LIRNEasia joined Ms. Manique Gunaratne of The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon to the research advisory board for the disability research as part of their 2019-2021 research cycle, through which they hope to catalyze the innovation ecosystems that will make applications based on smartphones and other ICTs widely available to contribute to independent living by persons with disabilities in Sri Lanka.
As part of this project, they seek to understand in-depth how disabled people live their lives, the short and long-term challenges they face, and their understandings of “independence.”
They aim to do this by:
- Documenting challenges faced by persons with disabilities through carefully designed mini-ethnographies, focused group discussions and in-depth interviews;
- Envisioning along with the beneficiaries, the solutions and conditions that would enable them to live more independent lives;
- Categorizing the identified problems and possible solutions into ICT-based solutions/assistive technologies and analog complements;
- Bringing together designers, software developers and beneficiaries to co-create ICT-enabled solutions/assistive technologies
LIRNEASIA seek the input of the research advisory board on the first three activities described above, specifically to provide input on the research instruments, provide feedback on research findings, envision solutions to key issues identified through the research and provide input on policy briefs.
Manique Gunaratne
Vice President – Rehab Lanka Sports Club for Persons with Disabilities
