associations, senior citizen organizations, policymakers, government agencies, private sector organizations and technology companies will discuss the accessibility and use of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), speech applications, Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and cloud-based solutions. Exhibitors such as Dräger & Lienert, CSS MicroSystems GmbH, Tech4Freedom, Siteimprove and Texthelp already confirmed their participation.

Full captioning, German to English/English to German translation, and induction neck loops, ensure that all conference attendees can fully participate.

For additional information and options to participate as attendee, exhibitor or sponsor, please visit the website m-enabling-europe.com or contact E.J. Krause & Associates office in Germany.

About E.J. Krause & Associates: For more than 30 years, E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc. (EJK) has been a worldwide leader in exhibition and conference management. EJK is one of the largest privately held exhibition management companies in the world, with offices on three continents. EJK produces a growing portfolio of over 40 events, serving 14 different industries. EJK excels in creating global brand leading events, bringing companies together to network and generate business. For more information please visit www.ejkrause.com or www.ejkgermany.de.

About G3ict: G3ict – the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies – is an advocacy initiative launched in December 2006 in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at UNDESA. Its mission is to facilitate and support the implementation of the dispositions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) promoting digital accessibility and Assistive Technologies. Participating organizations include industry, academia, the public sector and organizations representing persons with disabilities. Through its division IAAP, the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, G3ict offers professional development, training and certification to more than 1,600 members in 42 countries. For more information, please visit www.g3ict.org

2^nd Edition of M-Enabling Forum Europe 2019

Digital and Assistive Technologies to Enable Inclusion

Düsseldorf (March 6, 2019) The second edition of the M-Enabling Forum Europe 2019 will take place on September 19, 2019 in the Congress Center of Messe Düsseldorf parallel to REHACARE.

The M-Enabling Forum Europe is organized by E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc and G3ict, the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technology. It is a crucial opportunity to link policy to practice through current and emerging technologies for all.

Inmaculada Placencia Porrero, (Senior Disability and Inclusion DG, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission) will open the conference with her keynote, followed by a panel discussing digital accessibility and its status of implementation in Europe.

The one-day forum seeks to find ways of making inclusion a reality by promoting the accessibility and availability of digital technologies by exploring and encouraging implementation in daily life, education and at work. The accompanying exhibition showcases innovations that help to achieve inclusion through a breadth of ICT products, services, connected devices and consumer technologies.

A vibrant mix of panel discussions, practice-oriented workshops and case studies will illustrate the benefits and opportunities of inclusive employment. The Forum will address digital accessible workplaces and employment opportunities. The interactions between speaker and audience encourage exchange, creativity and a shared defining of targets and actions for the immediate future, giving the conference a sustainable character leading to measurable impact year on year.

Representatives of disability associations, senior citizen organizations, policymakers, government agencies, private sector organizations and technology companies will discuss the accessibility and use of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), speech applications, Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and cloud-based solutions.

M-Enabling Forum Europe 2019 offers the ideal platform to learn, share, network and find new opportunities for collaboration.

Full captioning, German to English/English to German translation, and induction neck loops, ensure that all conference attendees can fully participate.

For additional information and options to participate as attendee, exhibitor or sponsor, please visit the website m-enabling-europe.com or contact E.J. Krause & Associates office in Germany. 

 About E.J. Krause & Associates: For more than 30 years, E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc. (EJK) has been a worldwide leader in exhibition and conference management. EJK is one of the largest privately held exhibition management companies in the world, with offices on three continents. EJK produces a growing portfolio of over 40 events, serving 14 different industries. EJK excels in creating global brand leading events, bringing companies together to network and generate business. For more information please visit www.ejkrause.com or www.ejkgermany.de.

 About G3ict: G3ict – the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies – is an advocacy initiative launched in December 2006 in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at UNDESA. Its mission is to facilitate and support the implementation of the dispositions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) promoting digital accessibility and Assistive Technologies. Participating organizations include industry, academia, the public sector and organizations representing persons with disabilities. Through its division IAAP, the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, G3ict offers professional development, training and certification to more than 1,300 members in 39 countries. For more information, please visit www.g3ict.org

SUCCESSFUL DEBUT OF M-ENABLING FORUM EUROPE

DÜSSELDORF (October 8, 2018) – The need for accessible technology to ensure people of all abilities to have access to a digital life is paramount. The possibilities of innovative inclusion technologies, above all, are a chance for society. This was the key theme of the first annual M-Enabling Forum Europe, held September 27, 2018 in the Congress Center of Messe Düsseldorf.

The conference and showcase was organized by, global exhibition management company E.J. Krause & Associates and The Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technology (G3ict), an advocacy initiative launched under the auspices of the United Nations to promote digital accessibility

More than 150 conference guests and over 20 sponsors and exhibitors participated in the M-Enabling Forum. Participants and attendees came from 14 countries including: Austria, Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Norway, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.

Representatives from organizations of persons with disabilities, technology companies, regulatory bodies and institutions gathered for a day of thought-provoking panel discussions, innovative exhibition displays in the foyer showcase and intensive networking.

Inmaculada Placencia Porrero from the European Commission served as the opening keynote speaker. In her remarks, Ms Placencia Porrero pointed out that there is progress in the converging European ecosystem, she highlighted how accessibility needs to become mainstream and a major goal in closing the gap between persons with disabilities and the rest of the population when it comes to employment.

During the following panels, accessibility experts addressed how technology can improve independent living, the future of mobile accessibility and how common standards make it possible to cross borders and access technology in the same way at the same time.

The closing panel of the day discussed how smart technology is an engine of prosperity for all society. The key take-away message was that inclusion does not only benefit persons with disabilities, but also represents a chance for the whole society.

“Digital accessibilty should play a key role in tech innovation. The issues discussed at the M-Enabling Forum Europe were both important and impactful. We saw a very successful launch with the first edition. The overwhelming positive feedback from our participants is encouraging us for the 2019 edition“ stated Kara Krause, Vice President, Marketing & Communications of E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc.

“Positive energy and passion encompassed the room. It was great to hear about the significant advances of the European Accessibility Act and the many opportunities it will create for persons with disabilities and accessibility professionals.  A perfect timing for this first M-Enabling Forum Europe. It was clear from the reaction of all participants that they were happy to know we will be back in 2019“, added Axel Leblois, President of G3ict.

The first M-Enabling Forum Europe ran parallel to REHACARE. REHACARE, organized by Messe Düsseldorf, is the largest trade show for innovations focusing on rehabilitation, care and independent living with a visitor record of more than 50.000 this year.

E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc. (EJK):  For more than 30 years, E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc. (EJK) has been a worldwide leader in exhibition and conference management. EJK is one of the largest privately held exhibition management companies in the world, with offices on three continents. EJK produces a growing portfolio of over 40 events, serving 14 different industries. EJK excels in creating global brand leading events, bringing companies together to network and generate business. For more information please visit www.ejkrause.com

G3ict – the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies – is an advocacy initiative launched in December 2006 in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at UNDESA. Its mission is to facilitate and support the implementation of the dispositions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) promoting digital accessibility and Assistive Technologies. Participating organizations include industry, academia, the public sector and organizations representing persons with disabilities. Through its division IAAP, the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, G3ict offers professional development, training and certification to more than 1,600 members in 42 countries. For more information please visit www.g3ict.org